Life Through Rosé Colored Glasses – Vinho Verde Rosé? Rioja Rosé?

Looking at the world through Rosé colored glasses helped ease the stress of a joint Fathers Day and Birthday dinner party for seven this last Sunday.  The pressure was on.  What to cook was on my mind all week up to the last-minute.

My much appreciated epiphany arrived by way of sampling stations at Whole Foods Market North Miami.  Our cold Sunday supper summer menu was quite the hit. So much so that I really got to enjoy it myself. Even after realizing I had not cooked any of the items myself as I had originally planned.  Their may be something to be said about catering or buying prepared foods for dinner parties 🙂

Our menu started with cheeses from: buffalo milk, a goat blue, goat and cow’s milk combined soft cheese from Vermont Creamery and a Gouda from Holland with cumin seeds. Although all cheeses were a hit the Vermont Creamery Cremont blew everyone away. I recently sampled the Cremont to customers in our Whole Foods Specialty department and we sold out in what felt like minutes!

Our feast continued with: Bison roast beef , key lime and cilantro shrimp, loaded potato salad and a kale salad with almonds, dried apples and cran-raisins. Luckily room was left for dessert. Chocolate layer cake with butter cream strawberry icing. The one item actually cooked in our house. Baked by my better half who has become quite the dessert maker!

Thinking summer and a cold surf and turf supper lead me to rosé wines I had eyed with interest.  A Rosé green wine? Vinho Verde by Casal Garcia and a Rosé Rioja [?] by El Coto. Two varieties of Rosé I had never come across before.

Casal Garcia comes from winemakers Quinta de Aveleda.  A family tradition: making wine since 1671. In my research I found that Portugal has exported its wine since the 14th century and is Europe’s fourth-largest wine-producing region.  A statistic that quite honestly surprised me.

I could swear the screw top popped like a cork as I was opening it! Beautiful intense rose color reminding me of watermelon candy pink on this 85 point Wine Spectator rated wine.  Dry with a rich fruit mid palate. Lingering finish. A very passable summer sipper at a great price of under $10.00 U.S.

3,000 cases made.

Spains Rioja region does not usually cry out ¡Rosé! to me but this could just be ignorance on my part.  Made from equal parts Tempranillo and Garnacha [Grenache] this wine comes to us from the area of Rioja Alavesa and its lime and clay soils. As per the  El Coto winemaker it is made with short cold maceration in contact with the skins to extract the colour, and fermentation. From grapes grown on their 500 hectare vineyard.

I found the Coto Rioja rosé to be herbal,  earthy and spicy on the nose with notes of raspberry and strawberry.  Dry on the nose.

Again a beautiful bright and rich rosé color. Caramelly on the palate making me think if wine spent any time in wood, with also sour tart berries a bit green not in a bad way,  and a lingering finish.  Minerality and fruit enhanced as it opened or warmed in the glass. Price $12.99 at Whole Foods Market.

So there we have it. Both wines were very well received. The Vinho Verde a bit lighter and the Rioja with more body and fruit flavor. Both refreshing and perfectly priced for the summer.  I think both these rosé wines gained fans over our Fathers Day Birthday weekend.  ¡SALUD!

Related articles

• It’s Rosé Season Again! A Primer on Choosing a Great Bottle of Rosé Wine (thekitchn.com)
• Social Call: Three rose wines to try this summer (victoriaadvocate.com)
• La Rioja (aocfinewines.com)
• Many Different Shades of Rosé Wine (podilatokafe.wordpress.com)

Wine 101 – Revisited

The Gourmet Bachelor by Chad Carns (Photo credit: somenametoforget)

Every once in a while I like to review notes I have jotted down, articles I’ve saved, passages in books I have highlighted etc. As I move forward with my blog, my hobby [lot’s of wine drinking!] and now career [I will sell wine today!],  I must remind myself to do so on a regular basis. It is amazing how easily one becomes focused on one aspect of the bigger picture and  forgets the details that may have crossed your path or got you to where you are today.

Writing this I just had a flashback to my college days of yore; cramming at the last-minute and soon afterwards forgetting everything I learned.  History will not repeat itself no matter that I probably have way fewer memory cells now compared to then 🙂

Wine 101 refers to one of my earlier posts; What I learned in wine class this week-Wine 101. In it I asked the question:  If a bad or turned wine with a cork closure is referred to as CORKED would a turned wine with a screw cap be classified as SCREWED?  I  also listed tidbits of information I found interesting or am purposely keeping as a reference for future use.

https://whineandcheersforwine.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/what-i-learned-in-wine-class-this-week-wine-101/

Here begins my next chapter and I look forward to coming across even more to share in the future.  ¡SALUD!

–Aroma is derived from the grape. Bouquet comes from fermentation, wood [oak], aging.

–Chardonnay and Riesling; white wines that can age.

–Chardonnay is a component of; Champagne, Burgundy and Chablis.

–Chianti; is Sangiovese blended with other indigenous varietals.

-Wine most sold in U.S.A. = White Zinfandel ARGH!

-When in doubt: Beaujolais goes with practically everything.

–Rosé wine is not sweet.

–Sauvignon Blanc is used in Sancere, Pouilly Fume’, and blended with Semillon for almost all white Bordeaux’s.

-Sweet Sauternes are mostly Semillon with a bit of Sauvignon Blanc.

-Most planted grape in California prior to Chardonnay; Chenin Blanc.

–Chenin Blanc = Vouvray. Also the leading white grape of South Africa.

–Viogner is one of the rarest french white grapes. Less than +/- 300 acres are planted in the grapes home; northern Rhone.

–Merlot often confused as Cabernet Sauvignon during blind tastings.  Merlot is the leading grape varietal produced in Bordeaux. Chateau Pétrus one of worlds most famous wine is 99% Merlot.

–Burgundy, except for Beaujolais is mostly made from Pinot Noir.

-The Gamay grape is the source of french wine Beaujolais.

–Syrah is usually part of the blend making Chateauneuf-de-Pape which can use up to 12-13 different varieties.

–Tempranillo grows in the Rioja region of Spain. In Portugal Tempranillo known as Tinto Roriz  is one of the grapes making up Port/Porto.

Related articles

• How to Open a Wine Bottle (answers.com)
• Wine Words: Drinkability (thekitchn.com)
• July 02 – Wine and Temperature (abigslice.typepad.com)

Discovering a new wine grape; PARRALETA / Pico de Aneto 2010

Discovering a new wine grape; PARRALETA / Pico de Aneto 2010

Image via Wikipedia

The Parraleta grape is exclusive to one winery in a small region of northeastern Spain; Somontano, in the foothills of the Pyrenees. It is also exclusive to the Bodegas Pirineo winery and although I partook of the 2010 the 2009 was a big hit at the New Wave Spanish Wine Awards. The owners are a family originally from Jerez.

The  late ripening Parraleta is combined here with the early ripening Tempranillo famous for Spain’s Riojas. Together they produce a fruity and robust wine.

Pico de Aneto Tempranillo Parraleta 2010

Color; Purple/Bright red.

Lite viscosity.

High fruit forward; black cherry, plum, strawberry on the finish.

Price; approx. $12.00

We had ours with pan grilled chicken breast and brown rice with lentils. It was a good combination of flavors. I enjoyed this wine and my better half maybe even more so. It was also exciting to try this new to us varietal and it has a great price point too. Would I seek it out? Probably not but I would not refuse it either.  Salud!

Related articles

• Poco de Aneto (tomandmelodywine.com)
• Tempranillo Red Wine (winebookclub.org)