This Saturday, June 11th, is National Rosé Day. It is the first of three (yes, I said THREE) Rosé Day celebrations in the calendar year, which can be cause for confusion.
Rosé wines are just so darn special that they need to be celebrated three times each year!
The first Rosé Day seems to have been established in 2005 by the good folks behind the blog Winegeek. They picked August 14th as the day to celebrate, as it is halfway to Valentine’s Day.
Next, National Rosé Day was officially registered in 2014 by Bodvár House of Rosés and it is celebrated each year on the second Saturday in June.
Finally (at least for now) International Rosé Day was created by Valérie Rousselle in 2018. Rousselle is the owner of Château Roubine and Sainte Béatrice in Provence. International Rosé Day is celebrated on the fourth Friday of June.
Consumers are learning that Rosé wines aren’t just sweet, pink plonk anymore. Provence, in the South of France, is infamous for their quality Rosés and there are wonderful Rosés now from all around the globe. Rosés are available in a variety of different styles from sweet to dry and they pair well with a myriad of foods and, of course, the patio.
Rosés can be made in three different fashions and one of these is known as maceration. Maceration is when grapes are pressed and the juice is allowed to sit on the skins. For red wines maceration is what gives them their colour and this time on the skins usually lasts through the fermentation stage. For the maceration of rosé wines, the skins are removed before the wine gets too dark, leaving a pink hue.
Although less common, Rosés can also be made by mixing red and white wines together.
A third technique can also be used to make Rosés and it is a French technique called saignée. Saignée (pronounced san-yay) is actually a byproduct of red winemaking. During maceration juice is bled off, creating a higher ratio of grape skins to grape juice resulting in a more concentrated red wine. The juice that is bled off is pink in colour and it is fermented to produce a Rosé.
To celebrate National Rosé Day this year, I assembled a board full of Mediterranean inspired charcuterie and made a roasted red pepper, goat cheese and chorizo flatbread. Now to the wines…some delicious Rosés from the Okanagan Crush Pad.
2019 Haywire Gamay Rosé $24.99
100% Gamay, these grapes were whole bunch pressed to concrete tanks for fermentation and the wine was left on the lees for six months.
This Rosé is delicate in style. Aromas of peach pits, crushed gravel, green apple candies, strawberries and red plums. The Haywire Gamay Rosé is dry, medium+ in body with high acidity. The palate offers flavours of peach, blossom, red plum and underripe strawberry with a mouth watering medium finish of dried herbs, white pepper and saline.
2020 Narrative Rosé $23.99
This Rosé is a blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay and was fermented in concrete tanks using native yeast.
Aromas of blossom, peach, strawberry and cream. This is a dry, medium bodied wine with high acidity. The palate offers grilled peach, tangerine, pink grapefruit, strawberry and a juicy, medium+ saline finish.
References
Brown, S. (August 4, 2005). August 14th — International Rosé Day! Retrieved from: https://winegeeks.com/articles/52
Manfull, S. (April 1, 2018). An International Rosé Day is launched from France. Retrieved from: https://www.provencewinezine.com/an-international-rose-day-is-launched-from-provence/