You may be bored of reading about roses. Since the past 15 years, the pink wave has witnessed rising output and consumer numbers in the last few years, with sales growing by 118 percent between 2015 and 2020 and $3.1 billion in revenue worldwide through 2022. It’s inspired trend pieces on everything from the millennial market to whether jalapenos are appropriate in your glass of wine, numerous celebrities’ brand extensions, and more and more hashtags causing a stir. It’s easy to think of the subject matter to be well-known.
We’re trained to consume wine while fresh and young, so we’re more likely to buy bottles of the newest vintage to open up in the next few weeks or hours. You’re not mistaken! Most roses are made to be consumed precisely that way, fresh and cold, and best placed next to a swimming pool, but they’re not the only varieties of roses available on the market. A smaller group of winemakers create roses that age from 3 to 20 years in a bottle. For those willing to put off buying for a long time, aging roses offer an entirely new perspective on wines that’s easy to like; however, in certain circles, it isn’t considered serious.
It is all dependent on how the wine was produced. “There’s a fork in the road with rose production,” Explains Nicole Rolet, principal and CEO of Chene Bleu, located in Provence. Certain winemakers grow and vinify specific grapes for the sole purpose of creating top-quality roses. For example, Chene Bleu’s winemaking team cultivates five meticulously picked white and red grapes for its rose. The wine is made by direct pressing and maceration instead of the conventional and, sometimes, less well-known Saignee method, which entails taking off a portion of red wine to make a rose.
It’s because a company like Chene Bleu is committed to premium roses. At the same time, other producers may optimize their selection of grapes, cultivation, and winemaking methods to create the best red wines available and then consider Rose an offshoot. They are produced quickly and then released quicker as commercial or seasonal ventures than the wines on which winemakers stake their reputations. They might end up with an enticing drink on your table, but they’re usually not made to last.
Plus, some of those love-’em-and-leave-them-roses are made with additives like tartaric acid to achieve the pale color and crisp flavor of preternaturally popular Provencal rose, Rolet says. “That’s the stuff that will cause your wine to be relegated to a brief shelf time. It will separate over time, and the wine will begin to fall into pieces and lose age-related capacity.” This could be incredibly confusing to those who think that pale-colored roses are associated with Provence and everything Provencal with high-end. However, in reality, ballet-pink wines with different quality are produced across the globe.
However, looking through a wine shop, it’s impossible to tell whether a winemaker has employed what Rolet calls “magic powders” to doctor their wine. In the U.S., wineries aren’t required to disclose the ingredient names on the labels. This is one reason why analyzing grape varieties is helpful.
Make sure you are looking for rose blends that include grapes with a long shelf life
“We know that Syrah and Bordeaux’s blends tend to age very well,” says Dimitris Skouras, winemaker of Domaine Skouras in Argos, Greece. “Years of winemaking has shown that all of those are varieties capable of aging.” Skouras’ famous Peplo rose is made from equal parts Syrah together with two of the indigenous Greek types, Agiorgitiko and Mavrofilero.
Based on this, it is believed that a rose with high proportions of durable red grapes such as Syrah, Mourvedre, or Baga, which are grown in regions in which they’re known for flourishing, could indicate that the wine was made to last.
However, there is no easy way to make wine, and there are also complexities here. Even if a wine was made from Syrah and Mourvedre grapes that come from a reputable estate or region, there’s no reason to prevent producers from vinifying it to speed rather than for quality, preserving it, or stabilizing it for quick release using additives, or forming a short-lived rose.
Poggio al Tesoro
Gabay mentions the longevity of the Tuscan producers’ rose Cassiopea Pagus Cerbaia. It’s made from a mixture of Cab Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon and is vinified using French oak and amphora and then aged inside bottles over a couple of months before releasing.
Luis Pato
Itkin suggests that anyone looking for vintage roses should look into Portugal, specifically, this Bairrada producer whose 2004 rose was made of Baga and stored in a bottle for a long time before its release.
Clos Cibonne Tibouren
Itkin says this revered Provencal label is a source of roses that are built to last. Cuvee Tradition Cuvee Tradition features only a tiny amount of Grenache and Tibouren grape, a renowned variety indigenous to the region and grown at the Cru Classes winery. The wine is aged for a year in foudres under the Fleurette, a fine layer of yeast that forms naturally and is then bottle-conditioned.
Azienda Agricola Valentini Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo
“If you’ve got the dough, Valentini’s Cerasulo from Abruzzo is one to try,” Itkin says. Itkin. The cherry-colored wines are priced at hundreds, shrouded in mystery, and some people claim that the winemakers are infamously secretive. Utilize just the 5% grapes from family-owned vineyards close to Loreto Aprutino to make wine even.
Domaine Ott Chateau Romassan
The widely-available pale-pink wine comes from AOC Bandol, a region known for its high-quality rose. Mourvedre is the most prominent component of this blend, but it also contains Cinsault, Grenache, and a hint of Syrah and Syrah, all of which grow in sunny, dry conditions and sandy and limestone soils.
Chene Bleu
From a 1000-year-old, high-altitude area located in the Vaucluse department of the Southern Rhone, this organic, pale-pink rose is made up of Grenache Syrah, Mourvedre, and other varieties planted in stony clay as well as limestone soils that are more closely linked in those of the Northern Rhone. The roses can benefit from at least three years and 10 years of age on the both teen Simone.
Gabay and Itkin have cited the pink-colored ruby’s longevity from the AOC Provence label. It is comprised of more than six grape varieties, which are cultivated on old vines. The grapes are harvested by hand. Parts are hydraulically pressurized, and others are then bled through the saignee. Wine is aged with the leaves in small oak barrels before the bottles are bottled, providing texture and structure with each level.