Yes, we are supposed to be moving on to hearty reds at this time of year. Isn't that what the wine industry and many critics tell us? Time for those bigger, higher-alcohol wines for fall and winter to match with meat and game; wines to warm us up on brisk evenings. But let's just hold on a minute.
There's plenty of Indian summer left, at least I hope so on this warm, mid-September evening. I am sipping a delightful rosé — yes, rosé — as the chicken cooks on the grill and the corn boils away.
In fact, it's one of the prettiest rosés I've tasted this season — the just-arrived 2006 Rosé from Brampton in South Africa, at just $10. Now why is it that rosés typically come out around Memorial Day, get a quick promotional push by wine stores and winery marketing departments, only to start their hibernation come Labor Day?
Actually, the Brampton rosé represents not an end, but a beginning, one of the first of the 2006 rosés to hit the market after the harvest in that part of the world last February. So in a sense it's ahead of the curve, even if the rest of the wine world might not think so.
And that gets us to the bigger issue of rosé as a strictly warm-weather wine. It strikes me that it doesn't have to be that way. Rosés are, by nature, lighter and more refreshing than their red cousins, and that, at times, is precisely what I'm looking for in a wine to enjoy before dinner, with fish and vegetables on the grill, or even, at times, with such red-wine dishes as hamburgers, steak, pork or chicken, no matter what the season.
Rosés are remarkably versatile, and Brampton's wine proves the point. I tasted it first at lunch the other day with BLTs (the tomatoes, by the way, were from a big, $2 box of farmstand seconds that were among the sweetest of the summer), and it provided just the right counterpoint, holding up to the strong, smoky bacon tastes and the acidity of the tomatoes.
The wine is relatively light but has delicious fruit, notably deep cherry, along with some citrus and a bit of smoke on the finish. It's a blend of juice from three red varieties — cabernet sauvignon, merlot and pinotage. Brampton, by the way, is a label of Rustenberg, an estate in the Stellenbosch area of the Cape region that is one of the older wineries in South Africa.
So, as the cooler weather sets in, chill down a rosé and see just how successful it can be as a wine for all seasons.
And don't forget ...
- Bodegas Julian Chevite, Gran Feudo Rosé 2005, Navarra, Spain, $9
- Castello Banfi Centine Rosé 2005, Tuscany, Italy, $12
- Château d'Aqueria Tavel Rosé, Rhône Valley, France, $16
Edward Deitch's wine column appears Wednesdays. He welcomes comments from readers. Write to him at EdwardDeitch