They're sometimes called the 'summertime wines' and rosé continues to gain fans around the world. Excellent rosé wines come from areas in Portugal, France, Spain, Canada, Australia and the USA.
As a style, rosé was all but extinct, but is considered by some to be a light, fresh and delightfully fragrant wine style.
There are three main methods for making rose wines. The most common is to allow limited skin contact between the juice and the skins, exactly like how it is done with red wine, but for a much shorter time period, typically around two to three days. The second method is when some winemakers bleed juice off from the vats of what will be red wine, during fermenting. The excess juice is then fermented on its own, as a side product of the red wine. The third method, blending two colors of wine together to get a third, is frowned upon and only done in the interest of reckless experimentation or in the case of Champagne, as a common practice in some wineries.
Rose wines are rare mainly because very few wine grapes benefit from making a rose version. If the tannins are good enough to be included, then they are good enough to make a red wine. If the wine does better with less tannins, then it does even better with no tannins at all. Most rose wines throughout history have been dry, delicate varieties. However, the arrival of wine culture upon the shores of the United States produced a fashionable craze for "blush" wines, which are actually only white wines made from red wine grapes or half-fermented wines with a hgih sugar content.
A mix of white and red wine is sometimes called a rosé. In fact, it isn't. Just as red wines get their colour from the grape skins, rosé wines are carefully produced by removing the skins just before the liquid is a deep red. The taste is always light, but most have overtones closer to a red.
White Zinfandel, which is popular in the US, is not a true rose, but a blush, the result of removing some of the fluid to give red zinfandel more colour and flavour.
The best time to drink rosé is within 12 months of vintage when they are still fresh with good aromatic fruit aromas.
Blended wines are a much-respected wine-making method in both the Old World and New World wine cultures, but rose wines have at best spotty support. Between these two niches lies the world of blended rose wines. The fashion for rose and blush wines is very much a New World phenomenon, particularly the United States. In 1976, a novice winemaker trying to make a go of it in Sonoma County, California, made a batch of Cabernet Sauvignon that was far too light and too sweet by accident. Deciding that, since wine in the United States was virtually unknown, he could write the rules as he went, he decided to sell it anyway. Two years later he had made up the name "blush" for the new wine style.
However, pink-colored wines have actually been produced in France for some time, known as "vin gris". In particular, the Pinot grape varieties are used to make rose-style wines, and others might be blended into the mix. One particular French version is Oeil de Perdrix, which means "eye of the partridge" to describe its pink color. Other parts of the world blend Syrah, Grenache and Carignan grapes together for making blush or rose style wines. But these are seen largely as a by-product of red wine, and not the main focus of winemaking.
Even the most respected gourmet wine writers today admit to indulging in the occasional jug of rose, and while it still doesn't get considered a "serious" wine, it is touted as a plain old beverage for liquid refreshment, rather like soft drinks are considered. For those who are curious, the best idea is to go with what you like and forget the wine snobs and what they consider "serious".
One of the places where rose wines have dodged their questionable reputation is in the sparkling wines department.
Most people will refer to one of these as "pink champagne", and, barring international trade laws set by the Champagne region of France about what can and cannot be called "champagne", that's basically what it is. Now we see it in a new light. It's a drink for parties, baby showers, graduations, and the looser New Year's Eve celebrations.
Sparkling rose wines are made with different grapes and methods all around the world. In Austria, Blaufränkisch grapes are used to make a sparkling rose. In Australia, while the fashion is more for full-on red sparklers like sparkling Shiraz , a few wineries blend Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes to make a "pink fizz" sparkler, and, even as alarming as that sounds, the results have gotten good reviews.
Even in the Champagne region of France where actual Champagne is produced, some rose style sparkling wine is made. It's just considered redundant, since any red wine grape used to make Champagne is pressed so delicately that barely any contact between juice and skin occurs, so technically it's a "red sparkler", albeit not to the bold red shade indulged in Australia. Blended wines are a much-respected wine-making method in both the Old World and New World wine cultures, but rose wines have at best spotty support.
Between these two niches lies the world of blended rose wines. The fashion for rose and blush wines is very much a New World phenomenon, particularly the United States. In 1976, a novice winemaker trying to make a go of it in Sonoma County, California, made a batch of Cabernet Sauvignon that was far too light and too sweet by accident. Deciding that, since wine in the United States was virtually unknown, he could write the rules as he went, he decided to sell it anyway. Two years later he had made up the name "blush" for the new wine style.
However, pink-colored wines have actually been produced in France for some time, known as "vin gris". In particular, the Pinot grape varieties are used to make rose-style wines, and others might be blended into the mix. One particular French version is Oeil de Perdrix, which means "eye of the partridge" to describe its pink color. Other parts of the world blend Syrah, Grenache and Carignan grapes together for making blush or rose style wines. But these are seen largely as a by-product of red wine, and not the main focus of winemaking.
Even the most respected gourmet wine writers today admit to indulging in the occasional jug of rose, and while it still doesn't get considered a "serious" wine, it is touted as a plain old beverage for liquid refreshment, rather like soft drinks are considered. For those who are curious, the best idea is to go with what you like and forget the wine snobs and what they consider "serious".
One of the places where rose wines have dodged their questionable reputation is in the sparkling wines department.
Most people will refer to one of these as "pink champagne", and, barring international trade laws set by the
Champagne region of France about what can and cannot be called "champagne", that's basically what it is. Now we see it in a new light. It's a drink for parties, baby showers, graduations, and the looser New Year's Eve celebrations.
Sparkling rose wines are made with different grapes and methods all around the world. In Austria, Blaufränkisch grapes are used to make a sparkling rose. In Australia, while the fashion is more for full-on red sparklers like
sparkling Shiraz , a few wineries blend
Chardonnay and
Pinot Noir grapes to make a "pink fizz" sparkler, and, even as alarming as that sounds, the results have gotten good reviews.
Even in the Champagne region of France where actual
Champagne is produced, some rose style
sparkling wine is made. It's just considered redundant, since any red wine grape used to make Champagne is pressed so delicately that barely any contact between juice and skin occurs, so technically it's a "red sparkler", albeit not to the bold red shade indulged in Australia.
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