Arosé (French:[ʁoze]) is a type ofwine that incorporates some of thecolor from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as ared wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with theskin contact method.[citation needed] The pink color can range from a pale "onionskin" orange to a vivid near-purple, depending on thegrape varieties used andwinemaking techniques. Usually, the wine is labelledrosé in French, Portuguese, and English-speaking countries;rosado in Spanish;rosat in Catalan; orrosato in Italian.
There are three major ways to produce rosé wine: skin contact,saignée, andblending. Rosé wines can be made still,semi-sparkling orsparkling and with a wide range ofsweetness levels from highlydryProvençal rosé to sweetWhite Zinfandels and blushes. Rosé wines are made from a wide variety of grapes and can be found all around the globe.[1][2]
When rosé wine is the primary product, it is produced with the skin contact method. Black-skinned grapes are crushed and the skins are allowed to remainin contact with the juice for a short period, typically two to twenty hours.[3] Thegrape must is thenpressed and the skins discarded, rather than left in contact throughoutfermentation (as with red wine making). The longer the skins are left in contact with the juice, the more intense the color of the final wine.[4]
When a winemaker desires to impart moretannin and color to red wine, some of the pink juice from the must can be removed at an early stage in what is known as theSaignée (from French bleeding) method. The red wine remaining in the vats is intensified as a result of the bleeding, because the volume of juice in the must is reduced, and the must involved in the maceration becomes more concentrated. The pink juice that is removed can be fermented separately to produce rosé.[5]
The simple mixing ofred wine intowhite wine to impart color is uncommon and is discouraged in most wine growing regions, especially inFrance, where it is forbidden by law, except forChampagne. Even in Champagne, several high-end producers do not use this method but rather opt for the saignée method.[6]
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It is not known when the first wine labeled as a rosé was produced, but it is very likely that many of theearliest red wines made were closer in appearance to today's rosés than they would be to modern red wines. This is because many of the winemaking techniques used to make today's darker, more tannic red wines (such as extended maceration and harderpressing) were not widely practised in ancient winemaking. Both red and white wine grapes were often pressed soon afterharvest, (with very little maceration time) by hand, feet or even sack cloth, creating juice that was only lightly pigmented.[7]
Even afterthe development of newer, more efficient wine presses, many ancient and early winemakers still preferred making the lighter colored and fruitier style of wines. There was an understanding, as early as the time of theAncient Greeks andRoman winemakers, that harder pressing and letting the juice "sit" for a period with the skins would make darker, heartier wines, but the resulting wines were often considered too harsh and less desirable. This sentiment lasted well into theMiddle Ages, when the paleclarets from Bordeaux were starting to gain the world's attention. To the powerful English market, the most prized clarets were, according to wine historianHugh Johnson, thevin d'une nuit or "wine of one night", which were pale-rosé colored wines made from juice that was allowed only a single night of skin contact. The darker wine produced from must that had longer skin contact were known as thevin vermeilh (orpinpin to the English) was considered to be of much lesser quality.[7]
Similarly, in the earlyhistory of Champagne, the wines produced from this region during the Middle Ages were nothing like thesparkling white wines associatedwith the region today. Instead they were pale red and even pinkish, with some Champenois winemakers usingelderberries to add more red color to the wines as they competed with the wines ofBurgundy for the lucrativeFlemish wine trade. In the 16th and 17th century, the region achieved some acclaim for their "white" wines made from Pinot noir grapes, but rather than actually being white, these wines were instead a pale "greyish pink" that was reminiscent of a "partridge's eye" and earned the nicknameŒil de Perdrix—a style of rosé still being produced inSwitzerland. In the late 17th century, the Champenois (aided by the work ofDom Perignon) learned how to better separate the skins from the must and produce truly white wine from red wine grapes.[7]
Even as Champenois moved towards producing sparkling wines, they continued to produce both sparkling and still rosés often by means of blending a small amount of red wine to "color up" an already-made white wine. The depth of color was dependent on the amount red wine added, with the red wine having more influence on the resulting flavor of the wine if added in larger volumes.[1]
