How Is Rosé Made?

Rose, a very popular drink across the world, but many are left wondering how this is made. We have put together some information to help you understand your wine better.

  

Rosé wine is grown like other wines- using a wide variety of red grapes grown all over the world. The dark coloured grapes give the wines the beautiful pink colour.

    

    The skins of the red grapes are removed during the production, leaching the tannins off the skin, which affects also the flavours of the wines. This stops the contact between the grape and its skin, keeping the rosé a nice pink colour, instead of a deep red. Although the depth of the pinkness of your rosé depends upon grape variety, it also depends upon the length of time the grape skins are in contact with the fruit for. 

       

   

Vin Gris is a popular method of making rosé in France. This method involves minimal maceration time. This is produced by removing some of the clear juices from the fruit to make the wine, instead of leaving this to rest with its skin on for a small period of time (like normal rose production). The rest of the grape is normally used to produce Pinot Noir or other deep red wines, by pressing the grapes for a second time. 

   

Rosé is most famously produced in the Provence region in France - 

    

The Provence region has been producing rosé for 1000s of years and is well known for its fruity and delicate notes in their wines. The most commonly used grapes are Cinsault, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Ugni blanc.    
     

   

The mixture of white and red wines is called a 'blush' and 'rosé' refers to the fermentation process, where the skins are removed. 

   

  

Rosé wines do not keep well because the younger wines taste fresher.