Brut Rosé

There is a lot of talk about Brut Rosé since still rosé has become a hot commodity in wine land. Pink no longer means sweet. Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast have both done features on rose's, and even Hollywood is hittin the pink stuff; and now Sparkling Rose have taken pink to a whole new level, giving them a sophisticated and saucy stance is the world of bubbly. They are a beautiful, fun, summertime drink. Sparkling rosé can be made in a variety of styles which makes it a very talented wine for pairing with a variety of foods.

I'll start with my favorite Brut Rosé that I have personally tried, Handley Cellars. In my opinion, this Brut Rosé kills the competition in California Brut Rose, bar none! There is a lot of international Brut Rose that I have not tried that I would love to compare, but I don't know if I could find the best selling Brut Rosé in the world, Laurent-Perrier; and at a price of around $75-$80 I don't know that I could afford such a bottle. I wouldn't imagine that there is much that could compare with Laurent-Perrier as all the grapes come from 100% rated Grand Cru vineyards. (Grand Cru, meaning "great growth," is the highest level of classification of AOC (Origin Controlled) wines from Burgundy or Alsace, though the term is used in Champagne and Saint-Émillion. Grand Cru's come from a single vineyard, and are designated for Grand Cru based on the potential for greatness because of the area in which it is growing along with the terroir. Typically Grand Cru vineyards are pruned in a specific fashion in order to cut down the yield which in turn produces a more concentrated fruit cluster). But anyway, enough about the French, let’s get back to Handley...

I visited Handley Cellars on a recent trip through the Anderson Valley on my way to Mendocino. I knew that the winemaker Milla Handley had been making some bubbles, though she is better known for her Pinot's. The tasting room was fairly large and had a very cabin feel to it, but with a mixture of Mesoamerican and African décor. They had a variety of wines to taste, and fortunately for us, the tasting room manager was around and decided to open a bottle of Brut Rosé for me, being that I was in the industry and part of a winery that makes sparkling wine as well. There was a lot of excitement among the fellow tasting room staff upon the popping of the cork, I guess it's not every day that a bottle gets opened and everyone was like a kid waiting for candy to be handed out to them. My anticipation was not disappointed...This wine is like a mélange of raspberries… like raspberry coulees with bubbles! It had just a hint of a yeasty/nutty component to it, almost like toasted almonds; overall an awe-inspiring wine...Upon hitting my palate, it danced, and sang and I think even there was a celebration with fireworks… pure rapture… I was told that Milla has cut her production of sparkling down considerably because she doesn't have the facility for it and had been doing the work at neighboring sparkling houses like Roederer Estate, who makes a fine Brut Rosé as well I might add; they're L'ermitage Rosé is a sort of tête de cuvée that is only made in the best of years, but is a totally different animal from Handley, as it expresses a more true aged "Champagne" character with hints of caramel and the fruit is full on currants while expressing a very nice creamy mouse; however it is also a bit pricey at $72, but they also make a Non Vintage Rosé that is $27, but I prefer the L'ermitage :) But as not to get too sidetracked...Handley, if you visit them, even if you don't get to try their sparkling's the Brut Rosé is definitely worth the buy and works great as an aperitif or with dinner drink, as I think it's flavors and balanced acidity along with its fine bubbles would be a great pairing with some Indian foods, and it is at a reasonable price range for sparkling wine at, $36 a bottle.

Brut Rosé are often made in a Brut style and adding a bit of red Pinot Noir to the wine before it begins its secondary fermentation, or as I said in my previous entry, they are made by adding a pink dosage (dosage being a mixture wine and sugar which is used as your sort of spice rack for sparkling wine...the best way to describe dosage is; if you have a piece of meat in front of you to cook for dinner and then there are all the different ways that you can prepare and cook that piece of meat to make it taste differently, from marinades, to barbecue sauce, to just salt and pepper, you can change that dosage a thousand or more different ways and your sparkling wine will taste different each time.) so... in the case of Brut Rosé, a heavy Pinot Noir dosage is added to give it some color as well as a more berry driven fruit profile. Handley does a four hour maceration on the skins to give it its beautiful pink color, therefore no need for pink dosage. At Iron Horse Vineyards, there is no need for pink dosage either, the Brut Rosé goes through a cold soak with the Pinot Noir still on the skins, and the color is the darkest hue of pink I've ever seen, and the results are a big wild bubbly full of cranberries and strawberries, and you actually get a kind of skin flavor from the wine that is actually quite intriguing.

Other good Brut Rosé that I have tried include, Gloria Ferrer, a light salmon colored bubbly with hints of strawberry, citrus and floral notes. And traveling back over to France Nicolas Feuillatte, also salmon in color with a bit of Pinot Meunier blended giving way to strawberry and currant notes, it is a lively, fun and fruity bubbly.

I fear that I have about exhausted the topic of Brut Rosé, but to conclude, Brut Rosé can be a lot of fun if you can find some good ones, and there are plenty of them out there; they are very versatile food wines, everything from Thanksgiving turkey, to back yard barbecue, to ahi tuna, Brut Rosé can cover a lot of ground, but my favorite thing is just to sip on some on warm evening like I did last night in celebration of my birthday...