Wine Arcana

Style

Rosé

Also known as Rosé wine, Rosado, Rosato

Rosé is a family of pink wines usually made by limiting the contact between dark grape skins and their juice. Most dark-skinned wine grapes have pale flesh, so the winemaker can draw off lightly coloured juice before extracting the pigment and tannin associated with red winemaking. The range extends from pale, fresh still wines to fuller examples and sparkling rosé.

Extracting colour

In direct pressing, grapes enter the press without a preceding soak. Contact during pressing supplies some colour, and the separated juice then ferments. In a short maceration, crushed berries first soak together so that skins release more pigment and other compounds. The winemaker drains and presses the fruit when the desired extraction has been reached. Provence uses both methods extensively.

The result depends on the grape's pigment supply, ripeness, temperature, and the handling of the fruit. A longer or warmer soak generally extracts more colour. Fermentation, clarification, and maturation subsequently change that colour, so the shade of freshly pressed juice is only an intermediate stage.

Saignée, meaning bleeding, draws juice from a vat of dark grapes after some skin contact. When the remaining contents become red wine, removing juice raises the proportion of skins to liquid in that vat. The drawn juice ferments separately as rosé. Harvest decisions made for the red wine also determine the rosé's starting sugar, acidity, and ripeness.

Grapes grown specifically for rosé give the producer more freedom to pick for a lighter style. Earlier harvesting can retain acidity and limit potential alcohol; riper fruit can give greater weight. This vineyard decision helps explain differences between wines made with similar periods of skin contact.

Fermentation and variation

Once the juice has been separated, winemakers can manage fermentation much as they would for white wine. Protection from oxidation, juice clarification, yeast choice, and fermentation temperature shape the aroma. Fermenting to dryness or retaining residual sugar determines sweetness. Lees aging can add texture to wines intended for a fuller expression.

Rosé Champagne provides another route to pink wine. Producers can blend red and white base wines, or obtain a rosé base through skin maceration. Bottle fermentation and maturation then add the effects of the traditional sparkling method. Examples range from light and fresh to substantial wines whose fruit develops toward dried-fruit and spicy aromas with age.

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