This story is part of a partnership between “City Lights Collective” / WABE” and Rough Draft Atlanta called “The Beverage Beat with Beth McKibben.” As a regular “City Lights Collective” contributor, McKibben joins the program monthly to highlight her most recent Rough Draft story on Atlanta’s cocktail, wine, coffee, and nonalcoholic beverage scene.
Summer is unofficially rosé season in the wine world. A time when the super crushable pink wine dominates shelves at wine shops and takes pride of place on by-the-glass menus at restaurants.
But rosé hasn’t always enjoyed this much popularity, especially in the United States. Our love for rosé in this country is a rather recent phenomenon that began around 15 years ago.
Sarah Pierre, the owner of 3 Parks Wine Shop in Glenwood Park and Old Fourth Ward, said she gambled on the rise of rosé during the 2010s when launching the rosé wine club.
“When we started doing the rosé wine club, it was before people were really even into rosé. I was almost begging people to join this wine club, and now we have this huge surge in the rosé,” Pierre said. “People drink rosé everywhere. They just grab a bottle wherever they are, and it’s on every wine list now. I think we started ten years ago. Our rosé wine club…we were really introducing rosé to people.”
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Yes way, rosé
According to Vine Pair, retail rosé sales skyrocketed by more than 1,400 percent between 2010 and 2020. And while the market has cooled slightly on rosé over the last five years, it still remains the number one wine people purchase during the summer. Adding to rosé’s appeal is an average bottle price of $25.
Pierre estimates that during the summer, rosé accounts for 20 percent of sales at both 3 Parks locations.
Much of the credit for boosting the profile of rosé goes to wine shops, like 3 Parks, and sommeliers working on both the restaurant and sales sides of the industry. The last decade-plus has been spent educating consumers on the wide range of rosé styles while breaking down the preconceived notions that link rosé to its sweeter pink cousin, white zinfandel, popular in the 1980s and 1990s.
“When I first started working and selling wine professionally and at restaurants, for a lot of guests in Atlanta, rosé was still a bit of a tough sell,” explained Jordan Smelt, sommelier and co-owner of Lucian Books & Wine in Buckhead. “I think that was because people still had white zinfandel in their minds, that large jug you find at the supermarket. Nowadays, the options and quality of rosé are never higher.”
Most rosés are dry, high in acid, and refreshingly fruity or floral, made from either a single varietal of grape or a blend of grapes, including pinot noir, carignan, sangiovese, cinsault, grenache, and syrah, to name a few. In other words, red grapes most of us love and are already drinking regularly. Unlike red wines, however, grapes producing rosé are only left to soak in their skins for a few hours as opposed to days or weeks, resulting in that signature pink hue, which can vary from a light salmon to deep raspberry.
The majority of red wines sit in tanks or on oak for months while aging. But that brightness and freshness found in rosé is completely intentional. This is wine you are meant to drink right away.
France accounts for 30 percent of all rosé production globally, with 42 percent of the country’s rosés produced in the Provence region.
“A lot of the rosés that you find in the market are Provencal style rosés, and Provence invokes this feeling of being on the Mediterranean, being outside and enjoying life,” said Jade Palmer, sommelier and general manager of Madeira Park wine bar in Poncey-Highland, who points out that beyond France, other major rosé-producing countries include Spain, Italy, and the United States.
“Red grapes that are destined for rosé are typically picked earlier than red grapes destined for red wine, so you already have a higher acidity in those grapes, you’ll have fresh fruit flavors,” she said. “Depending on where you’re getting a rosé and the makeup of the blend, you could get some herbs like rosemary and thyme [in the tasting notes]. You could also get a little bit of citrus, like orange peel.”
Don’t sleep on the pinot noir-based rosés from Oregon or the rosé blends from California.
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• Wine bar Madeira Park opens in Poncey-Highland
The chillable red
Summer wines are typically lighter in body, more acidic, and lower in alcohol. Think sparkling wines like cremant, prosecco, and txakolina, whites like albarino, chenin blanc, and vinho verde, and a category rising in popularity, the chillable red. That’s a red chilled down to below cellar temperature of 55 degrees, comparable to a white wine chilled at 45 to 48 degrees.
“Every red should be chilled down to cellar temp, so before you open any bottle of red, go ahead and stick it in the fridge for 15 minutes,” Pierre said.
“However, some reds can be consumed almost as cold as white wine. A lot of those red bottles are actually clear, which is great because the winemaker is telling you this is a chillable red,” she said. “Hold up the glass. If you can see straight through the wine, that’s a chillable red. If there’s body, if there’s depth to that glass of wine, then that wine should probably be brought down to cellar temperature.”
Some winemakers have made it even easier to identify chillable reds by simply labeling the bottles as such. One of Pierre’s favorite chillable reds this summer is EZY TGR, a blend of 50 percent early muscat with 50 percent cabernet sauvignon, syrah, pinot noir, and mencia from the Willamette Valley. This wine was purposefully designed to be consumed cold. With a color similar to Kool-Aid, Pierre describes the Ezy TGR chillable red as having a little complexity and texture with crunchy berry fruit notes.
