In a sense, pink wine, or rosé, pleasantly straddles the colour spectrum between red and white wine. When red grape skins are briefly in contact with the wine, rosé results. Rosé wines are stained crimson for only a few hours, unlike certain red wines that mature on red grape skins for days on end. When the wine achieves the ideal shade, the winemaker removes the red grape skins—the source of the red pigment—to complete colour control. As you might expect, any red wine grape can be used to make rosé wine, from Syrah to Cabernet Sauvignon, but there are a few typical styles and grapes that are chosen for rosé.
How Rosé is made?
As we briefly mentioned earlier, skin contact gives rosé its pink hue. The wine's colour is imparted by the grape skin rather than the juice, which is transparent when grapes are crushed. The colour of the grape skins spills into the juice during the fermentation process, giving the wine its colour. This technique is known as maceration in winemaking.
Winemakers only allow rosé to macerate for a few hours to a day. The juice is fermented once the skins have been removed and the juice has reached the correct hue. Because different maceration techniques are used, rosés can have a variety of pink hues. Despite the widespread misconception that all rosé is produced by blending red and white wine, this type of rosé is not prevalent.
Flavour profile
Rosé wines typically have softer flavours compared to their red wine varietal cousins. The predominant fruit choices are strawberry, cherry, and raspberry, with some citrus and watermelon showing up frequently. Depending on the region and maker, rose wine can range from being quite dry to fairly fruity.
How and when to enjoy Rosé?
Rosés go well with a range of warm-weather foods and are served chilled, making them ideal for spring and summer. Rosé wines are the most adaptable to a variety of foods. You can have your steak and shellfish at the same time if you choose rosé. It's also a fantastic wine for a picnic because it typically has a lighter body and a more delicate taste on the tongue, making it the perfect wine companion for chicken or sandwiches, fruit, potato or egg salad, and a variety of chips and dips. Rosés are also the ideal company for a backyard BBQ because they go well with burgers, hot dogs, French fries, and ketchup.