The history of rosé would take a dramatic turn following the conclusion ofWorld War II when twoPortuguese wine producer families both released sweet, slightly sparkling rosés to the European and American markets. These wines,Mateus andLancers, would go on to set record sales in Europe and the US and dominate the Portuguese wine industry for most of the 20th century, but their popularity has declined in the recent years of the 21st century. While they still have a presence in the European and US markets, the trend towards traditional, drier rosés, as well as the development of American "blush" wines like White Zinfandel, have cut into their market shares.[1]
In the early 1970s, demand for white wine exceeded the availability of white wine grapes, so many California producers made "white" wine from red grapes, in a form of saignée production with minimal skin contact, the "whiter" the better.[8] In 1975, Sutter Home's "White Zinfandel" wine experienced astuck fermentation, a problem in which theyeast goes dormant, or in some cases dies off before all the sugar is turned toalcohol.[9] Winemaker Bob Trinchero put it aside for two weeks, then upon tasting it he decided to sell this pinker, sweeter wine.[10]
In 1976, wine writerJerry D. Mead visitedMill Creek Vineyards inSonoma County, California.[8]Charles Kreck had been one of the first to plantCabernet Sauvignon vines in California, and offered Mead a wine made from Cabernet that was a pale pink and not yet named.[8] Kreck would not call it "White Cabernet" as it was much darker in color than red grape "white" wines of the time, though not as dark as the rosés he had known.[8] Mead jokingly suggested the name "Cabernet Blush"; later that evening, he phoned Kreck to say that he no longer thought the name to be a joke.[11] In 1978 Kreck trademarked the word "Blush".[12] The name caught on as a marketing name for the semi-sweet wines from producers such as Sutter Home and Beringer. Today, Blush wine appears on wine lists more often as a category, rather than a specific wine. In 2010 Mill Creek produced a rosé wine for the first time in years, although Jeremy Kreck (Charles' grandson and current winemaker) chose not to use the Blush name.[13]
Although "blush" originally referred to a color (pale pink), it now tends to indicate a relatively sweet pink wine, typically with 2.5%residual sugar;[14] in North America, dry pink wines are usually marketed as rosé but sometimes as blush. In Europe, almost all pink wines are referred to as rosé regardless of sugar levels, even semi-sweet ones from California. As the termrosé regained popularity in the US market, shares of wine labeled "blush" declined from 22% of all wines consumed in the US in 1997 to 15% in 2003.[1]
In the United States, a record 2005 California crop has resulted in an increased production and proliferation ofvarietals used for rosés, as winemakers chose to make rosé rather than leave their reds unsold.[15]
Rosé became a viral drink in 2015, with men who drink rosé being referred to as brosé.[16][17] In summer 2016, a slushy variation,frosé, was developed at the Bar Primi in New York.[18]
Rosés can be produced in a variety of ways with the most common method being early pressing of red grape varieties after a very short period, usually 12–24 hours, of skin-contact (maceration). During maceration,phenolics such as theanthocyanins andtannins that contribute to color as well as many flavor components are leached from the skins, seeds and any stems left in contact with the must. In addition to adding color and flavor, these phenolics also serve asantioxidants, protecting the wine from degradation of oxygen exposure. While red wines will often have maceration last several days to even several weeks, the very limited maceration of rosés means that these wines will have less stable color, potential flavor components and oxygen protection. This contributes to wines with shorter shelf-life that are meant to be consumed soon after release.[4]
The saignée (French:[sɛɲe]; French for "bleed") method is the practice of removing ("bleeding off") some of the juice from the must in order to more deeply concentrate the phenolics, color, and flavor of the red wine. It has a long history of use in theFrench wine regions ofBordeaux andBurgundy but wasn't always used for rosé production.[1] For some red winemakers, the juice bleed off is simply poured down the drain or used as "topping wine" to fill theullage (the headspace of barrels and tanks) during storage. Its use in rosé production is sometimes considered an afterthought, as a way to increase cash-flow by producing asecond wine to a primary red wine that can be released much sooner and available to market. While many wineries have been able to produce critically acclaimed rosé using the saignée method, its use has provoked criticism fromwine personalities such as François Millo, president of the Provence Wine Council (CIVP) who claim that saignée method rosés are “not true rosés" because the bleeding process (which is not pressed with the must) is more of an afterthought.[19]
