Live, Love Rose Wine
Wine, Dine and Shine
Customarily, Rose Wines are either sweet or dry. Overall, most often they tend to err on the dry side. However, old-world rose wines are typically bone dry. Nonetheless, new-world rose wines are sweeter along with a more pronounced fruit flavor.
The fruit flavor and sweetness in the New World Rose Wines are mostly because of variations in climate. Moreover, the employed production methods are also different.
Rose Wines typically incorporate some of the colors from the grape skins. But this is not enough to qualify it as red wine. Nevertheless, rose wine is the oldest known type of wine. It is the most unvarnished skin contact method to make wine.
Despite that, rosé is not a specific type of grape variety. It is simply a genre of wine. Like reds and white wines. Nonetheless, it is produced like other red wines, although the time rosé wines ferment with grape skins is cut shorter. It is the reduced skin contact that eventually gives rosé wine its signature, ‘pink color’.
Read Between The Wines
The first question that comes to mind is; is rosé wine a drink for women? Many folks normally associate it with the female gender because of its color. Apart from that, the truth is that rosé wine is not necessarily more delicate than red or white wine. This myth is essentially untrue because there is no one palate common to all. Taste is invariably similar to women and all men.
The Making Of Rosé Wine
Indeed rosé wine is rapidly becoming the go-to booze for several wine lovers. Thanks to the spike in popularity, quite a few winemakers nowadays are choosing to produce pink wines alongside the usual reds. The conventional process of making pink-tinged wine has elements of both red and white wine production methods. They adopt the same fermentation processes as red wine. But these wines are fermented at the temperature of white. You may also find some winemakers choosing to simply blend red and white wine to create pink. Nevertheless, this approach is forbidden in most of the countries in the European Union.
Here is a breakdown of the conventional winemaking techniques for rosé wine. And most of these start in the vineyard itself.
- Picking Black Grapes: Except for rosé champagne, almost all rosé wines are made from black grapes. However, rosé champagne uses chardonnay in its blend. The first step in the production of rosé wine is to harvest black grapes from the vineyard that you intend to utilize in the making of a pink-tinged wine. Most rosé winemakers are found to grow a variety they intend to make red wine with. But they allocate a small amount of the crop as well dedicated to producing a pale pink wine from the same harvest.
- Initial Crushing: The grapes used in the process of making rosé wine are abashed into juice. This is done either by a machine or the old-fashioned method of using both feet and hands. There are quite a few small wineries that still prefer to crush the fruit barefoot in vats. This procedure is sometimes referred to as ‘foot trodding’ or ‘grape stomping’.
- The Fermentation Process: This is the most exciting part of the making of rosé wine. This is where grapes turn into alcohol. The juice of black grapes is placed into a stainless-steel fermentation tank. After which, yeast is added to convert the fruit sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide; just like it is done during the production of red wine. The skins however are left on during the fermentation process to ensure that colors, flavors, and tannins are rendered and imparted from the grape skins to the rose wine.
However, unlike red wine, it is essential to ferment rosé wine at a much lower temperature alike white wines. Red wine on the other hand can be fermented for weeks at normal temperatures. It is therefore necessary to ferment only for 12 to 36 hours to create a rosé wine so that the grape skin contact is kept minimal. The only time you will need to ferment without grape skins is when you are adopting the Saignee approach for the production of rosé wine. This is when the crushed grapes are made to sit in a vat for 1 to 2 days before being filtered. This ensures that the grape skins are not present because the juice is transferred into the fermentation tank. This establishes that the colors and tannins are transferred to the blend just before fermentation. And not during the fermentation process.
- Pressing & Removing Skin: The wine now needs to be pressed to remove any trace of grape skins from the final blend after a short fermentation process. This is essential unless you are using the Saignee technique where skins are filtered out before fermentation. You will see at this stage that the resulting wine is pale pink in color. This is because the grape skins have been in contact with the wine only for a very short amount of time.
- Bottling: Most rose wines are bottled right away. This is to make sure that the delicate fruity flavors are effectively captured. And most pink wines are best when consumed young. The only exception to this rule is the vintage rosé champagne where bottle aging usually benefits the wine. Rosé wine on the other hand will have fining agents added to it. This is to get rid of any haziness in the appearance of the wine. And which will subsequently be ready for immediate consumption.
- Indulgence: Most rose or pink-tinged wines are best served chilled. This is due to its gentle character and elegant aromas. It is therefore recommended that you cool your rose wine in the refrigerator before opening it. This will accentuate the refreshing fruity flavors of the drink.
