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WTN/Wine Advisor: A rosé blooms in January (ESJ Bone-Jolly)

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WTN/Wine Advisor: A rosé blooms in January (ESJ Bone-Jolly)

by Robin Garr » Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:32 am

A rosé blooms in January

I don't know about you, but when I think about pink wine - if I think about it much at all - it strikes me as a wine for summertime, to be sipped chilled with alfresco fare, or by itself to take the steam out of a sultry July afternoon.

But who drinks rosé in midwinter? Not me! Or not, at least, until now.

The other day, I spotted a few stray leftover bottles of last summer's best pink wine, Edmunds St. John "Bone-Jolly" Gamay Noir Rosé, looking lonely in my neighborhood wine shop.

"Summer wine," I thought, nostalgically. I shrugged and went home. Couldn't get it out of my mind. Thought about it a little more. Put my coat back on, hiked back up to the corner store and picked up a couple of bottles.

Later on, I picked up one of my treasures and held it up to the light, remembering how this rosé was no wimpy pale pink wine but a cherry-red beauty almost dark enough to pass for a red. A Pinot Noir, say.

Hmm.

Come to think about it, where is it written that a pink wine must be served chilled? Time to challenge the conventional wisdom!

I threw together a casual dinner of beans and smoked sausage, earthy flavors that I thought would merge well with the Gamay rosé's Beaujolais-style fruit, and popped the wine in the fridge for just a half-hour, no more, only long enough to bring it down toward cellar temperature but far from cold.

The results were splendid. The wine had aged hardly at all under its sturdy screw cap since my last tasting in April, at the peak of springtime. Serrved just cool in January, my notes were generally consistent, although the wine's acidity was more evident and a bare trace of tannin was lost. Crisp, tingling acidity is no flaw in a table wine, of course; if anything, it seemed even more food-friendly, more like a light red than a pink.

I might not try this with a lightweight, delicate rosé. But I'd gladly do it again with a sturdier pink wine, from Domaine Tempier to Mas de Gourgonnier from France or Melton Rosé of Virginia from Australia, to name a few.

Have you tried serving hearty-style rosé at warmer temperatures as a substitute for a light red wine? Tell us about your experiences!

Edmunds St. John 2006 Witters Vineyard El Dorado County "Bone-Jolly" Gamay Noir Rosé ($18.99)

Clear, pretty herry color, on the dark side for a rosé. Fresh strawberry scent and an underlying heady, tropical note reminiscent of papaya. Bone-dry, freshly acidic; mouth-watering acidity really shows at this warmer serving temperature, not that there's anything wrong with that. I noticed a faint touch of tannic astringency last spring that's not showing now, but fruit, structure and balance make this an inviting "light red" for any time of year, even a chilly January evening. (Jan. 11, 2007)

FOOD MATCH: Fine with a down-home dish of Florida butter beans turned into a quick barbecue-bean dish with smoked sausage, sauteed onions and garlic and black and red pepper.

VALUE: Bone-Jolly sells locally for a dollar or two more than the winery price, so you may be able to find it for less. I'm still willing to pay at this level for one of the best rosé wines I've ever enjoyed.

WHEN TO DRINK: As with most rosés, freshness adds to the delight. But the body, balance and character of this wine - and the sturdy screwcap - should keep it going strong for at least a couple of years and maybe more.

PRONUNCIATION
Gamay = "Gam-ay"

WEB LINK:
Here's a fact sheet about the Bone-Jolly Gamay Noir Rosé on the winery's Website:
[url=http://www.edmundsstjohn.com/wines/2006-bone-jolly-gamay-noir-rose-witters-vineyard.html]http://www.edmundsstjohn.com/
wines/2006-bone-jolly-gamay-noir-rose-witters-vineyard.html[/url]

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Distributors in many states of the U.S., Canada, the UK and Japan are listed on this winery page:
http://www.edmundsstjohn.com/WhereToBuy.html

Check prices and find vendors for Edmunds St. John Bone-Jolly Gamay and Roséon Wine-Searcher.com:
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Edmun ... g_site=WLP

