Rapping on the Bowery, or Pinking Out with the Rosé Avengers and Producers

Uncorked, published in The East Hampton Star

Pink Out with fifty rosé producers

I attended a rap event at a nightclub on the Bowery last week. No, it was not rap music. I am a generation removed from that in time and a world away by cultural preference.

In this case, RAP is an acronym for Rosé Avengers and Producers, a group that according to their Web site (www.rapwine.com) is “dedicated to righting the wrongs done to dry rosé.” If you feel this is a compelling issue, you can join them, be militant, and still stay in your armchair with a wineglass.

The event was titled “Pink Out!” and migrated here from San Francisco. It might all sound a bit subversive and anti-establishment, but at bottom it is a slightly tongue-in-cheek version of a conventional wine tasting, with stations for various producers and distributors to pour and explain their wines. The afternoon session was for wine professionals and press, and the evening was intended for a ticket-buying public.

The timing was correct for it seems to me that Americans are gaining a more European approach to rosé. Forget that modest, genteel stuff that was seen as neither red nor white nor cool, and was somehow a little regretful about being pink. Now, the producers and an increasing number of wine drinkers have a take-no-prisoners, partisan attitude.

The organizer, Jeff Morgan, is a winemaker in California who focuses exclusively on rosé, and is the author of a book titled “Rosé: A Guide to the World’s Most Versatile Wine.” He lived at one time on Long Island and worked at a North Fork winery for Larry Perrine, who is now the president and chairman of Channing Daughters in Bridgehampton.

About 50 wineries, mostly from California and France, were represented, many with more than a single rosé, so there was quite a wide range of offerings. I tasted about 20 or so, and will report on some of my favorites this week and next week.

Mr. Morgan’s single-mindedness extends to his winery, which is named SoloRosa, “only rosé.” Their benchmark wine, 2005 California Rosé, is a blend of sangiovese and merlot. It’s a bright, accessible wine that sells for about $15. The more flavorful 2005 Napa Valley Sangiovese Rosé sells for $28, and a 2005 Russian River Valley Syrah Rosé, a more complex wine, also sells for $28. (Prices are taken from their Web site.)

This seems to be the year that people are seeing the pink light, and rosé is being launched into more public view and acceptance. I predict you’ll be seeing a lot more of it at East End wine stores and at summer parties. It could be coincidence that Christopher Tracy, the winemaker at Channing Daughters, chose this year to produce his first line of rosé, but his instincts on this and other decisions in the past demonstrate a laserguided accuracy about new directions in the wine world.

Each of the “tre rosati” is a single varietal from a specific North Fork vineyard. The common thread is that all three vineyards are owned or managed by Steve Mudd, a second-generation grower and a major growing partner of Channing, and all three wines are the expression of Mr. Tracy’s (often Italian) sensibilities.

Rosati di Cabernet Franc 2005 is the lightest of the three offerings from Channing Daughters, and demonstrates how a wine can be light in body, more floral than fruity, but remarkably subtle, balanced, and satisfying. It is made from cabernet franc grapes grown on the Croteau Farm vineyard in Southold.

Rosati di Merlot 2005, with grapes harvested at the McCall vineyard, is a gorgeous pinkish-red color, medium bodied, with an entrancing aroma suggesting strawberries and summer fruits like peach. The third selection, Rosati di Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, from Mudd vineyard grapes, is as you might expect the richest of the three but refined and elegantly dry. The color is lush, between orange and red, the body is substantial, and the nose is full. It is robust and sinewy, but it maintains the irresistible tenderness of a rosé.

All three rosés are whole cluster pressed, and the grapes are removed so the color derives from the juice rather than contact with the skins. While the three are similar in winemaking style, with a refreshing mineral content and correct acid balance, they are hardly interchangeable. The specific qualities of each can be matched to particular foods. They sell for $17 a bottle, and, as is customary at Channing, quantities are small.