April is Blush Wine Month in the Hudson Valley!

In the Hudson Valley, April is Blush Wine Month! Blush wines and rose wines are an excellent light bodied alternative. Great for brunch, light, and light evening meals. They tend to be spicer than whites, but not as heavy as reds.

They tend to be pink in color. Some might be a nice bright pink, others might be a more muted salmon pink, or a slightly softer pale pink.

There are two kinds of pink wine: rose’ and blush. Rose’ is the drier of the two. Rose’ is generally made bone dry like a nice Chablis or something along those lines. Bight acidity and low tannins with fresh fruits. These wines are usually great with cheese, salads, fish, light chicken dishes, or even porck chops with light sides. These are elegant, light wines of distinction. Blush on the other hand is usually off-dry to semi-sweet. These are great with fun foods like bbq, nachos, salads, Chinese or Thai foods. These are great wines as the summer gets warmer, and you want to sip something fun by the pool or on the backyard patio, great for summer parties.

Pink wines are usually made in several different ways.

The best rose’s are usually free run pressings of red grapes. Maybe the wine is left on the skins for a few brief hours just to get the right amount of color. Others take part of the run and let the wine sit on the skins until it is red, and then add back a certain amount for coloring that way it is all the same grape, but the winemaker can then determine how dark or light they want it.

Other times, it’s a blending of two different wines red and white.

Dry rose’s have been made in Europe for years. But the sweeter style blush is an American invention. According to Wikipedia, “In the early 1970s, demand for white wine exceeded the availability of white wine grapes, so many California producers made "white" wine from red grapes, in a form of saignée production with minimal skin contact, the "whiter" the better. In 1975, Sutter Home's "White Zinfandel" wine experienced a stuck fermentation, a problem in which the yeast dies off before all the sugar is turned to alcohol. Winemaker Bob Trinchero put it aside for two weeks, then upon tasting it he decided to sell this pinker, sweeter wine.”

Rosé has now exceeded white wines in sales.

Here are some wonderful blush and rose wines from the Hudson Valley:

Amici Dry Rose

Benmarl Catawba


Brookview Station Sunset Charlie

Brotherhood May Wine



Colebrook Signature Rose
El Paso Rosebud


Happy Bitch

Hudson-Chatham Salamagundi Blush

Mountain View 2008 First Kiss Blush

Palaia Joyful Pink


Pazdar Rendezvous

Tousey Rebellion Rose


Saratoga Blush Crush

Stoutridge 2007 Quimby's Rosé

Warwick Black Dirt Blush

Regardless of whether you like dry rose’s or semi-sweet blushes, these wines are fun, fresh, and fruity, and an excellent alternative when red just seems to heavy and white too light. After all, pink is a happy color. It’s always fun!