Terra Sigillata

As I agonized over what I'd write about for this week's installment of The Friday Fermentable, my Wine Authorities newsletter arrived followed by their tweet on their inaugural music video.

Wine Authorities, my local wine merchants and community gods, have been spreading the gospel of rosé wines as a summer alternative to the red wines we enjoy most of the rest of the year. But contrary to the sweet white zinfandels and such that might turn off those who enjoy good wine, there is now a plethora of foreign and domestic wine offerings (and values) that show off red grapes in a lightly-crushed version. (Briefly, by minimizing the amount of time the red grapeskins are incubated with the must, some color and flavor compounds in the skins are extracted without the heavier tannins of a fully-extracted red.)

From the circle of the magnificent rose collection at the Sarah P Duke Gardens, I present The Pope of Pink, The Right Reverend of Rosato, and The Rabbi of Rosé, "(We Always Promised You) A Rosé Garden."

At Wine Authorities we practice Roséism - the drinking of dry pink wine. Our mission is to convert the unconverted. We want to teach wine lovers that pink wine is not necessarily sweet. Drink the pink. We donate a percentage of every rosé bottle sold to the Triangle, NC Susan G. Komen Foundation.

There are too many highlights to list but as a former Polish National Catholic altar boy, I particularly appreciate the incensing technique of the Jewish co-owner, Seth Gross, using a bottle of rosé. The nod to Jimi Hendrix at the end was also a nice touch of reverence.

Please excuse me while I find my asthma meds and change my pee-soaked underwear.

Special thanks to:
Chris Boerner (Sound Pure Studios, Durham, NC)
Dennis Scoville (pedal steel guitarist extraordinaire)
Charles Stern (Best Boy, Key Grip, Fluffer - I can't believe they said "Fluffer")
Larry Gottschalk (Photographer, Cinematographer)