Fascinating Rose Facts Every Wine Drinker Should Know

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Rose wine is not a blend of red and white. Rose is made from red grapes with minimal skins contact for just a little while until it gets its light pink colour, then they are removed. The longer the juice is left in contact with the wine, the darker the colour.

When choosing a Rose, the colour can be very deceptive and it’s easy to assume that a deeper shade Rose means that the wine will be sweet while it may be dry and full of complex berry flavours. Most likely lighter Rose wines are fresh and crisp, darker Roses usually have more fruit and body.The majority of rose wines are made from Grenache grapes. The varietals most often used in making a rose wine include Pinot Noir, Syrah, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, Sangiovese, and Zinfandel. These varietals may be either used solo or in a blend.

Winemakers create rose wine by juicing red grapes and then allowing the juice to soak with the skins for a very short period, usually only two to three days. As soon as the juice begins to take on the beautiful pink color the winemaker desires, the skins are removed and the juice is allowed to ferment, creating delicious rose.

Rose wine tastes like fruit and flowers mixed together and then filtered out to perfection. It tastes lighter than your average wine and has been deemed as summer water. Frequent descriptors of rose wine flavor include strawberry, cherry, and raspberry with some citrus and watermelon presenting on a regular basis. Rose wine can run the gamut from ultra-dry to fairly fruity depending on the region and producer.

France is the motherland of traditional, dry rose (hence its name), and it's hard to go too far wrong with anything from Provence, the Rhone valley, or the Loire valley.

Made in southern France provencal rose tend to be very pale pink, sometimes salmon-colored. Rose made in Provence is typically made from grape varietals such as Grenache, Cinsault, Mourvedre, and Syrah.

Rose wines can be either sweet or dry. Sweet rose come from New World producers. Sweet rose pairs well with savory foods while Dry rose wines have a low sugar content but are high in tannins, the element that contributes to the dryness, astringency, and bitterness of a wine.

Tips - Most likely lighter Rose wines are fresh and crisp, darker Roses usually have more fruit and body!!