The wine guide: a toast for rose

Sunset, Dec, 1997 by Karen MacNeil

A toast for rose

* Like the intelligent, pretty child who gets more attention for looks than brains, rose sparkling wine usually isn't taken seriously. It's pink, people say to themselves - how profound can it be?

In a word, very.

Rose Champagne and rose sparkling wine may well represent the most fascinating bubblies in the world. Far from being considered frivolous, these are the sparkling wines that well-studied wine drinkers crave.

Why? Well, first, because the great ones are scrumptious. Dry, crisp, and elegant, they often have irresistible creamy, wild berry flavors. But rose bubblies are also treasured because they are rare and an enormous challenge to make (a rose gone awry smells something like a bad permanent).

This leads us to the third, and perhaps most important, reason rose sparklers are prized - they are usually made with a significant amount of Pinot Noir (all Champagnes and top sparkling wines are based on Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, and Pinot Noir).

And Pinot Noir is anything but silly. In fact, it's Pinot that gives Champagne and sparkling wine much of their depth, body, and complexity. As a general rule, rose Champagnes and sparklers often have more oomph and more moxie than many golden bubblies. This can be a real asset, especially when you're serving the wine with a flavorful food.

No discussion of Champagnes and sparkling wines is complete without an explanation of the difference between the two. In a nutshell: by France's definition, the wine called Champagne can technically come only from the region of Champagne, about 90 miles northeast of Paris. American sparkling wine comes mostly from California, though a little is made in Washington, Oregon, and New York - there's even a sparkler made in New Mexico.

The place makes all the difference when it comes to wine. Different soils, different climates, different ways of picking, even different ideologies mean that Champagne and California sparklers have entirely different personalities.

We're talking here only about the top sparklers - those made by what is called the methode Champenoise, or Champagne method. (This is almost always noted on the label.) The Champagne method is painstaking, complex, labor intensive, and expensive, but it's critical to the elegance and complexity of the wine. By comparison, cheap bubblies, which are made by injecting carbon dioxide gas into the wine, have all the nuance of a soft drink.

Producing the top rose sparklers involves one of two procedures. The traditional approach is to let some of the wine sit in contact with Pinot Noir skins, picking up just enough color to tint the wine pink.

The other approach, more modern and more common, involves adding a small bit of still Pinot Noir wine to each bottle during the Champagne process. This technique is preferred for several reasons, among them the fact that such roses seem to age better.

Both processes are complex, and achieving a certain coloration is difficult, as a lineup of rose Champagnes will attest. The colors range from almost translucent pink to deep coppery salmon.

Most rose sparklers from Champagne and the United States are made in a brut style - that is, dry. Some, in fact, are so dry they are positively racy on the palate.

This holiday season, why not think pink? Above are some of our favorites from California and France.

RELATED ARTICLE: FAVORITE FESTIVE ROSE SPARKLERS

* Codorniu Napa Brut Rose, $20 (Carneros, California). Very light and delicate with touches of boysenberry and hazelnuts.

* Deutz Cuvee Marie Damarisse Brut Rose, $35 (Champagne, France). Like drinking in a strawberry patch.

* Domaine Carneros Brut Rose 1995, $26 (Carneros). Sophisticated and elegant with creamy rushes of berry flavor.

* Roederer Estate Brut Rose, $22 (Anderson Valley, California). Very sleek and racy with hints of wild strawberry. A fabulous aperitif.

* Schramsberg Brut Rose, $23 (Napa Valley, California). Lush and creamy with biscuity berry flavors - liquid strawberry shortcake.

* Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Rose 1991, $150 (Champagne). Expensive, yes, but one of the great rose experiences. Hauntingly deep, rich, and long.

* Veuve Clicquot Rose 1988, $65 (Champagne). Dramatic, elegant, and round with notes of spiced berries and roasted nuts.

WINE DICTIONARY

Extra-dry

A confusing designation, for the term actually refers to Champagne or sparkling wine that is slightly sweet, containing 1.2 to 2 percent residual sugar. - K. M.