As I slid into the booth at my favorite Milwaukee restaurant, I snatched up the wine menu. Scanning the list for the wine I wanted only took a few seconds. “Are we all good with a bottle of the rosé?” I asked the booth. Unsurprisingly, the answer was unanimous – yes, obvi. The waitress soon brought out the bottle of rosé and we all poured our glasses. My mouth instantly watered as I lifted up the pink wine for a sip. Not too long after my first taste, my glass was nearly gone. Whoops. Why does rosé always taste so. damn. good?
The pink drink is now as popular as Juicy Couture suits in the early 2000s. Unlike those vibrant colorful tracksuits, I’m confident rosé will never go out of style. How can I be so sure? The spirit of the drink remains immortal; it’s youthful, lighthearted and lively.
Taking the wine world by pink storm
Lately, rosé has been everywhere. It’s taken over the hearts of millennial wine lovers faster than Beyoncé’s new baby picture skyrocketed to over nine million likes. The wine’s signature pink hue makes it highly Instagram-able and great for cocktails. Rosé gets its pretty color from the process used to create the wine.
The most popular method for producing rosé, the Maceration Method, crushes red grapes and lets the juice soak with the grape skins for a few hours to a few days. The skins are then removed before the juice ferments in tanks. This unique method lies between the methods used for producing white wine and red wine. For reds, the skins are left to ferment with the juice, yielding their deep color.
White wines require the skins to be removed almost immediately, so that they never impact the color of the juice. Part of the reason rosé tastes so good is its intense versatility. It can be paired with anything from tacos to goat cheese to sushi. If you’re really feeling yourself (and your trendy unicorn floaty), take a chilled bottle of rosé to the pool on a hot day. Even if you never make it into the water, the wine will be just as refreshing.
Stop and smell the (yeah you know where this is going)
As its appearance suggests, rosé has a lot of fruit-forward flavors and aromas. The most prominent and common are watermelon, pink lemonade and cherry. Rosé tastes so good because these powerful fruit flavors mix with hints of floral hibiscus and rose petals. This creates a delicious sensory overload every time the wine hits your lips. The next time you drink pink, make sure you stop to smell the aromas coming from your glass first. I promise you, it’ll make the bevvy even more heavenly.
I have commitment issues
Red or white? It’s the classic conundrum all wine lovers experience. It’s like the seemingly never settled Backstreet Boys vs. *NSYNC debate. Both options are good, but is there something even better? What if you find something you think is better, only to wish you would’ve stuck with your hunky JT or Nick Carter safety net? (*Queue “I Want It That Way” playing softly in the background in 3...2...*) Commitment is hard.
Rosé is the perfect choice for people who have a hard time choosing solely red or white. It’s the casual drink that makes commitment doable. For people intimidated by strong reds or freaked out by dry whites, rosé offers the best of both worlds. The wine has balanced acidity, mild tannins and, as previously mentioned, a complexity of flavors. So go ahead, get serious with rosé.
Yes way, Rosé
Whether you’re seeking out an eye-popping ‘gram to grace your followers’ feeds or just trying to find your new favorite drink, look no further. Kill two birds with one bottle and sip rosé while your bestie snaps pics of you in your new romper. You’ll be perfectly refreshed drinking pink, and you’ll look damn good while doing it.
Cheers!
Sources: The Guardian, Real Simple
