Rosé

Mr Delhomme drinking our 2008 rosé.

Dear wine lovers,

Having been raised in Provence, rosé has always had a special place in my wine culture. When we found this beautiful piece of land in the Rhône, I initially told myself that I would only do red wines since that's the best potential here.

And our very hot mature 2007 vintage was not appropriate for light fresh rosé that I like and have enjoyed while living near the Mediterranean. When I have started to distribute Dentelle and Mistral, people have asked about rosé which, eventually put the idea in my head to produce a small tank in 2008, just for fun.

And since 2008 had been quite cool, acidities and maturities were in fact perfect to produce a rosé without too much alcohol and natural freshness. When we finished harvesting for this small tank, I realized that our grapes were not mature enough to produce the best possible reds so I decided to continue making some rosé fill a big tank.

Like a Provence people and also because the market demands this, I was afraid to make a rosé with too much color so I decided to make a direct press (in opposition to "saignée") in order to reduce the color given by the skins grapes. And if the pressed juices were very pale, the color went quite dark during the fermentation which was normal (dixit my oenologue) but which made worry.

But the outcome is just great. Pale pink color, fresh but lots of red fruits, especially Granada fruits.

By the end of November, I will have fined it and I plan to bottle it before Christmas. That way, we will spend the winter with this spring-summer wine which will help us pass this cold period dreaming about the next coming sunny season...

Cheers,
Jean-Marc - Domaine Rouge-Bleu

Comments

[Emma]

Hi Jean-Marc,
I am so excited that you decided to make a vin rose with the product of this year's vendange. We were in Maussane-les-Alpilles for the entire month of September and it really was much cooler than normal. I didn't realize that cool weather was a good thing for those of us who love rose.
I hope that some of the 2008 vin rose will find its' way to the USA, otherwise we will just have to wait to have a taste until next September when were back in France.
Emma
(Sorry, but I don't have accents on my computer keyboard)

[Franca Bollo]

I am so sorry I missed your rosé (but happy for you it sold out). Will you be making it again this coming fall? If so, will it be available in the US?

Christine Cuccia
San Francisco