Rosé is not a grape but a way of making wine. Its colour comes from the skins of red grapes, which stay in contact with the juice for a shorter or longer time. Depending on the method and the grape, it ranges from very pale “onion skin” to deep raspberry. It is made everywhere, but its best-known examples come from the south of France: Provence, Languedoc-Roussillon and Tavel, in the Rhône Valley.
It also has a long history. The first red wines were probably much paler than today’s: in antiquity, pressing and maceration methods produced light-coloured wines, the ancestors of our rosés.
The grapes
Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah and Cinsault dominate in the south of France. Elsewhere, local grapes make the rosé: Pinot Noir, Gamay and Cabernet Franc in the Loire; Sangiovese, Montepulciano, Negroamaro or Nebbiolo for Italian rosato; Tempranillo and Garnacha for Spanish rosado. In the Spanish Basque Country, lightly sparkling rosé Txakoli comes from local grapes such as Hondarrabi Beltza.
How rosé is made
Most rosés are made by maceration: the juice stays in contact with the skins for a few hours to a day or two, long enough to take on colour, then it is drawn off and fermented like a white wine. The longer the contact, the deeper the colour.
Saignée means bleeding off part of the juice from a vat of red wine early in maceration: that juice becomes a rosé, and the remaining red becomes more concentrated. Finally, blending white and red wine is banned for still rosé in Europe but allowed in Champagne, where most rosé Champagnes are made this way.
Tasting
Aromas vary with the region and the grapes: citrus and tart red berries for the palest rosés, melon, peach and cherry for the deeper ones, sometimes with notes of Provençal herbs, garrigue or sea spray.
Beyond France, Spain and Italy, rosé also matters in Austria, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, California, Oregon and New York State.
The glass
A glass with a fine, slightly flared bowl highlights rosé’s freshness and fruit: the Riedel Veloce Rosé glass.
