Bright Red Rosé from El Capitan de Finca Adelma with Bright Seafood

Pink or orange are the common colors of Rosés. When you see a bright red Malbec Rosé, you get to wonder how this Rosé would taste...especially when it’s made out of a grape that is famous for its strength, complexity and tannin. Don’t be fooled by the charming color, the El Capitan Malbec Rosé is a weighty, a bit oaky, a bit buttery, medium-bodied Rosé that can be best paired with seafood of big flavor!

Credit: www.ewga.net

First, let’s find out what method is used to make this Rosé. According to Luis Manino, the importer of this wine, this Rosé is made using the limited skin maceration method. This method is by far the most popular method of making Rosé. The process is essentially leaving the skin of red grapes in the juice that’s crushed from the grapes to produce the color. For this Rosé, the skins are left to soak only for four to six hours, yielding the powerful and rich red hue that uniquely distinguishes El Capitan Malbec Rosé from its peers. After the limited skin maceration, the juice is then racked, or drawn off from the skins, and the Rosé-tinted wine begins its fermentation.

Mendoza Argentina-Credit: Wine Folly

Another important fact about the El Capitan Malbec Rosé is that it is coming from Mendoza Province, Argentina's most important wine region. This region accounts for nearly two-thirds of the country's entire wine production. Located in the eastern foothills of the Andes, in the shadow of Mount Aconcagua, the vineyards are situated at some of the highest altitudes in the world, with the average site located 2,000–3,600 ft above sea level. Located in the far western plain of Argentina, Mendoza has a continental climate and semi-arid desert conditions. The region experiences four distinct seasons with no extremes in temperatures which provides for a relatively consistent annual growth cycle for grapevines. The soil of the Mendoza wine region is primarily alluvial that’s loose sand over clay. Mountain rivers provide ample water supplies from melted glaciers in the Andes.

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When a man loves a Rosé, he drinks it with a straw straight out of a bottle! Capitan Finca Adelma Rosè Malbec looks vivid red, a bit out of the norm of the typical Rosè hues. It’s a Rosè that’s textured, dry, medium-bodied, infused with minerality and after all it’s balanced that appeals to both men and women’s palate! On National Rosè Day today, drink Rosè - a unique one like Capitan’s Malbec Rosè! #chinesefoodandwinepairings #capitanwine #rose #argentiawine #mendozawine #winemendoza #winelover #winelovers #malbecwine #wine #tastelikehappy #nationalroseday #nationalroséday

A post shared by Pinny Tam (@pairchifoodwine) on Jun 8, 2019 at 2:11pm PDT

While Rosé in the US seems to be targeting on women due to its attractive colors and lighter palate, the El Capitan Malbec Rosé’s richer mouthfeel, oaky and buttery notes equally impress men. The name “Malbec” Rosé on the bottle itself already draws attention and curiosity of a lot of Malbec lovers. No doubt about it, this Rosé is medium-bodied and structured which plays out really well with seafood that’s cooked with stronger spices and bold taste.   

Crawfish becomes a very popular seafood all over the world in recent years due to its great taste at a reasonable price point. Countries like China and Norway are fond of this little critter. Crawfish cooks really fast and can be cooked well in so many different ways like stir-frying, boiling and grilling. The flavors you can add to crawfish has no limit. My personal favorite is to stir-fry crawfish in chili powder, red pepper flake…however spicy you want it to be. El Capitan Malbec Rosé is a super accompaniment to spicy crawfish. It’s chilled, it tames. It’s substantial enough so you can still taste the wine while eating the spicy seafood!

Stir-frying shelled shrimp has its big advantage as the shell has a lot of flavors and usually shelled shrimp preserves the integrity of the shrimp taste. What we have here is the crushed skin-on garlic and chili shrimp that’s finger-licking good. The main technique here is to fry up the garlic in the hot oil first to release the garlic aroma fully before tossing in the shrimp. The chili is entirely optional. As long as the shrimp is not cooked in heavy cream or greasy curry, Rosé in general can handle shrimp really well. Of course, El Captain Malbec Rosé has this structure that can handle big favor like this garlic infused shrimp.

I like to BBQ shellfish on the grill in the summer as nothing can beat the charcoal flavors. Also, while waiting for the meat to cook, tossing some seafood on the grill can get your guests some appetizers in no time. These gigantic clams were from Sandy Hook New Jersey. They are typically cut up and used for clam chowder. But for me, I love grilling it and eat it straight – tasting the freshness and ocean salt from this seafood. These big clams are a bit chewy but have this unbeatable clam taste and abundant clam juice.

Drinking Rosé is a summer routine but not so routine is to sip this exceptional Rosé with seafood feast cooked in Asian style!