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11/14/2001 Archived Entry: "Wine Buy: Chateau du Rouët"

After spending a week in “wine obsessed” Napa Valley, I couldn’t wait to see what Carol Berman, our “Food Talk” sommelier had in store for us this week.

It was a rosé called Chateau du Rouët from the region of Provence in the southeast corner of France, the only wine region in the world that is known for its pink wines. Funnily enough, I had just, out in Napa, explained to my assistant, Sean Brady, how a rosé wine is made. As we toured the beautiful Mondavi Winery last weekend, Sean asked, “Is rosé wine like White Zinfandel?” I explained, as Carol so eloquently did today on the program, that all grape juice is white and that it is the grape’s skins that give red wine its rich color. The longer the winemaker leaves the skins in contact with the crushed grapes the darker the color of the wine. Therefore, if you separate the grape skins from the grape juice immediately, you have white wine. If you remove the skins halfway through the process you are left with a wine that is pink in color – rosé. And yes, White Zinfandel is a rosé wine made from the same grapes that make the deep, rich, red Zinfandel wine that is becoming more and more popular. (How White Zinfandel came to be more well-known and popular than the red wine is another story for another day.)

The grapes that go into Chateau du Rouët are Grenache and Sirah, which give it a voluptuous depth of flavor not commonly found in rosé wines.

Carol feels this wine would be a perfect addition to the Thanksgiving table. Not only does the color go well with the many dishes that are bound to be on the table, but the wine has the versatility to go with the many different flavors of the traditional holiday meal, which is sweet, tart, spicy … the whole gamut.

At $13.99, this bottle is edging on the border of being a wine splurge rather than a wine buy, but then again isn’t that what holiday times are all about?

Can’t get enough of our weekly “wine buys?” Carol is hosting a wine class at Whole Foods in Edgewater, New Jersey on Wednesday, December 5th from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. For more information, or to make reservations, call (201) 941-4000.