Canadian Content: British Columbia

Rosé-Coloured Glasses

By: John Schreiner

The growing popularity of pink wines in B.C. is enough to make an oenophile blush

In their first vintage in 2004, Michael Dinn and Heidi Noble at JoieFarm made only 140 cases or rosé. They ramped up quickly to 1,100 cases in 2005 and sold out by the end of the summer. “It was the universe telling us that we were going to be putting our best foot forward with rosé,” Dinn says. “We hit it at the right time.”

In 2009, rosé production at JoieFarm Winery comprised a surprising 27 percent of the winery’s total production, with 2,600 cases. Their rosé history mirrors how quickly pink wines have won a following in B.C.

Sumac Ridge Estate Winery produces about 4,000 cases of rosé annually and Quails’ Gate Estate Winery became a major rosé producer in 2007. In the 2009 vintage, Quails’ Gate made 3,000 cases of rosé from gamay, which, along with pinot noir, is often the base for B.C. rosé.

There is a long history of serious rosé in British Columbia, starting with Gray Monk Estate Winery. In the 1970s, Gray Monk imported Rotberger vines, developed in Germany specifically for rosé. Today, the winery makes about 1,000 cases a year of Rotberger, a similar quantity of Latitude 50 Gamay Rosé and about 200 cases of its newest pink sparkling wine, Odyssey Rosé Brut.

Dinn, a former sommelier, suggests that the current rosé boom was kicked off in restaurants. “Sommeliers have been enamoured with rosé and its versatility,” he says. “From a food and wine pairing perspective, 99 percent of the time rosé will fall somewhere between okay and sublime.”

Most B.C. producers are making dry or almost dry rosé wines, a style designed for consumption with meals. While the majority of rosé wines are consumed during summer, there is now a perceptible year-round demand. “We are seeing a lot of interest at Christmas for rosé, as was the case with Thanksgiving,” Quails’ Gate president Tony Stewart says. “Contrary to the gewürztraminer fans, there is a growing view that rosé should be the choice with turkey.”

Rosé sales are also driven by the rising number of women buying wine, Dinn says. “For all the guys I know who like pink wine, more than 60 percent of our rosé buyers are women.”

Another factor is the growing number of younger wine buyers. “Rosé does not carry the same stigma for the under-30 crowd that it does for the over-60 crowd,” Dinn argues. It helps that most rosé wines are priced in the $12 to $16 range.

Many winemakers believe that consumers are responding to rosé wines because wineries have ratcheted up the quality by harvesting and processing grapes specifically for rosé. Traditionally, many rosé wines have been by-products of red wine, by using juice bled from red fermenters, a technique designed to concentrate the reds.

“I don’t do bleed-offs from red fermenters,” Road 13 Vineyards winemaker Michael Bartier says. “I’ve found this does nothing for the red wine, and generally these are wines that are fairly high in potential alcohol, so the rosé tends to lack that all important refreshment factor. I think low alcohol and crisp acidity is the key to keeping the wine refreshing — and rosés are about refreshment.”

89 JoieFarm 2008  Rosé

Naramata, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada

BC $19 AB $20

If the gorgeous neon pink colour didn't captivate you, then the
irrestible berry, citrus, herbal scents surely will. Seriously
structured, crisply fresh, with a lingering, clean finish, this is the
best rosé effort yet from Joie Farm. A Burgundian blend of gamay, pinot
noir, meunier and gris account for the depth of complexity, carpentry
and staying power. A rosé built to tackle food like barbecued pork,
crab cakes and gyoza. (DK)