How is Rosé Made? The 4 Main Ways to Make Pink Wine
It’s officially rosé season, aka summer!
I know we’re all obsessing over rosé right now (myself included), but have you ever wondered how this pink wine is made?
Knowing how a rosé wine is made can help you determine if you have a preference for style because each production method results in unique wines.
Each of these methods will result in different colors and styles of rosé, depending on the producer and which region you’re drinking.
For example, rosé wine from Provence, France is pale pink in color, light-bodied and crisp. While in other regions you might see rosé wines with deeper color and more body. There are so many unique styles of rosé to taste!
The winemaking method usually isn’t marketed on the label, but if you do some research on the winery or wine region you are purchasing from, it may give you more insight on the type of rosé you’re drinking.
First off, let’s debunk the myth that darker rosé means sweeter wine...because there are some amazing dark pink rosé wines out there waiting to be enjoyed (shout-out White Zinfandel for giving them a bad rap).
I hope this quick recap on the production methods of rosé enlightens you and helps you discover your favorite style!
If you’re interested in learning more about wine, I highly recommend enrolling in a WSET class. Use my code LexSte2022 for a discount.
Or if you’re ready to learn more even more, you can always join our super awesome and welcoming community of wine lovers in the Wine Tasting Club. You’ll have an opportunity to join at least two educational virtual wine tastings per month (plus so many more perks)!
How is Rosé Made? The 4 Main Ways to Make Pink Wine
Rosé wine is structurally the same as white and red wines. By that, I mean the grapes are harvested from the vineyard, brought into the winery, and the grape juice is fermented to create alcohol.
However, there are a few key steps that give rosé its iconic pink color.
Winemakers will use the below techniques depending on the style of rosé they’re aiming for.
Maceration
The most common method of production, maceration, involves using red grapes to make rosé.
The red wine grapes are harvested, brought into the winery, and crushed to release their juices.
The crushed red grapes are then macerated, or soaked, for a limited period of time to allow the grape skins to influence the juice.
This soak lasts anywhere from a few hours to 48 hours, depending on the style of rosé being produced.
For example, Provence style rosé wines that are produced in this manner will be macerated for a very short period - just enough time to achieve the pale pink staining of the wine.
Since a wine’s color is extracted from the grape skins, the longer the maceration of skin and juice, the darker the wine - hence, the dark color has nothing to do with sweetness!
This extended skin contact can also provide more texture and body to the wine.
So if you taste a darker rosé, it may be fuller in body and more complex than the pale pink styles. This is not always the case, but I find this more often than not.
Rosé is one of the easiest styles of wine to pair with food, and an extended maceration may allow the wine to complement a wider range of food pairings.
Once the skins have macerated to the winemaker’s liking, the juice is drained from the skins and fermented to make rosé.
Saignée
Directly translating to “bleeding”, the saignée (“san-yay”) method involves bleeding off some juice from a vat that will be used to make red wine.
This bled-off juice is then produced into rosé wine, with color and structure resulting from the limited skin contact at the start of the red wine production. The rest of the juice will continue on to make red wine.
Saignée method rosé wines are typically more complex and fuller-bodied than other styles.
Try pairing these with Asian food or BBQ.
Direct Press
This is another common method which uses red grapes to produce rosé wine.
The grapes are harvested, brought to the winery, and pressed to extract the juices from the skins. Unlike the maceration technique, the juice is drained off the skins almost immediately.
This quick separation of skin and juice results in just enough color to make pink wine.
Keep in mind, some winemakers may choose to blend in some red wine at the end to achieve their desired color.
Blending
As the name implies, this method involves adding a very small amount of red wine to white wine, resulting in...pink wine.
This practice is commonly used to make rosé champagne (chardonnay + pinot noir/pinot meunier).
Blending might also be involved at the end of one of the other production methods described above.
For example, if a winemaker starts with directly pressing red wine grapes, they might also add a touch of red wine at the end to reach the desired shade of pink. It doesn’t take much red wine to stain the rosé pink!
Have you tried rosé made by each of these methods yet? Let me know which style is your favorite in the comments below!
If you enjoyed this post, you might also like this one about how orange wine is made and the best orange wines to try.
If you’re ready to taste some rosé, book a wine tasting with me, check out our upcoming wine tasting events, or join our Wine Tasting Club! We can taste through the different styles to find one you love!
Ready to further your wine education? Enroll in a WSET class today and use code LexiStephens for a discount.
Thank you to Wine Folly, VinePair, and my WSET book for being great resources for this post.