What makes a wine a "Rosato"?

I've posted a note about a Rosato from Miner, 100% Sangiovese, but I'm not sure why it's called a "Rosato".

Thanks, Bob

[Robin Garr]

It's Italian for "Rosé," Bob. Just as a Spanish rosé is a Rosado.

[James Roscoe]

I've posted a note about a Rosato from Miner, 100% Sangiovese, but I'm not sure why it's called a "Rosato".

Thanks, Bob

I assume it's rose. Where is your note? I will look for it. My wife and I are quaffing all the roses we can get our hands on as long as they are good.

My wife and I are quaffing all the roses we can get our hands on as long as they are good.

I had a 2005 Lageder Lagrein rose' the other day that was just yummy. Lots of minerality, light, and refreshing.

[James Roscoe]

My wife and I are quaffing all the roses we can get our hands on as long as they are good.

I had a 2005 Lageder Lagrein rose' the other day that was just yummy. Lots of minerality, light, and refreshing.

That's an Austrian rose, correct? We had one last week I should have written up. It may have been the best rose of the summer! With all the great French roses and Spanish rosados, this Austrian blew my socks off. As Otto would say, "It rocked!"

That's an Austrian rose, correct?

Actually, it's Italian, from Alto Adige. But I'd like to hear about the Austrian one you had.

[James Roscoe]

That's an Austrian rose, correct?

Actually, it's Italian, from Alto Adige. But I'd like to hear about the Austrian one you had.

Those Tyrolians get me every time! I will have to go back and figure out where I got it and what it was. My suspicion is that it was a pinot rose from the Wachau.

I guessed that but this Rosato is deep red, very high alcohol, no sense of lightness at all. A very nice Sangiovese, with an earthy taste, and a different fruity taste -- no sense of Italy at all. They say made in the French manner -- I assume only tanks, no oak.

But I would never guess this was a Rosé.

Thanks for any enlightenment.

Regards, Bob

PS: how did you get that accent grave in there? Thanks for any enlightment on that front as well. B.

Here you are James: http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/vil ... ght=#14049

Regards, Bob

[Robin Garr]

I guessed that but this Rosato is deep red, very high alcohol, no sense of lightness at all. A very nice Sangiovese, with an earthy taste, and a different fruity taste -- no sense of Italy at all. They say made in the French manner -- I assume only tanks, no oak.

But I would never guess this was a Rosé.

Thanks for any enlightenment.

I can only speculate, Bob, but it sounds like an odd case of self-definition that missed, or perhaps the wine maker's desire to position his Sangiovese as a lighter style. Is it at least a clear red like, say, a Burgundy, as opposed to the opaque black of a hefty Shiraz or Central Coast Pinot?

PS: how did you get that accent grave in there? Thanks for any enlightment on that front as well. B.

Turn NUM LOCK on. Hold down your ALT key and, while it's down, type the numbers 1 3 0 in sequence on your numeric keypad. Let go of ALT, and the é will appear at your cursor location.

The same system may be used for many other accented characters:

ALT-147 - ô
ALT-131 - â
ALT-138 - è
ALT-129 - ü
ALT-164- ñ
ALT-155 - ¢
ALT-156 - £
ALT-168 - ¿
ALT-173 - ¡

Etc., ad infinitum. I'm sure it would be easy enough to google up a complete list, but the above cover a lot of wine-related uses.

Just be careful about NUM LOCK. If you don't have it set right, in certain browsers you can get very weird and unpleasant effects, specifically a sudden loss of your editing screen and everything you've typed in it if you type certain numbers with ALT pressed - mostly those in the middle row. NUM LOCK needs to be ON to avoid this.

Thanks, Robin.

Our favorite Rosato is the Cerasuolo from Montepulciano d'Abruzzo (as opposed to the one from Sicily). There are many good pruducers including Illuminati, Cataldi Madonna, and Valle Martello. Freely admit that these are heavyweigt rose's, but fill in wonderfully when your rose' fodder is grilled in summer or moderately sauced.

Thank you Carl. Rosato is new to me -- I was surprised at its heft, and from what you write, that's a characteristic of the Italian style. Appreciate the info.

