Wine spotlight: A guide to Rosé

Rosé has to be one of my favourite Summer drinks. It has well and truly seen a come back in the past couple of years, and what was once stereotyped as an overly sweet girly drink, has become the drink of choice in the warmer months. Perfect for an afternoon drink or even with dinner, Rosé goes with pretty much everything, so I’ve decided this next wine spotlight should be a guide to Rosé.

I find it can be hard to know what to look for when it comes to Rosé. When I’m in a bottle store, I don’t know which variety is going to taste good to me, and which one I won’t like. Rosé is far more varied than one might initially think, and much like with white and red wine, knowing what different varieties and regions taste like is essential to picking your perfect pink!

So I’ve developed a guide to Rosé for you all so that you can choose a bottle of Rosé with confidence! Sure, we are heading into winter now in Australia, but in Brisbane, every day is a Rosé day!

A guide to Rosé

I’m going to get really technical with you here, so I hope I don’t lose you. When it comes to defining what Rosé is, it is basically wine that isn’t quite red. Still with me?

Rosé is made using the same grapes as white and red wines but are produced differently which creates the pinkish tone. This makes it simultaneously more easy and difficult to choose a Rosé wine. Do you like Tempranillo? Well, there will be a Rosé made out of Tempranillo. However, it will taste different from the Tempranillo you know and love when it’s a red wine. Not bad, just different.

So Rosé comes with its own complications in that it has many different varieties, and many different regions that create it, but the grape varieties that make Rosé are the same as red wine, rather than being completely different like white. As a result, it can be hard to know whether you’re going to like it or not. But this guide to Rosé should help you pick out your dream pink drink!

Origins

Rosé goes all the way back to Ancient Greece, where wine was diluted down by mixing together red and white (so as you can imagine the Rosé we know and love today would taste very different). This was because those who drunk pure wine that hadn’t been diluted were considered to be barbarians. My how times have changed!

The Phocaeans eventually brought their grape vines to Southern France, and when the Romans later landed in Provence, they brought Rosé to the Mediterranean. So because of this, the South of France is considered the key centre for the beginning of Rosé.

However, Rosé was also made famous from Bordeaux, where a wine called Claret was created and became very popular in England until the late 1900’s. Drinking Rosé became popular with French tourists who would drink this unfussy French wine while on holidays. It became a symbol of summer.

However, mass-marketed Rosé being brought to America gave the wine a bad reputation for being cheap, sweet and bulk wine. There wasn’t anything else on the market in this volume and so this became the face of Rosé for many years. However in the early 2000’s Rosé’s popularity started to build, with smart collaborations, better quality wines available on the market and Rosé gaining a reputation as an unpretentious but delicious wine.

How it’s made

There are a few ways that Rosé is made, and we’ve come a long way from Roman times! Now, most standard Rosé is made in a similar way to White wine with an additional Maceration period.

Maceration method

The Maceration method is where the grapes are pressed and sit in their skins. For red wine, this is something that lasts for the fermentation period, however with Rosé wine the skins are removed before the juice gets too dark. For lighter styles, this can take 24 hours, but for darker wines, it can take only a few hours.

Vin Gris method

The Vin Gris method is often used for Rosés made out of lighter red wine varieties such as Pinot Noir or Gamay. It involves making a nearly-white wine out of red grapes with a very short Maceration period.

The Saignee method

The third method produces the longest lasting Rosé wines (often with Rosé it is made to be drunk immediately). This method makes Rosé as a by-product of producing red wine. While the red wine is fermenting, about 10% of the juice is bled off, making the remaining red wine richer and bolder. The leftover wine is fermented into Rosé. These Rosé wines tend to be darker and less sweet than other methods.

The many faces of Rosé

There are so many Rosé wines to choose from, and as a result, it can be really hard to know which one you’re going to like. Never fear, that’s why I’m helping you with the guide to Rosé! Typically they fall into two categories: Dry and sweet. Within each, there are many different grape varieties that produce different flavours.

It is also made more complicated by Rosé from France and Spain having a blend of different varieties!

Dry Rosé

Dry Rosé is the most common style of Rosé being produced, particularly in wines from France and Spain. There are a few key grape varieties that fall into this category:

Grenache – although fruity, the high acidity in this Rosé gives more body. Zesty with a ruby red colour
Sangiovese – With a bright red colour, although quite fruity at the front, the acidity and slightly bitter aftertaste balance this into a dry Rosé.
Shiraz/Syrah – Rosé from this wine variety tends to be quite bold and more similar to red wine, so should be served at a warmer temperature. Very deep colours.
Mourvedre – These wines tend to be coral in colour and floral on the nose with a fruity taste. They are quite full-bodied compared to other Rosés.
Pinot Noir – Bright acidity and subtle fruit await you in a Pinot Noir Rosé. They can also be quite earthy with a rose pink colour.
Tempranillo – This Rosé style is quite savoury with a pale pink hue. Sometimes it can be a bit too savoury for some and needs a fruity wine blended in to balance it out.

Sweet Rosé

Sweet Rosé isn’t as popular anymore but is definitely still available. Any Rosé wine can be made sweet with less fermentation. These tend to be bulk produced, but there are a couple of types you can look out for:

Pink Moscato – Pink Moscato has a bit of a reputation here in Australia, but there are plenty that can be a nice sweet Rosé if you know where to look. They have a stone fruit aroma with a hint of citrus.
White Merlot – This wine has a crisp finish with plenty of red berry flavours.
White Zinfandel – This wine is really popular in America but not something I’ve seen a lot of in Australia. It is moderately sweet when produced to an off-dry with lots of acidity.

Provence Rosé

I had to make a special mention of my favourite Rosé: Provence style. Maybe it’s because it conjures up images of sitting in the Summer sun on the French Riviera, but I am absolutely biased to Provence Rosé. These wines are great whether you’re sipping a drink before dinner or having a wine with a nice meal. They truly hold their own and are a great match for most dishes (trust me I’ve tried).

These wines are usually made with Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah and Mourvedre. They produce a pale pink wine with a salmon colour that has a nice fruity front but distinctive minerality that gives it a great dry finish.

The Cheeky Vino picks

I’ve had many Rosé wines over my time, most of which I’ve polished off before I can think to write a review on them. However, here are some of my favourites so far:

The final word on this guide to Rosé

Well, I think what we’ve learnt today is just how obsessed I am with Rosé. It is honestly the perfect wine in my humble opinion. Like a great summer dress, it goes from afternoon to evening with ease, matching perfectly with drinks with friends to a delicious dinner. You don’t need to worry about food pairing, Rosé has got you!

It can be confusing knowing which Rosé to buy, but just rest assured that most Rosé on the market has come a long way from the past where it was mass-produced and over sweet. The wines that we have available to us now are absolutely incredible and really high quality. They can easily stand up to some of the red and white wines available on the market!

So next time you’re in the bottle store, give some Rosé a go! I hope this guide to Rosé has given you confidence. You can march on in there with the confidence to go pink, and never go back! Or at least, until it gets way too cold to fathom drinking anything but red wine (Melbourne I’m looking at you!) Enjoy these last few precious days of Autumn with a glass of pink in your hand.

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