International Rosé Day 2024

Did you know that there are three Rosé Day celebrations during the 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 and this year that will make it today, Friday, June 28, 2024.

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.

This International Rosé Day I have the pleasure of introducing you to two new releases from Fort Berens Estate Winery, one of which is a little unconventional and I will explain this in more detail shortly.

2023 Fort Berens Rosé $23.49

The fall of 2022 was long and warm in Lillooet, but winter arrived abruptly bringing with it a record low of -26.4 degrees Celsius, which was recorded on December 22, 2022. The quick change in temperature caused considerable damage to the buds on the vines, which resulted in the 2023 Rosé production being 33% less than normal.

Although production was down for 2023, Fort Berens still has 985 cases of their beautiful 2023 Rosé on offer. This wine is made from predominantly Pinot Noir with a touch of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The Pinot Noir grapes were destemmed and crushed, with skin contact lasting 12 hours. The juice was then lightly pressed off the skins, followed by a long, cold fermentation.

This Rosé has aromas of pink grapefruit, wet granite, nectarine and raspberry. It is a dry, medium bodied wine with medium+ acidity. The juicy palate offers notes of pink grapefruit, pomegranate pith, rhubarb and raspberry with watermelon on the medium+ finish.

2023 Fort Berens Vineyard Cider Rosé $18.99

As mentioned above, the harvest in 2023 was lower than expected due to vineyard damage caused by the harsh winter. To supplement the Rosé they were able to produce, Fort Berens added a new, innovative product to their lineup. Assistant Winemaker, Seth Jex, is also the owner and cidermaker at Lillooet Cider Company, and he collaborated with Winemaker, Alex Nel, to create Fort Berens’ very first Vineyard Cider Rosé. This cider was made using a selection of Gala, Ambrosia and Pink Lady Apples to form the cider base. The base was then blended with barrel fermented Gewürztraminer and a touch of Merlot for colour.

The Vineyard Cider Rosé has aromas of gala apples, pink grapefruit and peaches. I found this cider to be dry/slightly off-dry, crisp and refreshing. The palate offers notes of apple, pink grapefruit pith, peach, strawberry and cherry. The lower alcohol (7.5%) is great for the hot weather and this cider is very food friendly.

*The Vineyard Cider Rosé is available exclusively at the tasting room or the online store.