Pink!

Have I mentioned before that I'm a red-wine kind of girl? Red wine makes me smile. It makes me think of rich meals, warm candle light, the contented feeling you get after a bout of strenuous work. Like a muscular novel or a fascinating man, ain't nothing better on a cold winter night than a robust glass of Cabernet. Or Merlot. Or Mourvedre. So many wines, so little time...

But I digress. And winter is long gone. So time now to shed the heavy cloak of deep reds and go...pink.

                                             

 I know. People of a certain age (that would be my age) are still a little skeptical of  rosés. They've been trendy for a few years, are winning all kinds of awards and turning the heads of wine writers all over the place. But no matter what the critics say, rosés are still pink. They remind me of Hello, Kitty. I'm sorry, I just can't help it.

But recently, out of curiosity, I tasted one. I had stopped in at an obscure little winery near Pullman called Wawawai Canyon. The owners, David and Stacia Moffett, also grow grapes nearby, in a little wrinkle of the Palouse, an area famed for rolling hills of wheat. It's the first vineyard in Whitman County since before Prohibition, and if you've ever been to the Palouse (home of Washington State University-- Go Cougs!), you can see why. The hills are steep, the land is arid, and the heat can be intense. But the Moffetts have seen some success. I tasted a delicious Merlot and a nice Cabernet.

They also bottle an intriguing Carmenere from grapes grown in the Walla Walla Valley. I like a good Carmenere. It's a lighter red wine with earthy, peppery notes, perfect for white meats like pork.  Senior Winemaker Ben Moffett was pouring, and when he proffered the Carmenere rosé, I figured, why not, even though I expected to dislike it. But Ben was persuasive. He poured. I sipped. And you know what? I liked it. I really liked it. It was full-flavored, dry, an interesting blend of flavors you'd expect to find in a nice red wine -- the pepper I mentioned earlier, with dark red fruits, a little smoke, but with all the light cripsness you gravitate to on a hot summer day.

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And it was the perfect complement to this beautiful chicken salad, festooned with avocados, roasted red peppers and corn, and flavored with a delicate lime cilantro dressing. This is a patio salad, but the day we ate it was blustery, with spring winds hurling themselves across the hills, so we stayed inside. But inside or out, it's delicious. Pull the cork on a nice rosé and give it a try.