Rosé wine is not a blending of red and white wines
(abstraction made of the exceptional case of the Rosé de
Champagne).
Rosé wine is made from red grape-varieties. And, nowadays,
many winemakers mix a certain amount of white grapes with the
red.
The elaboration of rosé wine is very delicate. It is the
reason why the amateur is sometimes disappointed by the quality
of a rosé. Particularity, European rosé is "dry".
On the contrary, American rosé is sweet and similar to
white wine.
There are least three methods of making rosé wine.
Grey or pale rosé wine
The grapes are pressed as soon as they arrive in the cellar, which
allows a quicker diffusion of the colour in the must.
The juice is left a very short time in contact with the skin.
No more than a few hours! That way the must is delicately coloured.
Rosé wine is then made in the same way as a white wine,
fermentation of the must cleared of solid elements with out any
more maceration. The winemaker obtains a grey or pale rosé
wine (Gris de Bourgogne, Rosé de Loire).
Coloured pink wine
To obtain rosé wine, coloured pink, the grapes are
put in the fermentation tank after having been crushed. The juice
quickly enriches itself in alcohol and the temperature goes up
(in the tank).
At the contact of the solid element the colour quickly diffuses.
The winemaker chooses the intensity of the colour by controlling
a sample every hour. When he is satisfied he devattes.
The wine is evacuated in another tank to finish fermenting. The
must left in the original tank, it is not used for rosé
any more.
The bleeding
To obtain an even more intense colour, during the initial
fermentation, the winemaker takes out of the tank , once an hour,
a certain amount of juice.
When the colour is satisfying, the vinification goes on as for
a white wine. Rosé de Provence are obtain by that method.
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