The different shades of rosé wine
Rosé is THE hype of summer. However, we can hear a lot of mistruth about rosé wine, just like the fact that rosé wine is a combination of white and red wine, or clear rosé wines are lighter than the others. Here are few tips to understand all the shades rosé has.
1) Pale or dark rosé wine, a different winemaking technique
Contrary to the received wisdom, rosé is not a blending of red wine and white wine (except for Champagne rosé). It is made from black grapes with white pulp and red/purplish skin. Pigments within the grape skin give the rosé its color. It will macerate more or less time to obtain a more or less light color. There are two types of winemaking techniques: “rosé de saignée” (The Saignée Method) or “rosé de pressurage” (Maceration Method). For the saignée method, grape skins macerate with the juice for 24 hours. Then, we must separate the tinted juice in a tank, in other words “blood the cuvée” to vinify it elsewhere. The other part of the harvesting can be used to do some red wine. In this case, the rosé is darker with a great ageing potential. For the maceration method, you need to press the whole bunches of grapes immediately after the harvest, without any maceration. In this case, the color of the wine will be lighter and the rosé wine is ready to drink right away. Another point, the wine cellar cooling is really important. If berries and juices are refrigerated, the color can take more time to appear and be less intense.
2) Pale or dark rosé wine, different grape varieties and terroirs
Beyond the winemaking, rosés wines differ from a region to another, especially because grape variety and their degree of maturity are different. That is why a rosé from Southwest of France will have a denser color with a nice structure and strong hints of red fruits. A rosé from Provence will have a pale color with fruits and flowers aromas and a nice freshness.
3) Pale rosé wines are trendier?
Since the last 10 years, rosé wines are getting clearer and, as a light color is seen as a sign of quality. Under distributors and consumers pressure, many winemakers modified rosé color to get closer to rosé from Provence for instance. For regional diversity, it is a real danger. In coming years, the challenge for this area will be to reinstate its identity for each rosé according to the region.
There are more than 140 shades of rosé, we can hope to see “La vie en rosé”, right?
