We have red, white and orange wine and of course pink wine, better known as rosé. But what do we know about rosé other than the majority of rosé wines are made from just red grapes?
Rosé wine, however, is not a modern-day creation. The Greeks and Phoenicians would press their red grapes soon after harvest with very little maceration, resulting in a pink hued wine. The Romans would often blend water with their red wine making a light red wine to help purify their drinking water and stop drunkenness.
Around 600 B.C., the Phoenicians took wine making to Marseilles and as a result, Southern France became a major rosé winemaking area. By the Middle Ages the pale clairets from Bordeaux became popular in England. These pale red wines were known as vin d’une nuit (wine of one night) as they had a single night of skin contact.
Likewise, Champagne of the Middle Ages was not truly white but a pale pink color because of winemaking methods. The pale pink color was suggestive of a partridge’s eye and nicknamed Oeil de Perdrix. By the 18th Century France had increased rosé production and Provence had become a major rosé exporter. However, it wasn’t until after WWII and the demand of the returning GIs that rosé wines started to become popular in the U.S., especially with the introduction of two Portuguese rosé brands, Mateus and Lancers.
The U.S. market for rosé wine blossomed with an increased demand for blush wine, also called vin gris. It was during this time that Bob Trinchero’s popular Sutter Home White Zinfandel, resulting from a stuck fermentation, was made and came to market. Today rosé wine is made around the world and goes by as many different names as there are countries making it: Italy – rosato, ramato and chiaretto; Spain – rosado and claret; Germany – rosewein, rotling, weissherbst and schillerwein; Austria – schilcher; and Switzerland – sussdruck. But with all this history what do we really know about rosé?
There are four major rosé winemaking methods and several variations. They are: Direct Press: red grapes are pressed, the juice has a pale color from the skins, and the rosé wine is made like a white wine; Maceration: the red grapes are lightly crushed and fermentation is started, after a few hours, but no longer than a few days, the skins are removed and the wine finishes fermenting; Saignée: a variation of Maceration, as the fermentation begins in the process of making red wine, some of the pale colored wine is “bled” off after a few hours or days and is fermented separately as rosé; Blending: mix a red wine and a white wine and voila!
Test You Knowledge
Question 1: Which of these methods has been banned in the European Union as a method of making rosé wine?
- Direct Press
- Maceration
- Saignée
- Blending
Answer: D – Blending, with the exception of Champagne. A little red wine is allowed to be blended with white wine to make rosé Champagne. Provence’s co-fermentation of classic red grapes with the white grape, Rolle (Vermentino) may also be considered an allowed exception.
Question 2: In 1999, which head of state had a preference for the drier more sparkling version of Mateus Rosé?
- Boris Yeltsin, President of Russia
- Queen Elizabeth of England
- Jacques Chirac, President of France
- King Juan Carlos I of Spain
Answer: B – Don’t know why Queen Elizabeth preferred Mateus but I liked it in the ‘70s.
Question 3: Although several Southern Rhone Appellations make rosé wine as well as red and white wine, which appellation is exclusively dedicated to making rosé wine?
- Lirac
- Gigondas
- Vacqueyras
- Tavel
Answer: D – Tavel makes rosé from grenache, syrah, cinsault and mourvedre
Question 4: Which country is the largest producer of rosé wine by volume? (2022 data)
- Spain
- France
- USA
- Italy
Answer: B – France 30%; Spain 21%; USA 10%; Italy 10%
Question 5: Which county exports the most rosé by volume? (2022 data)
- France
- Spain
- Italy
- USA
Answer: B – Spain exports more by volume, but France exports the most by value
Question 6: Which country imports the most rosé by volume? (2022 data)
- Germany
- France
- England
- USA
Answer: B – France is biggest by volume, but England is biggest by value. Rosé accounts for 10% of all still wine imports around the world.
Question 7: Which country consumes the most rosé wine? (2022 data)
- Germany
- USA
- France
- England
Answer: C – France 33%; Germany 11%; USA 11%; England 6%. Makes sense, France makes the most and imports the most, so they must consume the most!
Question 8: Where in France is the most rosé wine made?
- Bordeau
- Beaujolais
- Provance
- Languedoc-Roussillon
Answer: D – Languedoc-Roussillon – grenache, syrah, cinsault and mourvedre grapes are used to make rosé using both the lightly macerated and the saignée methods.
Question 9: Where, other than in the Champagne region, is a sparking rosé made?
- Languedoc-Roussillon, France
- Lombardy, Italy
- Western Styria, Austria
- Western Cap Region, South Africa
Answer: All of the above – In Languedoc-Roussillon it’s called Crémant de Limoux; in Lombardy it’s Franciacorta rosé; in Western Styria it’s Schilcher rosé; and in Western Cap Region it’s Cap Classique rosé.
Question 10: Which famous chef said, “Rosé can be served with anything”?
- Julia Child
- Auguste Escoffier
- Massimo Buttura
- Alice Waters
Answer A – Julia Child made this statement in her 1961 Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It is believed to be some of her best wine advice. After the publication of her book the popularity of rosé began to rise in the U.S.
Rosé wine has evolved from a remedy for unsafe drinking water to a solution for the question of what wine goes with what food. Rosé can be made from any red grape, it can be blended with white wine, it can be made any number of ways and it comes dry, sweet, still and sparkling from anywhere in the world. There’s so much to learn about the pink wine. So don’t hesitate. Just get a bottle, open it and enjoy! Cheers!
—CL Keedy, Wine Education Committee