What is Rose Champagne?

Rose Champagne is essentially any pink or blush champagne. Although I have said “pink” champagne, it can actually vary in colour much like a typical rose wine, from orange, to pinks, purples and even reddish in colour.

As with all white champagnes, rose champagne gets its name from being produced in the French region of Champagne. This is where the most famous and elegant of sparkling wines are produced.

The same methods are used elsewhere in the world but they aren’t able to adopt the champagne name as they are not produced in the region. These wines are simply named sparkling wines. It can also have a different name depending on what country it is produced in. In Italy, they have a sparkling wine called Prosecco, in Spain, they produce Cava.


How is it made?

Rose champagne or sparkling rose wine is made just like any other champagne. First of all, a still rose wine is produced by either blending white and red wine together to get a pinkish colour or a method called ‘Saignée’ which is when the wine is allowed to stay in contact with the grape skins longer than would normally be used to produce a white wine but a lot less than a full red.

This still wine is aged as usual in a wooden cask or in steel depending on the winemaker. The wine is then bottled with a mixture of yeast and sugar and left to age again. During this aging process, the yeast reacts with the sugar, converting it to alcohol. As the yeast does this, it produces carbon dioxide as a by-product. As there is nowhere for the gas to go, it is dissolved by the wine, creating bubbles.

The yeast is then removed. If left in, it would leave the champagne or sparkling wine cloudy.

First, the technique remuage (riddling in English) is used to move the yeast to the neck of the bottle by slowly rotating and tipping the bottle. This was once done by hand but is now mechanically done.

The second technique called dégorgement is then used to actually remove the yeast from the bottle. The neck of the bottle is cooled until the yeast is frozen. The lid of the bottle is then opened, the frozen yeast is slipped out and the bottled is then quickly resealed with a cork held in place by a small amount of wire.

Rosé wine on the up!

Probably one the most significant trends within the wonderful world of wine in the last couple of years has to be the increase in recognition, popularity and demand for rosé wines.

There are several reasons for this. Rosé wines can vary in colour, from pale to vibrant, ranging from orange through pink or sometimes even purple. These colour variations can be very eye catching and striking. This could be one of the reasons why rosé wines are more popular today.

Rosé wines can also be very refreshing due to their fruity taste and are usually served chilled. This makes them easy to drink and a great introductory wine for people new to drinking wine or has only been drinking wine for a short period of time. This used to mean that they were described as a more summer wine but now people are drinking them all year round and used for many different occasions. The rosé wine is winning over fans from both the red and white wine sections.

Another factor in the rising popularity of these rosé wines is that they can be quite flexible when pairing up with food. Rosé wines have great versatility and can match up with variety of foods and compliment many different meals. This makes it a great wine to serve at the dinner table if each diner has a different dish or if several courses are being served. The reduced tannin levels compared to their red wine counterparts make rosé wines an ideal match for dressed salads, seafood dishes, grilled meats and can even be a great wine used at barbeques.

Many of the well known wine makers have recognised this increasing popularity in rosé wines and are looking to find a place for themselves in an increasingly lucrative marketplace. This can only be a good thing as it means that the quality of rosé wines will keep improving when some of the best wine makers in the world are using their unique and well established wine making techniques to produce these wines. Gone are the days when a simple mixture of red and white wine was used to make rosés or blush wines.

Rosé wines are readily available today. You can find good value wines in your local supermarket or alcohol retailer from wine makers such as Gallo Family Vineyards or Blossom Hill. If you are looking for something a bit more special, there are several rosé wine specialists shops out there or online. If you are really looking to splash out, you could spend around £60 on a bottle of Chateau D’Esclans, Garrus from renowned winemaker Sacha Lachine which is regarded as one of the most expensive and best rosé wines on the planet. This wine is available at Rose-wine.com or on Wine-searcher.com.