Welcome to one of my favorite series: Rosé All Day!
So, everybody is doing it. Rosé! This is one of my favorite styles of wine to drink. Many wine drinkers make the incorrect assumption that all pink wines are sweet, especially in the FLX where Catwaba wines are prevalent. However, these pink wines are not sweet, and are incredible expressions of FLX terroir!
Dry Rosés can be traced back to Provence, France. The FLX area started to explode with these wines a few years ago. These wines are made similarly to how red wines are made, crushing the grapes and leaving the juice on the skins for a period of time. The difference is in the length of time the juice is left on the skins; in dry rosés, skins are left on for about half the length of time that red wines are left on the skins.
Why does the FLX make such good dry rosé? The terroir is ideally suited to make this style of wine. The FLX region is approximately the same latitude as the famed Provence region in France. Furthermore, the shale layer underneath the topsoil imparts an impeccable minerality in dry rosés made here. In growing seasons where the reds might not get quite as ripe as the winemakers would like, many are now making dry rosés with blends of these “leftover” wines. Or, occasionally, to get reds to the appropriate concentration of flavor, some winemakers will take the first crush and make those into dry rosés. Despite their humble beginnings, dry
rosés are an excellent representation of the FLX terroir!
Now that you have the background on this style of wine, I’m happy to share this new series with my readers! The first wine up is from one of my favorite wineries on Cayuga lake: Sheldrake Point.
This 2018 dry rosé is 100% Cabernet Franc. I’ll be honest, 100% Cabernet Franc wines are not usually my preference, but this one blew me away! The first swirl gave me scents of lemon zest and fresh strawberries. The strawberry scent was followed by the taste of fresh strawberries upon first sip.
I was taken aback by how beautifully balanced this wine was. It had the heaviness of a Cabernet Franc, but with an amazing acidity and minerality that is typical of FLX wines. I also found some crystalization inside my glass! Some people believe that the presence of tartaric acid crystals in a wine is the sign of an excellent wine.
Overall, I was incredibly impressed by this wine. It was approachable, well balanced, and an excellent expression of FLX Cabernet Franc. Go out and grab yourself a bottle!
Do you have a dry rosé that I should try? Drop me a note at: stephanie.marks@flxfinest.blog
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