how rosé is made Winemakers use nearly all types of grape varietals to produce rosé. And, it can be made still, semi-sparkling or sparkling with a range of sweetness levels. There are basically three ways to make rosé wine. The main style used for making rosé as a primary wine is called the maceration method. It is a method of letting the juice stay in contact with the grape’s skin for a period of time ranging from two hours to a couple of days depending on the producer and winemaker’s choice. The longer the skins are left sitting in the juice, the darker the color of the finished rosé and the more the wine will take on the tannin structure found in red wines. After the time with skin contact, the grape’s juice is strained from the solid matter, called “must”, and fermentation begins. Another method is called Saignée, pronounced “san-yay”. This method consists of taking the juice from the first part of the red wine process and putting it into its own vat. This is a common methodology in regions that produce fine red wines like Napa and Sonoma. The purpose of bleeding off the juice not only produces a lovely rosé but it also concentrates the red wines’ intensity. Lastly, the blending method is used when a bit of red wine is added to a vat of white wine to make it pink. It doesn’t take much red wine to dye a white wine. This is more common in regions where sparkling wine is produced such as Champagne, France.
what to look for A N O L E M R E T A W H T A L C S F A L E M O N T E S O R U H I T S I B G K P R V U W E D I S U R T I C R I S P L H F O R A B H A J A R R H U B A R B G I R E S W R O S A T O S E A N G C F R I B S T R E M G S O I N O L E M W E D Y E N O H H L E P U V E T P R R A S T I C K E S K E A K E S R T D B N F R M U T C N L T O E Y I L G R A S G I I E H A K H S N E P U P T L P C L W L Y C A E N O I S E Z E N I L E U H R N D A T D S R P O D K S K E Z E S T Y O N O I T A R E C A M E R D A
ROSÉ blends blush celery cherry citrus crisp delicate fruitY 14
hibiscus honeydew melon lemon maceration orange pink refreshing rhubarb rosato
rose petal saignée sparkling still strawberry sweet watermelon versatile zesty
swirl, sniff, sip, savor How to identify wine in the glass Most obviously, the tell-tale sign of a rosé wine is from its color: PINK! Other than that, depending on the type of grape the rosé wine is made with will vary the flavor, as will the sweetness level of the wine. For example, a deeply colored Italian Aglianico rosé will bring out lively orange and soft cherry flavors while a pale-colored Grenache rosé from Provence will taste of honeydew melon, lemon and celery. Essentially, there is a range of variance in style of rosé depending on region, grape and sweetness level which will determine slightly different palette characteristics of the wine. Overall, the primary flavors of rosé wines, in general, are strawberry, watermelon, rose petal, hibiscus, honeydew melon and citrus zest. For drier rosé, there is often a pleasant crunchy green flavor similar to celery or rhubarb with a slightly salty finish.
Stephanie Culen is a Certified Sommelier, Wine Scout and Personal Wine Consultant and currently works at Passalacqua Winery in Healdsburg, California. She is a contributing writer for Wine Country This Week, as well as www.whichwinery.com, an online resource for wines and wineries around the world.
What’s in a glass? Would wine in any other glass smell as sweet? There are two types of wine glasses generally used for rosé wines. One option is a stemmed glass with a short bowl and a slightly flared lip. The flared rim glass directs wine to the top of the tongue to help temper the crisp acidity or enhance any sweetness in the wine, depending on the style chosen to imbibe. The round bowl of the glass emphasizes the fruitiness of the wine. The other option is an all-purpose white wine glass since the process of making rosé mostly resembles that of white wine.