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Re: WTN/Wine Advisor: A rosé blooms in January (ESJ Bone-Jolly)

by SteveEdmunds » Mon Jan 14, 2008 2:17 pm

Robin; nice to see the new note. I've been thinking this might be a dandy Valentine's Day drink.
DISCLAIMER: I make and sell this wine. :D
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Re: WTN/Wine Advisor: A rosé blooms in January (ESJ Bone-Jolly)

by James Roscoe » Mon Jan 14, 2008 4:37 pm

Steve Edmunds wrote:Robin; nice to see the new note. I've been thinking this might be a dandy Valentine's Day drink.
DISCLAIMER: I make and sell this wine. :D

Good call Steve! If you are having a chicken or pork dish with your Valentine, I could see this working wonders. Now I need to find a store that sells it locally.
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Re: WTN/Wine Advisor: A rosé blooms in January (ESJ Bone-Jolly)

by Bob Henrick » Mon Jan 14, 2008 5:21 pm

Robin Garr wrote:Have you tried serving hearty-style rosé at warmer temperatures as a substitute for a light red wine? Tell us about your experiences!


Hi Robin, it is fortuitous that you should feature this wine today. I was at a friends house and since I had bragged on this wine all summer long, he had sought it out and we opened it this afternoon. Even though it was WAY too early for a sip, we sipped it anyway, and damned near went through the entire bottle. His wife brought us a snack of thin cut porkchops that she had sauteed slightly then placed in a casserole dish and topped with vegetables to include carrots, baby red potatoes, cherry tomatoes, and onions. she had painted the vegetables pretty heavily with evoo, drizzled a bit of soy and a bit of Worcester sauce over them S&P of course and then roasted them for 45 minutes at 400 degrees. WOW what a match, I am glad I stopped by.
Last edited by Robin Garr on Mon Jan 14, 2008 5:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Fix broken quoteback
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Re: WTN/Wine Advisor: A rosé blooms in January (ESJ Bone-Jolly)

by Bob Henrick » Mon Jan 14, 2008 5:54 pm

James Roscoe wrote:. Now I need to find a store that sells it locally.


James, Schneider's of Capitol Hill carries this wine, but they are out of stock at the moment. They will order it if you would like them to, but special order requires a 6 or 12 bottle requirement. Their number is 800.377.1461. I am not sure whether Steve has any still in stock, but it is still listed on his web page.
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Re: WTN/Wine Advisor: A rosé blooms in January (ESJ Bone-Jolly)

by Warren Edwardes » Mon Jan 14, 2008 6:39 pm

If one can drink reds and whites and blancs de noir in winter then why not rosés?

After all the wine is to be drunk indoors probably in front of a fire or central heating. And the ambient indoor temperature in winter is often a lot higher than in summer with the airconditioning on full blast.

But be careful with overchilled rosés. Tannin feel is enhanced and bitterness kicks in at low temperatures.

Also I find that many rosés can deteriorate quite rapidly as soon as as a year. I don´t know why.
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Re: WTN/Wine Advisor: A rosé blooms in January (ESJ Bone-Jolly)

by Robert Reynolds » Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:59 pm

Steve Edmunds wrote:Robin; nice to see the new note. I've been thinking this might be a dandy Valentine's Day drink.
DISCLAIMER: I make and sell this wine. :D

I'd certainly love to try it, but I can't get it in this misbegotten State in the middle of nowhere!
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Re: WTN/Wine Advisor: A rosé blooms in January (ESJ Bone-Jolly)

by Eve Lejeune » Tue Jan 15, 2008 5:06 am

Being a big fan of pink wines, I drink pink wines during the winter. It's usually one of those French pale rosé I love so much: "Pétale de Rose" by Régine Sumeire, the pink wine of the Commanderie de Peyrassol and Château des Gavelles are my favorites. I usually serve them with the Thanksgiving turkey and they fare very well with the poultry. Pale pink wines can hold against more robust dishes, such as pork sausage or sweet ham.

Even in France, country of the rosé wines with Provence, pink wines are not drunk during the cold days and it's a shame. I can't get any of the rosés of Steve here but I'll certainly drink some when in the US in the next few months. Pink wines are easy to fare with various food and are wonderful on vegetarian food.

Chilled or not chilled? During the winter I serve them at the same temperature as white wines - a little warmer than during the summer.

Cheers, Eve

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