While there are a number of chillable reds on the market, Palmer likes the season-defying versatility of the 2019 Casa Emma Harenae, a sangiovese from Tuscany carrying notes of fresh red fruit, tomato leaf, and dried herbs aged in big clay pots.
The Casa Emma can be chilled down in the summer to pair with a burger at a cookout or served at cellar temperature to enjoy with a meaty lasagna during the fall. The bottle will set you back about $60, but you can test drive it first at Madeira Park, which includes a retail license. If you like what you’re sipping at the wine bar, you can buy a bottle to take home.
Summer wine 101
Jett Kolarik, the wine director at natural wine bar Side Saddle Wine Saloon in Boulevard Heights, said our bodies seem to gravitate toward lighter wines with lower alcohol when it’s hot outside. Heat amplifies the effects of alcohol, so the lower the alcohol by volume (ABV), the less woozy you’ll feel after sipping a glass of wine by the pool or on the patio. Wines that can stand up to the heat of summer should be refreshing. They’re zippy, bright, and have a texture or mouthfeel reminiscent of skim milk. Therefore, most wines perfect for drinking in hot weather are less tannic. In other words, less bitter and without a grippy mouthfeel that leaves a bit of residue on your teeth.
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“I would find [summer] wines from cooler regions, so something like a pinot noir or a gamay or blaufränkisch from Oregon, France, or Austria, regions where it’s not super super hot and the wine isn’t going to get super ripe and high in alcohol,” Kolarik said. “Those, and pet nats are go-tos for summer–fun, funky, sparkling wines. You can also look at the back of the label to see the alcohol percentage. I’m looking for ten to 12 percent.”
Kolarik also recommends sparkling rosé. They are currently into the syrah-based P.A.N.K. Badass rosé pet nat ($35) from Hungary. It’s a limited-run wine, and might be a bit hard to find in Atlanta, but this unfiltered pet nat rosé is worth seeking out for its rich earthiness, hit of spice, and dark fruit notes.
Or consider picking up a bottle of Gonc Sabotage blaufränkisch from Slovenia, which several shops around Atlanta carry, including 3 Parks. This zippy wine, for around $30 a bottle, is juicy with notes of ripe blueberry and blackberry and carries subtle floral notes. You’re bringing the Gonc to the cookout.
At Lucian, the food on the menu changes frequently, driven by what’s in season. This time of year, Smelt tries to steer guests toward wines that are lighter, fresher, and with a texture lower in viscosity.
“Aside from rosé there are some great things that we’re recommending this time of year. Some areas that tend to be a little bit cooler climate, just so the alcohol might be a little bit lower,” said Smelt, who suggests summer wines from countries bordering the Alps, like Germany and Austria, or reds from mountainous regions such as Jura, located between Burgundy, France, and Switzerland. Consider California wines, including wines produced along the San Luis Obispo coast.
What the pros are sipping
Smelt has two favorites this summer, both available at Lucian and local wine shops.
The Moritiz Kissinger No. 3, a sparkling wine blend of chardonnay, pinot blanc, and pinot noir, from Germany, is an energetic bottle of fizz. It’s an ideal wine for the pool, patio, or beach, or for grilling hot dogs and hamburgers in the backyard, retailing for around $45.
The Monte Rio Cellars Cot from California is fruity, fresh, and a tad spicy; it should be served with a slight chill. Retailing for $25, Smelt said the Monte Rio Cot is made with a “distinctly Loire Valley personality.”
As a wine seller, Pierre doesn’t have specific go-to producers or bottles of wine she reaches for to take to gatherings. Instead, she leans into styles.
Regardless of the season, Pierre will always have champagne or a cremant on hand to satisfy her love for sparkling wine. For summer, she also enjoys chenin blancs, chablis, Portuguese reds, and super fruity domestic reds, chilled down, like the blends from Oregon-based Fossil & Fawn.
Like Pierre, you’ll find Palmer opting for sparkling wine during the summer, too. She’s currently crushing on the 2019 Nathan Kendall Traditional Method Extra Brut from the Finger Lakes in New York. It’s a blend of chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot blanc, available at Madeira Park and local wine shops for $45.
“I love bubbles. Bubbles are great for hanging out with friends. I love to start my evening with bubbles,” said Palmer.
“Going back to my favorite Finger Lakes sparkling wine right now is the 2019 Nathan Kendall sparkling brut. It’s made in the same style as champagne,” she said. “Fresh to almost ripe yellow orchard fruit, apples, pears, it’s got a little bit of baking spices on it. It’s got a nice mineral finish and sort of gives champagne vibes without a champagne price.”
Kolarik, too, enjoys sparkling wines during the summer and certain white wines, especially when paired with grilled seafood and oysters on the half shell.
“I love white wine and white bubbles with some white flowers, some nice acid, not overwhelmingly acidic but nice structure, and then a little bit of tartness,” they said. “[For still white wine], maybe we’re going to go with albarino to get more mineral tropical notes and still have a bit of meatiness [to pair with] oysters and seafood at cookouts.”
The best place to start your exploration of summer wines is at your local wine shop, where you should be asking questions of the staff and can build a wine preferences profile.
Most wine shops track your purchases, which provides staff with insight into the wines and styles you gravitate toward most. Building up a preference profile also provides you with more personalized wine recommendations.
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