Unlike the maceration method which gives some, albeit very brief, time for the juice to be in contact with the skinsvin gris are wines made from the immediate pressing of red skin grapes without any maceration time. Despite the namevin gris, the resulting juice is actually not grey but rather a very pale pink that is usually much lighter than traditionally made rosés using the limited maceration and saignée methods. Under Frenchwine laws, wineslabelledgris de gris must only be made from lightly tinted grape varieties such asCinsault,Gamay andGrenache gris. The style is a specialty of theLorraineAppellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC)Côtes de Toul made from Gamay and inMorocco where the orange-pink wine is made from a blend of Cinsault,Grenache andCabernet Sauvignon.[1]
Another method of producing rosé is to severely decolorize a red wine using absorbentcharcoal such asactivated carbon. This purer form of charcoal obtained by the drydistillation of carbon compounds (such aswood orpeat) has a high ratio of surface area to weight thatadsorbs color compounds as well as other phenolics and colloids in a wine. While it can be used to decolorize a wine, often much more than just color is stripped from the wine which makes this method very rarely used in the production of quality rosés.[1]
With the exception of very few varieties, known asteinturiers, most wine grapes produce clear or colorless juice. This includes such well known red wine grape varieties such asCabernet Sauvignon andPinot noir. The color in red wine comes fromphenolics in the skin calledanthocyanins that react with other components in wine (such astannins,acetaldehyde andpyruvic acid) to form polymeric pigments. The anthocyanins are extracted from the skin during the process ofmaceration which can last from a few hours in the case of some rosés (which usually only have 20–50 mg/L of anthocyanins) to several days in the case of most red wines (which often have in excess of 250 mg/L of anthocyanins).[1][4]
Anthocyanins have the ability to change into three different forms—colorless, red and blue—depending on thepH/acidity levels of the solution they are in. At wine pH (typically 2.9-4.0), most of the grape anthocyanins are in the colorless form unless they have reacted with tannins or other molecules (such as tannins also extracted from the skin as well as grape seeds, stems and fromoak wine barrels) to form a stabilized pigment. So producers wishing to make rosé work to not only limit the amount of anthocyanins extracted into the wine but also limit the wine's exposure to tannins (either by less maceration time, gentlepressing of the grapes or using only stainless tanks instead of oak) as well as protective anti-oxidative winemaking techniques that limit the development of acetaldehyde and other browning pigments that could add color to the wine.[1]
According toConseil Interprofessionnel des Vins de Provence[20] in France, rosés in Provence display one of the different colors: melon (cantaloupe),peach,redcurrant,grapefruit,mango,mandarin.
Many studies have shown that the color of wine influences consumers' perceptions about the wine.[4][21][22] While these studies have shown that consumers tend to prefer on visual inspection the darker rosés, in blind taste tests where color could not be visually discerned (such as using black wine glasses), often consumers preferred the lighter-colored rosés.[4]
For these reasons, many rosé winemakers are mindful of the color quality of their rosé and make winemaking decisions based on this factor. This includes the extent of maceration, whether or not to do asaignee from a darker red wine and even to do a color adjustment by blending in some finished red wine in order to reach the desired color.[4]
The aromas and flavor of rosés are primarily influenced by the particular grape varieties used to produce the wine, but the method of production also plays an important part. The light, fruity character of many rosés come from volatilethiols that are found as flavor precursors in the grape skins. The most prominent of these are3-mercaptohexanol-1-ol and3-mercaptohenyl acetate. These are extracted from the grape skins during maceration but are less likely to be extracted at temperatures below 20 °C (68 °F). As a result, producers doing a "cold soak" maceration (with much lower temperature) to limit microbial and oxidative activity may extract less of these compounds. During fermentation, other flavor components such as theestersphenethyl acetate andisoamyl acetate also form and contribute to a wine's aromas.[4]