Some Myths And Truths About Rosé Wine
There is an increasing acceptance and consumption of rosé wine. But there still are numerous illusions and superstitions that confuse its image. Down here, we try to help clarify many of these myths so that you can appreciate the excellent values that exist behind consuming rosé wine.
- a) Rosé Wine is a Blend of Red and White Wine
This is one of the most widespread false information about rosé wine. It is factually incorrect. The truth is that rosé wine is not a blend of red wine and white wine.
It is possible that rosé wine can be made from a mixture of red and white grape varieties but it is not really a mix of red and white wines as such. In any case, rosé wine is not about color, but this facet is generated due to a brief contact with the skin of the grapes. This aspect not only tints the wine but also provides the tannins that also come along.
Contact with grape skins can last for up to a week in the making of red wine. But in the case of rosé wines, it lasts only for about 24 hours. Subsequently, the ‘bleeding’ process is carried out to extract the must. This really explains why its color is pink and not reddish.
- b) Rosé Wine is Only Enjoyed During the Summer Season
This is yet another myth or false information like the one that says that red wine only goes well with meat. Or the one that says that white wine is meant to be consumed with fish. There is no fixed singular rule or a single possible combination for any type of wine.
But it is true that rosé wine is usually consumed chilled as it can be light and refreshing in this condition. And, therefore, a good choice for summer. However, this by no means says that it can only be enjoyed during the summer season. In short, there is no fixed time or a moment when you can enjoy or relish a wine. You are always free to choose the moment and the ways to consume wine.
- c) Rosé Wine is Only for Women
This false information comes from sexist stereotypes. They maintain that rose wine is a ‘women’s thing’. And even assign tastes or preferences according to gender. This idea basically originates since rosé wine is supposedly more delicate than other types of wines. Therefore, it is a preferred choice for women. There also are other types of people who, because of its color, associate rosé wine with the female gender.
The truth from experience is that rosé wine is not necessarily more delicate than red or white wines. This is false information because there is no one palate common to all. Including women and all men. There are no separate wines for men and women. Regardless of gender, there are as many tastes and palates as there are people.
- d) Rosé Wines Have Little Alcohol Content
Another false belief about rosé wine is that it contains little alcohol. This is not true at all. There are rosé wines that can reach up to 14 percent ABV (Alcohol By Volume).
- e) Rosé Wines are Always Sweet
This is another myth that is just as untrue as the previous one, that rosé wines have low alcohol content, and other wines have high alcohol content. However, we can definitely say that there are sweet rosé wines and other drier ones as well where acidity predominates. It all depends on the winemaker as to what they want to achieve. But it is true that there are rosé wines for all types of tastes and palates.
- f) The Intensity of the Color of Rosé Wine is an Indicator of Quality
This is far from the truth. The intensity of the color of a rosé wine is determined by the maceration time. Or by the type of grape used in the making. Moreover, this is not at all an indicator of the quality of wine. Some of the most highly rated rosé wines available in the market are salmon-colored.
- g) Rosé Wine Does Not Go Well with Food
People usually associate rosé wine as an option for cocktails. Or aperitifs rather than to accompany a meal. Nevertheless, the truth is that rosé wine is very versatile. It can pair very well with cold meats, rice dishes with fish, rice dishes with meat, salads, smoked meats, and white fish, among other options.
- h) Rosé Wines are of Inferior Quality to Red or White Wines
It is a prejudiced opinion that rosé wine is a sort of ‘third option’. And mainly because of its lower quality and complexity when compared to red or white wines. This is however not true.
You can find several rosé wines around the world that have the quality seal of 90+ Parker Points and 80+ Peñín Points.
The key to the quality of wine lies in the variety and quality of the grapes and the soil. Eventually, it results from the complexity of the winemaking process as well. And its passage through the cellar among many other things. The type of wine however matters the least.
- i) Rosé Wine Consumption is Low
The world consumption of rosé wine has in fact soared over seventeen years according to the Observatoire Mondial du Rosé. And it was also found to be growing at 40 percent between 2002 – 2018. In fact, global consumption reached a record level of 25.6 million hectolitres in 2018. And rose wine production recorded 26.4 million hectolitres in the same year.
The figures also show that the global flow of rosé wines reached €2.2 billion in terms of countries in 2018. At the same time, It reflects that premium rosé wines mainly come from France and Spain maintained a strong entry-level position.