Rosé says follow me to the south of France. A table by the sea, a simple lunch of tapenade, grilled sardines, ripe figs and goat cheese for dessert.
But I'm picky about what goes in my glass. I'm not about to fall for something just because it's pretty in pink.
As the quality of French wine has gotten better and better, so has the Rosé. And, as I'm sure you know, the popularity of Rosé has gone through the roof.
So I went on a rotation throughout France and I drank every Rosé I could find - not the romp through the vineyards you're undoubtedly envisioning since there are still a number of slackers out there passing off their leftovers as Rosé.
But with some perseverance, and over several years, I found a few. This was the very first one I imported. It's not surprising that my first Rosé was right in my own backyard of existing growers. I like to work with the small "indy" growers who put quality ahead of practically everything. These are the fellows who are not about to short-change their Rosé. In fact they are devoted to their Rosé as much as any wine they produce from their vineyard.
This Rosé is from Domaine des Jougla in St Chinian. I discovered this estate several years back traveling around the Languedoc Roussillon which stretches all the way from where the Rhone empties into the Mediterranean, west along the rim of the sea to Spain. Domaine des Jougla is from the St Chinian wine appellation in the Languedoc - an area that is getting wonderful reviews and new attention.
A couple years back I was pleased to see that France's equivalent to The Wine Advocate, La Revue du Vin de France, backed up my good feeling about Domaine des Jougla's Rosé by naming it one of the Best Rosés in Southern France.
"A well-built personality around savory minerals, spicy fruit reminiscent of kumquats. A real mouthful!"
That's impressive! These La Revue folks trekked through a lot of Rosé territory to pick their favorites.
Do you know how they make Rosé? The best Rosé is made by pressing the grapes, the way you normally would for any red wine. The juice is allowed to sit with the grape skins picking up color, but also tannins, pectins and proteins, which give the wine structure. Then the juice is drained off, put into another vat without the skins and the fermentation proceeds.
The Jougla Rosé has pure fruit flavors of raspberries and strawberries and, just as important, freshness. By freshness, I mean good, lively acidity. Rosé has to be perky and it's the acidity that gives it that zing. This is a full-flavored Rosé made from Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvedre. The color has a lovely salmon tint.
So, start the Rosé chilling. It's great now and summer is here. Stock up now.
-Cynthia Hurley French Wines
