Imagine Rosé Wine as your Family
Rosé is possibly the most ancient wine on the planet. Historically, ancient wine was generally pink-hued. Wines were made through a skin-contact method, field blended, and often red and white grapes were co-fermented. The color was also a product of uncontrollable cooler temperatures after harvest.
On the Mediterranean coast of France in the Rhône Valley, vines were cultivated in white sand where they could not produce much pigment or tannin. For centuries, they only made rosé there and it was considered a noble wine favored among the fourteenth-century Pop Innocent I, Russian czars and French kings from 1285 through the 1700’s. France emerged from the revolution as a red-wine-drinking nation and rosé nearly died out along with the aristocrats.
After phylloxera arrived in France from the United States in the late nineteenth century, French rosé production slowly resumed in the 1930’s. Finding a dry style rosé was not easy during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Rosé was not really considered a wine.
The past decade has been marked by a golden age of wine archaeology and the revival of long-forgotten winemaking techniques. We know more today about wines that fermented in amphorae. Winemaking is leaning towards the raw authenticity of wines vinified using archaic practices.
Each family has its history. There is a story that is told and passes from generation to generation. There are heroes and bad seeds. There is pride and humiliation. No matter what the story unfolds, the strength from what is learned is shared. Each generation passes on the wisdom of achievement and learns from the failures.
The history of the rosé family tells such a story. It has thrived and failed, evolved and blossomed. It brings light and pleasure, gives hope for the future. The recent rosé revival reflects on our desire for something more natural, something that is true to itself, something that can be simply enjoyed.
On the Chisholm Vineyards Sparkling Rosé label, there are two photos. On the front, is a snapshot of my grandmother with her 4 sister-in-laws. On the back, my grandfather with his 3 brothers and 1 brother-in-law. The images were taken back in the early 1950’s at the swimming hole and tell a story of a loving family, close and joyful. They supported one another during good times and bad. I often think of my grandfather and his extended family as a strong foundation that provides identity and resilience in facing the challenges of the day.
