Vineyard & Winery Management

July/August 2013

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MARKET WATCH TIM TEICHGRAEBER Taking Rosé Seriously Pink wines with purpose uilding a new the Provence region American of France to the U.S. appreciation jumped 41% in volof pink wines has ume and 43% been a long proin value from cess for rosé November 2011 to producers, and November 2012, a central tenet of according to the the sales pitch has CIVP/Provence Wine always been that Council and the French rosés are "fun" and customs agency. This inherently unpretentious. comes on top of a 62% That message may have jump in volume the previous given macho men permisreporting period. sion to indulge in an occasionVirtually any U.S. wine critic al glass of pink wine, but it also or sommelier will tell you that gave a lot of wineries license to most American rosés are too ripe, dribble out lousy blush and saignée too pink (or red) and lack the preciwines without worrying about whether sion that Provençale rosés deliver. If you the wines would ever be seriously criserved an American rosé in Provence, it tiqued. Plenty of otherwise outstanding would probably be regarded with a diswineries have made $25 saignée syrah dain usually reserved or grenache rosés that were barely drinkfor ketchup and German able. But hey, they weren't supposed to tourists. be serious, were they? The difference has Maybe it's time that U.S. wineries less to do with terroir or started taking rosé more seriously. climate than it does The category continues to with intention. + Rosé sales growth is strong, show very strong growth, Rosé is the especially for sophisticated, year after year. Nielsen core prodpurposeful rosés. reported that sales of rosé in uct for most + Quality rosé is grown, the over-$7.99 category were Provence picked and pressed with the up 25% in dollar value for the Rosé wine sales have seen wineries, and goal of making a crisp wine 52-week period ending March double-digit growth in the they take it that mixes ripe and slightly 30, 2013, compared to the last year. Photo: Thinkstock rather seriunderripe character. same period a year ago. Sales o u s l y. T h e i r were up 39% over the four-week period viticulture, picking deci+ With the right vineyard ending the same date compared to the sions and vinification techsources and techniques, a previous year. It seems like we've been niques are all tailored to rosé program can grow to seeing steady increases for quite a while execute a style of rosé meet increased demand. now, and it's possible to build a substantial that's, well, pretty much + Savvy buyers may seek out brand around that kind of growth. the best. Sure, they're fun lighter-colored wines. Some of those sales are going to Amerito drink, but they're also can wines, but most have been ceded excellent wines, and that's to imports. Exports of rosé wines from very much by design. AT A GLANCE w w w. v w m media.com J u l y - A u g 2 0 13 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 21

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