"rose wine" news and stories

• Say farewell to The Minimalist (but not to Mark Bittman!).
• There's an endless variety of noodles in China -- and they're increasingly available in New York. (Think: way beyond lo mein.)
• You might go there for the scene, but the food at John Dory Oyster Bar is "incredibly good."
• This week in wine: Everything's coming up rosés. (Really?)
• The ham bone's connected to the soup bone in this hearty winter recipe.

• Paula Deen's influence goes beyond cooking -- the Horseshoe Casino is renovating its buffet in her honor.
• Want a summery drink? Think pink -- or rather, rosé.
• Southerners take their fried chicken seriously. It can't just be good -- it needs to be honest.
• The Kentucky Derby is behind us this year, but who says you can't still have a mint julep?

The Riveter. Photo: LeNell Smothers.

Alabama-born LeNell Smothers defines herself first and foremost as a bartender, but she's been called many things -- most recently, the proprietress of LeNell's liquor store. She's owned her own whiskey label called Red Hook Rye and has been recognized by her home state as an honorary Colonel. Other interests include gin, sin and men.

I drink rosé year round. Get over the idea that it's a flimsy soda-pop wine meant for picnics. When in doubt for food pairing, I often go with the pink. Rosé can be so versatile, even as an ingredient in a cocktail.

You can still find Bordeaux bottles every now and then, labeled claret, that are dark, dry, "serious" rosés. For my cocktail feature this week, I strongly suggest picking up a bottle. If not Bordeaux, look for a rosé made with Bordeaux grapes like cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc or a malbec that's so dark, it's almost a light red.

Rosé ain't for wimps. Neither is this cocktail named after Rosie, the American icon who represented the many women who went to work in factories to help us make it through World War II. Toast all the beautiful and strong women in your life who make this world a better place!

Get the recipe for Rosé the Riveter after the jump. ...

Pink Criquet 2006 Rosé Wine is 13% abv. and an Appellation Bordeaux Rosé from France. The slim and elegant silver label with a bright pink criquet on it, is set off by the metallic pink screw top. Don't make the mistake that this is an inferior wine because of the screw top, because it is anything but. Many great wine makers are switching to screw tops and plastic corks to prevent their wines from becoming "corked." This is where a wine has been bottled with a cork contaminated with TCA (2,4,6-Trichloroanisole) which can ruin the taste and smell of the wine, giving it musty aromas and tastes. It is estimated that as many as 3% to 7% of all wines have TCA contamination, but you don't have to worry about that with the Pink Criquet.

Pink Criquet 2006 is made with 60% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from Bordeaux. A percentage of the grapes are left to sit on their skins for a short time after crushing so that it picks up more flavor and color, in a process called saignée. This gives the wine its deep, solid, bright rosé color and complex flavors.

The aroma is that of deep red fruit. Berries of all kinds, apples, with a wisp of citrus. I was chopping some Buddha's Hand citrus the other day and caught faint notes in this wine. The taste is crisp and refreshingly dry with good fruit, sweet berries and tart citrus, and even a hint of cranberry. All with a medium light and smooth body. A bit of acid and tannins make this a nice sipping wine that works in the summer or winter. You can also serve it as a before dinner aperitif. Served well chilled it is crisper and lighter, but if you serve it a bit warmer it becomes deeper and fuller, almost like one of the light red wines.

Rosé wines, the ones that are pink, have long been the object of a bit of snickering amongst oenophiles. They've been labeled as too sweet and too cheap, but in recent years, rosés have improved in quality. They are being embraced not only by wine connoisseurs, but when once "club-hopping hipsters and tastemakers" were sipping Prosecco and Cosmopolitans, now it's rosé.

In the past, rosé was often made with grapes harvested for other wines and doesn't age, making it less credible than reds and whites and hard to take seriously. However, wineries around the world have begun to harvest rosé-specific grapes. Needless to say, rosé quality has improved.

Who's been seen drinking the pink? Alex Kapranos, the lead singer of the rock band Franz Ferdinand, Pamela Anderson, and the MisShapes, a group of three influential Manhattan party promoters and DJs in New York.

If you want to try, here are a few suggestions:

• Domaines Ott is the most recognizable brand of rosé and the top seller around New York's restaurant and club scene. The trendsetting rose was bought by Champagne Louis Roederer, the maker of Cristal Champagne, two years ago. However, it is rather expensive, ringing in at about twice the price of most rosés.
• Castello di Ama from Tuscany sells for about $15.
• Muga from Spain, which is about $11.
• Sofia Rosé is a wine from Francis Coppola's vineyard named for Sofia Coppola. (Though we're not so sure about that sparkling wine in a can.)

Just note that, according to some, "The rule is it's pretty much rosé exclusively all summer until the end of the season, around late September. By then we're all so rosé logged that we're happy to dry out for a while."

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