The stability of these aromas is very dependent on the amount of anthocyanins and other phenolics that protect these compounds from oxidation. One of the reasons why rosés have a very limited shelf-life is because of their low phenolic levels due to the very limited skin contact and extraction time. Within a year of production, the level of 3-mercaptohexanol-1-ol in the wine has usually dropped to half its fermentation level, with the presence of 3-mercaptohenyl acetate undetectable in most wines.[4] This is why most wine experts recommend that rosés be consumed as soon after release as possible.[23]
France is the top global producer of rosé, accounting for 35% of the world's supply. It also leads in consumption, with one-third of the wine consumed in the country being rosé.[24] Many of the earliest red wines produced in such notable wine regions as Bordeaux,Burgundy and Champagne were "rosé-style" wines made from juice that had only brief periods of skin contact during winemaking.[7] But even as the trend in these regions evolved towards more modern ideas of "red wines", rosés still hold a prominent place in many of France's major wine regions.[25] Today rosé is produced throughout France from the cooler climate rosé Champagnes and Loire Valley wines to the warmMediterranean influence climates of Provence and the southern Rhone Valley.[23]
Rosés account for vast majority of Provence's wine production, ranging from half to almost two thirds of all the wine produced in the region.[26] Over the period between 2010 and 2024, exports of rosé from Provence have surged by about 500%.[24] The rosés of Provence are often known for theirfood and wine pairing matches with the localMediterranean cuisine of the region, particularly the garlickyaioli sauces and tangybouillabaisse stews that are the hallmark ofProvençal cuisine.[23]
The largeCotes de Provence AOC includes 85 communes between the towns ofNice andMarseille and is responsible for nearly 75% of all Provençal wine with rosés alone accounting for 80% of that total.Grenache is the dominant grape of the region, comprising at least 60% of the blend withSyrah,Cinsault,Mourvedre,Tibouren,Carignan andCabernet Sauvignon playing supporting roles.[26]
TheCoteaux d'Aix-en-Provence AOC is the second largest AOC in Provence, covering 50 communes in the west and northwestern part of the region. Here rosé accounts for around 35% of the AOC's production with Grenache, Cinsault and Mourvedre being the dominant varieties andCounoise, Carignan, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon rounding out the blends.[26]
Located in the hilly central region of Provence, rosés account for almost two-thirds of the production in theCoteaux Varois AOC. Here the wines are blends of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre accounting for at least 80% of the wine with Cinsault, Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignan permitted to fill in the remainder.[26]
TheBandol AOC in southwest Provence is dominated by thelate-ripening Mourvedre grape which produces well in thelimestone,silicon rich stony soils of the region. While the AOC produces mostly red wines, at least 33% of its yearly production is made up of rosé wines with Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah and Carignan playing supporting roles to Mourvedre.[26]
Around the city of Nice in southeast Provence isBellet AOC where the hot summers is tempered by the cooling sea coast breeze off the Mediterranean. Here rosé is made in roughly equal proportions with the red wines made fromBraquet,Folle Noire, Grenache and Cinsault.[26]
While most of the southernRhône Valley is dominated by red wines, rosé is the only permitted wine style made in theTavel AOC with more than half of the AOC production done by the local winemakers'co-operative.[25] According to wine expertKaren MacNeil, the Tavel is "southern France's self-styled capital of rosé". This is due, in part, to its long history of rosé production and its proximity to the tourist-rich regions of southern France where, like Provençal rosé, Tavel is often served at beach-side cafes overlooking the Mediterranean.[23]
Located 10 miles southwest of theChâteauneuf-du-Pape AOC, just across theRhône River, the AOC has more than 950 ha (2347 acres) planted.[2] The wines of Tavel are dominated by the southern wine grape Grenache which makes up to 60% of the blend.[23] Under AOC laws the remaining blend must be at least 15% Cinsault with the remainder of the wine permitted to include Carignan, Syrah,Bourboulenc,Calitor, Mourvedre andPicpoul.[25]
