A Rosé is a Rosé is a Rosé

Or is it? The famous quotation from Gertrude Stein doesn't quite stand up when applied to Rosé wines today. A good rosé has a lot to offer says Elizabeth Gabay

- Elizabeth Gabay

Rosé has had plenty of in-fashion moments throughout the centuries, with references from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries extolling the beautiful colours of these lighter red wines, comparing them to jewels, sunsets and even, somewhat less romantically, to the eye of a dying partridge — oeil de perdrix. The fashion for these lighter wines waned during the 19th century when big, deep, dark reds became the trend. A pink revival occurred after the second world war, especially in America, when pretty, girly-pink, off-dry or bubbles were all the rage.

The modern rosé boom started in the 1990s, and once again the visual element and the glamour played an important role, with books and films setting the scene of a bucolic Provencal idyll. Visions of floating through lavender fields or sitting under umbrella pines overlooking the Mediterranean became inextricably linked with the image of a glass of chilled rosé. The only problem is that lavender and vines do not grow together, and other than the pink and purple colourful imagery, there is little connection!

Provence took this one stage further, not only incorporating these images in their marketing over the past 30 years, but also tying in with the popularity of healthy Mediterranean cuisine. Restaurants along the Cote d’Azur benefitted from the enticing image of a chilled bottle of youthful rosé on a table laden with seafood, salads, a bowl of olives, with the sea and yachts in the background. The glamour of Hollywood, with the arrival of superstars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie making their own rosé at Miraval in 2012, cemented this image. Who doesn’t want to fantasise about being a Hollywood star with a glass of pale rosé?