Regards, Bob

Hi Bob,
I guess it would depend if the letter “r” of the word rosato (rosati) on the wine label was in lowercase or uppercase (Rosato or Rosati). As Robin has indicated rosato or rosati simple means rose (pink) in Italian. But according to Ron and Sharon Tyler Herbst- Wine Lovers Companion, when the term on a wine label is written Rosato or Rosati (capital “R”), it means a little more, a rose wine produced from specific, approved grape varieties, which can differ depending on the DOC and region. When it comes to Italy things can get fairly confusing. Rosato wines are vinified much like white wine, but depending upon the grape variety and clone (especially when it comes to the grape variety Sangiovese) and how long the juice sits on the skins before being separated and then fermented into wine, a Rosato wine from Italy can go well beyond rose in color as well as rose in flavor and structure. (Of course it would be a lot less tannic and less complex than if the grapes were vinified using the red wine method). But in Italy a wine produced in this way, are a Vini Rosato or Vini Rosati and not a Vini Rossi. (Now I’m confused).

Salute

Thanks. I'll have to do a little wine store research on the names in Italian wine bottles. There are some really extensive stocks in the Bronx and Manhattan.

To add to the mix, there's this note from Robinson's Second: "Pink wines are not especially popular in Italy, where the term used is usually rosato although chiaretto, meaning claret, is occasionally used for darker rosés."

If I knew this when I wrote my tasting note on the Miner Rosato, I would have called it "chiaretto" -- it was in the claret region for color.

Thanks again. Bob

Bob, unless you enjoy the memory work, there is another way to get the accented characters. In the folder Windows subfolder System32, there is an Exe file called Charmap.Exe which has about any character one would ever need to use. It does necessitate calling up the program, selecting the character, copying the character then pasting it into the text you are writing. For me at least it is easier than memorizing all the possible Alt key combinations. I keep a shortcut to the program on my desktop for convenience sake. I also keep the desktop checked in the toolbars so that I can easily access the desktop without quitting the page I am working on.

If all this is superfluous, then delete this post.

Thanks, Bob. I had forgotten that. I actually made a link to it on my Desktop, but somehow the name "charmap" doesn't register.

I'll change to to something more descriptive. Many thanks for the memory aid.

How are you? I've missed seeing your posts recently.

Regards, Bob

Hi Bob,
I guess it would depend if the letter “r” of the word rosato (rosati) on the wine label was in lowercase or uppercase (Rosato or Rosati). As Robin has indicated rosato or rosati simple means rose (pink) in Italian. But according to Ron and Sharon Tyler Herbst- Wine Lovers Companion, when the term on a wine label is written Rosato or Rosati (capital “R”), it means a little more, a rose wine produced from specific, approved grape varieties, which can differ depending on the DOC and region. When it comes to Italy things can get fairly confusing. Rosato wines are vinified much like white wine, but depending upon the grape variety and clone (especially when it comes to the grape variety Sangiovese) and how long the juice sits on the skins before being separated and then fermented into wine, a Rosato wine from Italy can go well beyond rose in color as well as rose in flavor and structure. (Of course it would be a lot less tannic and less complex than if the grapes were vinified using the red wine method). But in Italy a wine produced in this way, are a Vini Rosato or Vini Rosati and not a Vini Rossi. (Now I’m confused).

Salute

What's confusing about this? I'm lost.

Carl mention a rose from Abruzzo, Italy called Cerasuolo. Another name for this wine can be Montepulciano D’Abruzzo Rosato DOC wine. Basically that’s exactly what it is. It is produced from an 85% min Montepulciano grapes and the winemaker complied with the rules and regulations governing this type of wine.

Salute

although chiaretto, meaning claret, is occasionally used for darker rosés."

Chiaretto is the word most used here on Lake Garda for pink wines.

Given how delicious and useful rosé can be, it's strange that there aren't more indigenous rosé types in Italy (as there are in southern France, for example).

I have just started bringing in two of them, from Puglia and the Abruzzo, and I'm looking forward to drinking them this summer. (It doesn't help, as you've all observed, that there are different ways to say 'rosé' in Italy: cerasuolo, chiaretto, rosato, kretzer.)

There is a really nice Austrian rosé--of zwiegelt--from Tegernseerhof. Nice strawberry and red currant aromas and flavors. Should run around $11.

On most traditional Italian (and French) wine labels the size of the characters and whether the characters are in uppercase or lowercase all have a meaning. With that said I’ll say this- any rose wine made in Italy can be labeled rosato. But as Peter May has posted the term Chiaretto is used (and I believe it is reserved-note capital “C”) for a Rosato (a rose wine produced from a specific region and governed by rules and regulation-note capital “R”) produced in the Garda DOC or Garda Classico DOC zone. There is only one Italian rose wine that can be labeled Cerasulo and that is a Montepulciano D’Abruzzo Rosato DOC wine. (Man! Am I that old? Thank God they are easing up on the labeling.).

Salute

rosé, .........aagh thats how one does it!!!! Thanks Bob R