While Tavel rosé can be made using the saignee and skin-contact method, the tradition in the region is to do a type ofco-ferment with both red and white grapes that combines elements of both methods. The grapes are loaded, whole clusters, into a tank all together where under the gravity of their own weight the grapes are gently pressed and the juice trickles down to the bottom. There the juice receives its period of brief skin contact with the crushed red skins on the bottom before the lightly coloredfree-run juice is then drained off, like a saignee, and the wine then fermented as normal. This method produces what Karen MacNeil describes as "rugged wines with robust, spicy berry flavor."[23]
Outside of Tavel, rosés are produced in some significant quantities in theGigondas AOC on the eastern side of the Rhône valley. Here at least 15% of the wine must be made from Syrah and Mourvedre with Grenache permitted to make up to 80% of the blend and Cinsault and Carignan playing minor roles. Next door to the south in theVacqueyras AOC rosés only account for around 4% of the yearly production using the same grapes as Gigondas.[26]
Across the river from Châteauneuf-du-Pape just north of Tavel is theLirac AOC which, like it southern neighbor, has a long history of exporting dry rosé wines to the United States and United Kingdom. While often overshadowed by neighboring Tavel, some critics, such as wine expert Oz Clarke, describe them as having noticeable strawberry notes and being "breezier, more refreshing" than its more prominent neighbor.[2] However, rosés usually account for less than a fifth of this region's yearly production.[26] Here in the sandy soil on the banks of the Rhône, Grenache makes up to 40% of the blend with Cinsault, Mourvedre, Syrah and Carignan making up the remainder.[25]
Rosé making has a long history in the Loire valley, particularly in theAnjou wine region around the town ofAngers where two AOCs,Rosé d'Anjou andCabernet d'Anjou exist. The former, made from theGroslot (Grolleau) grapes that are often harvested to very high yields around 50 hl/ha, tends to be lighter and often sweet. The latter, made fromCabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, is often drier (though some styles can be sweet), with grapes that are limited to smaller harvests of no more than 40 hl/ha. Cabernet d'Anjou are usually noted for their high acidity levels that give these rosé the rather unusual capability of being able toage for a decade or more.[1]
For most of the 20th century, the sweeter Rosé d'Anjou was the most prominent Rosé but even as the trend of consumers moving to more drier versions of rosé, the AOC still produces an estimated 18 million bottles of wine a year.[2] In addition to Groslot,Gamay andMalbec are also permitted varieties in the wine.[26]
A largerRosé de Loire appellation exist that includes wines made from Anjou,Saumur andTouraine. Cabernet grapes must account for at least 30% of the blend with Groslot,Pineau d'Aunis,Pinot noir and Gamay permitted to fill out the rest of the blend. According to wine expert Jancis Robinson, the wines are always dry with a quality level that falls somewhere between Rosé d'Anjou and Cabernet d'Anjou.[1] Wine expert Karen MacNeil describes well made examples of Rosé de Loire as being fruity with light cherry flavors and moderate acidity.[23]
Rosé Champagnes account for between 3-5% of Champagne's yearly production.[23] These Champagnes are distinct fromBlanc de noirs (white of blacks or white from black grapes) in that rosé Champagnes are often noticeably and intentionally colored, with hues that span from "baby pink" to copper salmon, whileBlanc de noirs are white wines with only sometimes the palest of coloring that could range from a "white-grey" to a light salmon. This color traditionally comes from the very brief skin contact of the black grapes (Pinot noir andPinot Meunier) during pressing that theChampagne producer decides not to remove by any decolorizing techniques.[27] However, many modern rosé Champagnes are produced as regular Champagnes but are later "colored up" by adding red Pinot noir wines to the finished wine. According to wine expert Karen MacNeil, some Champagne producers believe this second method adds more richness andage-ability to the wine.[23]
In theAube department,a separate AOC for still rosé produced around the commune ofRiceys was established for rosé produced by thesaignee method from exclusivelyPinot noir. Produced only during the warmest, ripest vintages of Champagne (with often less than 7500 bottles made on average),Rosé des Riceys can be difficult to find.[2] According to wine expert Jancis Robinson, Rosé des Riceys can be some of France's "most serious rosés"[1] while fellow wine expertOz Clarke describes them as "oddball" wines that come across asfull-bodied and nutty with a golden pink color.[2]
InLanguedoc-Roussillon, the largest producer of rosé wine in France,[28] rosés are made in many ways and from most common rosé wine grape varieties. This is due to the large use of thePGI appellation system.
