Choose Between Two Options
- $20 for a wine and cheese pairing for two ($40 value)
- $27 for a wine and cheese pairing for four ($54 value)
The tasting includes a wine glass for each person and a cheese platter.
Rosé: Behind the Feminine Mystique
Between reds and whites is a somewhat less ubiquitous style of wine: the crisp, light rosé. Imbibe Groupon’s exploration to view the world through rosé-colored glasses.
Often typecast as a feminine drink, rosé takes its pink hue from the skins of the red-wine grapes with which it is made. In Provence, France’s leading rosé region, winemakers allow the skin of grape varietals such as pinot noir, cabernet, and shiraz to remain in contact with the crushed grapes for about one to three days. The longer the skins mingle with the juice, the deeper pink the rosé will be. Rosé can also be made by taking some liquid out of red wine in its early stages and fermenting it separately as a lighter-colored byproduct—a somewhat controversial method known as saignée, or “bleeding”—or by simply mixing red and white wines, though this is generally frowned upon in winemaking circles and is illegal in much of France.
The reputation of rosé as a wine for housewives and others who can’t be expected to appreciate “serious” wines probably stems from the popularity of ultrasweet white zinfandels that emerged from California in the 1980s. Despite white zinfandel’s saturation of the US market (it was the best-selling varietal for more than a decade), rosés can range wildly in flavor from sweet to bone-dry and in effervescence from still to sparkling. Served chilled, their crisp, often fruity notes of citrus, strawberry, or cherry pair well with alfresco meals of barbecued pork, seafood, or spicy Thai and Indian dishes. Those put off by the wine’s pinkish hue would do well to remember that the first red wines grown in Greek-occupied France 2,600 years ago were quite light in color, meaning that even the toughest Greek soldiers would toast to their victories over a rose-hued beverage.