Rose Wine

A rosé (from French, rosé [ʁoze]) is a type of wine that incorporates some of the color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the skin contact method. The pink color can range from a pale “onion-skin” orange to a vivid near-purple, depending on the grape varieties used and winemaking techniques. Usually, the wine is labelled rosé in French, Portuguese, and English-speaking countries, rosado in Spanish, or rosato in Italian.

There are three major ways to produce rosé wine: skin contact, saignée, and blending. Rosé wines can be made still, semi-sparkling or sparkling and with a wide range of sweetness levels from highly dry Provençal rosé to sweet White Zinfandels and blushes. Rosé wines are made from a wide variety of grapes and can be found all around the globe

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Color of Rosé

According to Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins de Provence in France, rosés in Provence display one of the different colors below:

• Melon (Cantaloupe)
• Peach
• Redcurrant (see fr:Groseille (couleur))
• Grapefruit
• Mango
• Mandarin

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Many studies have shown that the color of wine influences consumers’ perceptions about the wine. While these studies have shown that consumers tend to prefer on visual inspection the darker rosés, in blind taste tests where color could not be visually discerned (such as using black wine glasses), often consumers preferred the lighter-colored rosés.

For these reasons, many rosé winemakers are mindful of the color quality of their rosé and make winemaking decisions based on this factor. This includes the extent of maceration, whether or not to do a saignee from a darker red wine and even to do a color adjustment by blending in some finished red wine in order to reach the desired color.

French rosés

Many of the earliest red wines produced in such notable wine regions as Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne were “rosé-style” wines made from juice that had only brief periods of skin contact during winemaking. But even as the trend in these regions evolved towards more modern ideas of “red wines”, rosés still hold a prominent place in many of France’s major wine regions.Today rosé is produced throughout France from the cooler climate rosé Champagnes and Loire Valley wines to the warm Mediterranean influence climates of Provence and the southern Rhone Valley

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 ROSÉ WINE STYLES

1. Rich and Fruity Rose Wines
2. Crisp and Dry Rose Wines

1. Rich and Fruity Rose Wines

Candied summer fruit.

Ranging from vivid pink to deep raspberry, these fruit-driven wines are often typical of rosé made in warmer climates, like Spain and Australia.

Characteristics

• Ripe berries
• Vanilla
• Cherry
• Bonbons
• Spice

2. Crisp and Dry Rose Wines

Delicate summer berries and herbes de Provence.

Characteristics

• Dry
• Herbal
• Strawberry
• Cherry
• Grapefruit