What is Rosé Wine?

Rosé wine got its name from the French word for “pinkish” (rosé). It has some of the colour typical of red wines, but only enough to give it its pink colour which can range from pale orange to near purple, depending on the grape selection and the wine making technique used.

There are a few ways to produce rose wines. The most common being Skin Contact, Saingée or Blending.

Skin Contact is when red grapes are crushed and the skins are kept in contact with the juice for a short time, usually only a couple of days. The longer the red grape skin stays in contact with the juice, the more intense the colour of the wine will be. The grapes are then pressed and all skins are removed as the wine enters the fermentation stage.

Saingée is when rosé wine is produced as a by-product of the red wine fermentation process. Some of the juice is removed from the vat. This increases the concentration of the red wine therefore giving it a more intense colour and flavour. The juice that is removed can then be fermented separately to produce rosé wine.

Blending is the simple mixing of red and white wine to create the pinkish colour. This method is uncommon and most wine growing regions avoid it preferring the saingée method.

How Wine Is Made?

The grapes commonly used for making wine (vitis vinifera) ripen in late August or September depending on the seasonal conditions and of course which continent the grapes are growing in. Winemakers will taste the grapes and measures the sugar content to decide when the best time to harvest is.

When this is decided, the grapes are harvested as quickly as possible. The harvested grapes are dropped into bins and taken to the winery to be crushed.

This is where the production process of red and white wine differs. When the grapes are crushed, the skin and seeds remain in the red wine process but the skins and seeds are removed for white wines.

For red wine, the juice, skins, and seeds are poured into stainless steel tanks, where fermenting takes place. Yeast is added to this grape juice. The fermentation begins when the yeast starts to digest the sugars in the grape juice. Carbon dioxide and alcohol are also produced during this process.

Following fermentation, the wines are usually poured into oak barrels where the wine will stay to age. During this time, the wine is then pumped from one barrel to an empty barrel. Any solids that remain in the first barrel are removed and then the barrel is ready to be used again.

After months of aging in the barrels, the wine is moved into a bottle where it will stay at the winery and continue to age. When the wine is sufficiently aged in the bottle, the wine is ready to be shipped to the shops for the end consumers.