In theJura wine region, theArbois AOC makes very pale, pink red wines that are often mistaken for rosés from Pinot noir and the localPoulsard andTrousseau varieties. But the region also makes even paler actual rosés from the same grape varieties that are pressed after only a few hours of skin contact.[25][26]
InBeaujolais rosés are made from the Gamay grape using the samecarbonic maceration techniques as the red wines except that thefree-run juice that is released by the weight of the whole berry grapes in the tank is periodically drained off throughout the process to avoid extracting too much color and phenolics.[4][25]
InBordeaux, rosé production is permitted in most AOC using the same varieties as the region's well known reds—Cabernet Sauvignon,Merlot, Cabernet franc, Malbec,Petit Verdot andCarmenere.[25]
Like France, rosés are made throughout Italy with the style and grape varieties used changing depending on the region and local climate. The long history of Italian rosés, particularly in the warm southern part of the country, stem from difficulties in the early days of winemaking to make dark, fully colored dry red wines without temperature controlled fermentation vessels. As the must macerated with the skins, the intense heat of the process would often kill the yeast resulting in astuck fermentation andresidual sugar in the remaining wine. Eventually Italian winemakers realized that if they pressed the wines early in the process, remaining the skins, they could complete the fermentation albeit with a lightly colored wine.[29]
The Italians have several terms for rosé style wines beginning with the termrosato that is a permitted wine style in severalDenominazione di origine controllata. These wine tend to be very pale in color with slightly dark wines (but not dark enough to be considered arosso or red wine) being labeled asChiaretto.Ramato, a specialty in the Veneto, are copper-colored rosés made from pink-skinnedPinot grigio grape that are allowed a period of extended maceration.[30] The termCerasuolo (meaning "cherry red") describes a vividly colored rosé and is seen frequently in theAbruzzo region where rosé made in theMontepulciano d'Abruzzo region from deeply pigmentedMontepulciano grape are given a special designation within the DOC.[29]
Today, Italian rosés are most often made by the short maceration method though some regions do have a tradition of blending red and white wine grapes together to make a lightly colored wine.[29] According to wine expert Oz Clarke, northeast Italy (which includes theVeneto wine,Friuli-Venezia Giulia andTrentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol (wine)), tends to make "delicate rosés" while warmer southern Italy (which includesCalabria,Apulia andSicily) makes fuller bodied and "fairly gutsy dry rosés".[2]
In theValle d'Aosta DOC, locals refer to theindigenous grape Premetta as arosato naturale due to the extremely thin and lightly pigmented skins of the variety that even withextended maceration can only produce a very pale rosé wine. According to wine expertsJoe Bastianich andDavid Lynch, Valle d'Aosta Premetta rosés are very fruity with strawberry aromas and spicy cinnamon notes.[29]
InTuscany, there is a tradition of producing a sweet rosato version ofVin Santo. Usually made with white grapes, such asTrebbiano, these dessert wines are made from the redSangiovese grape and are calledOcchio di Pernice (meaning "eye of thepartridge", from Frenchœil de perdrix). While traditionally produced in theChianti DOC region, these wines are produced throughout Tuscany including theCarmignano DOC (the Carmignano DOCG is used for red wines only),Montecarlo DOC,Cortona DOC,Bolgheri andElba DOCs.[30]
In Germany, several regions are noted for their distinct style of rosé (Germanrosewein orroseewein). Several terms are used to denote these different styles depending on how the wine was made, from what grapes and in what region. The termWeißherbst is a type of German rosé made from a single variety of grape with that particular variety needing to be denoted on thewine label.[31]Rotling refers to a rosé that is either made from multiple grape varieties that can either be all red wine varieties or a mixture of white and red grape varieties. This designation is required on all Tafelwein (table wine), Landwein ("country wine" similar to the Frenchvin de pays) andQualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA) level but its presence on the label is optional for Prädikatswein (the highest classification of German wine).[32]
In theBaden region,Badisch Rotgold is a specialty rosé made fromSpätburgunder (Pinot noir) andRuländer (Pinot gris). UnderGerman wine law the wine must be made to at least QbA level (meaning the grapes must beharvested with aripeness level of at least 51°Oe to 72°Oe.[32] A specialty of theRems Valley in nearbyWürttemberg region is a style of wine known asSchillerwein. Produced in the area for over 300 years, Schillerwein is made from pressing andco-fermenting red and white grape varieties together. While not always a rosé, the color of Schillerwein range from dark red to pale pink depending on the grape varieties and percentage of each used in the blend.[33]
InAustria,Styria is known for a particular type of rosé calledSchilcher that is made from the indigenousBlauer Wildbacher grape that is rarely grown outside of western Styria. The wine is noted for it fruity flavor and high levels of acidity.[23]
