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Any wine lover knows there are certain unwritten rules about wine that revolve around its colour. We all know the basic ones: red with meat, white with fish, red at cellar temperature, white from the fridge or ice bucket, etc. But where does rosé fit into the scheme of things? WORDS ANDREW J LINN
ROSADO RULES
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learly the most pervasive negative is that rosé is not for real men and is best left to the fairer sex. When rosé finally became an established universal drink, men who drank it were referred to as brosé (Bros’ rosé – geddit?) Another myth is that it is never a serious accompaniment to food, being neither fish nor fowl in the vinous sense, and can only be acceptable as a lighthearted aperitif. In its most simplistic guise, most of us assume that, if white wine comes from white grapes and red from red grapes, rosé must be a mix of both. Wrong. 75 per cent of wine of any shade comes from red grapes, and
248 / JULY 2022 ESSENTIAL MAGAZINE
since man started crushing grapes all wine was rosé, or to be totally accurate, orange. Why does colour matter when colour is not reflected in the taste? The colour of red wine is provided by the skins and can be adjusted by the length of time the freshly pressed must is left in contact with them. Here we arrive at a somewhat conflictive area, as it has been proved systematically in rigidly controlled tastings that experts, winemakers and sommeliers are unable to tell the difference by taste alone. Impossible? Just try it. Get someone to pour a glass of each and then do a blind tasting. In the highly unlikely event that you can identify
