Styles of Rose Wines

Styles of Rose Wine

Rose wines got a bad rap after the sweet monodimensional pink wines of the 1960s and the white Zinfandel craze of the 1980s. Most rose wines prior to 1990 were uncomplicated sweet wines. Even the rosé wines from France, often from the Anjou region, followed the trend, as did the ubiquitous Portuguese Mateus and Lancers. There were always exceptions. The rosé wines of Tavel were always very dry and were the benchmark pink wine for connoisseurs. Typical French rosé  wines are bone dry with racy acidity. It took a long time for Americans to develop the taste for dry rosé wines. That time has now come. Splendid dry rosé wines made from premium grape varieties are flooding the market.

Three Styles of Rosé

Blended rosé wines. Most value-oriented rosé wines are made by mixing red and white wine together. You could do this yourself and you might even like the result. But don’t turn up your nose. Some excellent French rosé wines are made precisely in this way.

Saignée. Saignée is the French term for blood. In winemaking it refers to the “free-run” juice that leaks out in the crusher before the grapes are actually crushed. This juice carries a little color from skin contact, but not much. It’s close to the pure juice of the grape and ferments into a light pink rosé wine.

Skin contact. The grapes are pressed and the juice is left in contact with the skins for a period from a few hours to two or three days. This procedure will render a darker pink wine with more extracted flavors. It’s a style very much in favor in New World rosé wines.

Rosé wines should always be served chilled and make a perfect picnic wine to accompany sandwiches and other common picnic foods because of their neutral, yet fruity flavor.