The recipe for this week, compliments of Chef Rechsteiner, is a take on one of my favourite sauces to make with my family. Ros sauces are a great way to appease divergent tastes among a group of people looking to enjoy a pasta meal. To me it is the best of both worlds, tomato flavour base with a thick and creamy backdrop to support the other ingredients of the sauce.
For many years in the wine world, there was a similar approach taken in the production of ros wines. White and red wines would simply be blended to make a 'blush' wine, with varying degrees of distinction. Of course, there are always exceptions and some regions took a more serious approach to ros winemaking and as a result, made some very delicious and flavourful wines.
Generally speaking, the hotter regions are the predominant players in the production of ros wines around the world. In warm Southern France, where consumers want something red but need it to be dry and refreshing, ros has found a comfortable home made largely with Grenache and Cinsaut. Spain also takes ros seriously and has two distinctions for their main production; 'rosado' denotes a light pink ros, while darker ross are labeled 'clarete'. The United States is also a large producer of ros wines of varying quality levels. New World producers such as Australia, Chile and South Africa are also coming on board to capture some of the demand for this style currently, with slightly bolder expressions of ros.
In the past decade or so, there have been real improvements made to the image of ros wines and with that comes improvements to how the wine is produced. This leads me to discuss how the Okanagan region is approaching the challenge of ros production.
For many years, the BC wine industry in general was greeted with skepticism from serious wine enthusiasts due largely to the types of wine being produced by unusual grape types of 'labrusca' origin. When most sites in the valley initiated premium 'vinifera' plantings in the early 1990's, a new age of wine production had arrived and quality standards vastly improved. BC Ros wines today are everything but low quality. Most are made from the best grapes and handled with great care in order to coax the best flavours and nuances.
This week's wine comes from one of my favourite producers, although they are not technically from the Okanagan - they are from the neighboring Similkameen Valley, and they have taken the wine world by storm of late and their ros is winning followers all over. The winery is Seven Stones and their 2010 Pinot Ros is a nice example of a quality BC ros that could be proudly served in the south of France or anywhere else.
The colour is pale garnet, reminiscent of fresh sockeye salmon. The wine delivers a perfumed floral nose with ripe strawberry fruit intensity. This strawberry aroma ascends on to the palate along with tropical notes and a minerality inherent in Seven Stone wines. With ample acidity to carry it all, it is wonderful expression of warm climate Pinot Noir from the little valley next door.
This wine is a really sound match to Chef Rechsteiner's rose sauce recipe as it has the depth to handle both the tomato and cream base and the texture to marry with the herb flavours in the sauce while having a great balance of mineral character and acidity to stand out on its own while allowing the vibrant fruit notes to keep you coming back for more.
As always, enjoy responsibly but often!