In the eastern regions ofSwitzerland, near the German and Austria borders, a special style of rosé known as Süssdruck is produced using only the free-run juice of Pinot noir. It is known asOeil de perdrix fromSwitzerland.[32]
In Spain, rosés are known asrosado and are produced throughout the country with theNavarra DO, north ofRioja being the most noted region. Even today, more than half of Navarra's wine production is dedicated to rosados made primarily from the Garnacha (Grenache) grape. Other varieties that can be used for rosados in Navarra includeGraciano,Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Carignan.[34]
In theAlicante andJumilla DOs the winemakers made their red wines and rosados using a method that is almost the reverse of thesaignee method (where rosé juice is bled off the red wine). This method, known as thedoble pasta (meaning "double paste") takes the skins from the early pressed rosé wine and adds them to the red wine (similar to the Italianripasso method). The rosados are made like normal with a light, fruity style while the red wines made with the extra skins are darker in color and more deeply concentrated.[34]
OtherSpanish wine regions noted for their rosados include thedenominaciones de origen (DOs) ofUtiel-Requena,Yecla,Txakoli,Cigales,Tierra de Leon andRibera del Duero.[34]
In 1942, a winemaker fromVinho Verde,Fernando van Zeller Guedes, was inspired by the sales success that the lightly sparkling wine from his home region was having in Portugal andBrazil. He decided to try making a more fully sparkling rosé that was sweetened to appeal to the mass European and North American markets. At the end of World War II, production of Guedes' wine,Mateus, named after theMateus Palace in theVila Real Municipality, was in full operation with sales steadily climbing. By the 1980s, both the red and sparkling white versions of Mateus accounted for over 40% of the entire Portuguese wine industry, with worldwide sales of 3.25 million cases. However, sales of Mateus eventually started to decline, and though it still being produced, with Mateus introducing aTempranillo sparkling rosé in 2005, it is not quite the dominating force in the market that it once was.[1]
The history ofLancers, the other, notable Portuguese sparkling rosé that rose up after World War II, is quite similar to Mateus. The winemaking family ofJosé Maria da Fonseca in theSetúbal DOC, one of the oldest Portuguese wine producers, received word from a distributor inNew York City about American servicemen returning from Europe having a taste for many of the new wines they tried on their tours. In 1944, Fonseca released Lancers in a distinctive stonecrock. Today, the wine is fully sparkling, using the "continuous method" of fermentation in large stainless steel tanks instead of individualwine bottles. While its rival, Mateus, is mostly still found in Europe, Lancers has remained in the North American market.[1]
While there have been rosés made in the European style throughout the American winemaking history, it wasn't until the end of the 20th century that "pink wines" became a truly significant segment of the American wine market. In what has been described by wine experts such as Jancis Robinson as a "marketing triumph",California winemaker Bob Trinchero of Sutter Home salvaged astuck fermentation of his 1972 redZinfandel wine by releasing a paler, sweeter rosé colored wine that he labeled as "White Zinfandel". Though he wasn't the first Californian winemaker to make a rosé version of Zinfandel, he was the first to aggressively market it as a new wine style. Consequently, Sutter Home saw sales of "White Zin" soar from 25,000 cases in 1980 to more than 1.5 million in 1986. The wine became so popular that it actually savedold vine Zinfandel plantings that were in danger of being uprooted and replanted with more "marketable"international varieties, and even encouraged newer plantings.[1]
The term "blush" also originated in the 1970s when wine writer Jerry Mead visited theSonoma County winery Mill Creek Vineyards and sampled a pale, pinkish wine that the winery made from Cabernet Sauvignon. The winemaker was thinking of calling the wine "White Cabernet" but Mead suggested the term "blush" instead. However, by the 1980s, white wines were still extremely popular among American consumers. Seizing on this interest, makers of sweeter "blush" style rosés began affixing the terms "white" or "blanc" to the varietal name on their wine labels anyway—White Zinfandel, Cabernet Blanc, White Merlot, etc. Throughout the rest of the 20th century, these sweeter blush wines saw tremendous popularity among American consumers but their numbers had started to decline by the turn of the 21st century falling from representing 22% of all the wines consumed in the US market in 1997 to 15% in 2003.[1]
Today, White Zinfandels are considered part of the "blush wine" category of noticeably sweet, pale pink wines that often have very slightcarbonation to give the wine a balance of acidity and some "liveliness". Very often winemakers will blendaromatic varieties likeRiesling,Gewürztraminer andMuscat to add to the fruity nose of the wine.[1]
Since the early 1990s,Long Island has begun to distinguish itself as a source of rosé, often producing dry rosé wines that model the rosé makers fromsouthern France.[35] The eastern end of Long Island has over 60 vineyards and wineries that produce a range of rosé wines.[36]
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