You’ve heard of the popular phrase “Rosé all day”, right? But what is the pink stuff that we see on Instagram and love to drink in the Summer? Is it made from pink grapes? Is it always sweet? Is it only good if it’s French? No, nope, and absolutely not! Rosé is a style of wine that can range in color all the way from soft peach to fuchsia. Here are three different methods of making rosé.

How to Make Rosé...Rosé

1. Skin Contact

Maceration is the process of letting grape skins sit with its juice. This is how some rosé is made. Grape skins are full of pigment. Using red grapes, the skins are allowed to mingle with the juice for a limited time. The longer the skins sit, the darker the wine will become, eventually turning red. With rosé, the skins sit just long enough to tint the juice pink. This could be anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of days, depending on the grape.

2. Saignée

In French, saignée means ‘to bleed’. In this method, the ultimate goal isn’t necessarily to make rosé. When making red wine, sometimes winemakers first “bleed off” a portion of the juice. The first juice that comes off the press is the lightest because it has been in contact with the skins the shortest amount of time. This lighter, pink juice is then placed in its own tank to ferment on its own.

3. Blending

Blending may seem like the obvious method, however, it is less common than the other methods. Just like it sounds, red and white wine are blended until the desired rosé is created. One big difference here is that the majority of the wine is made of white grapes. It only takes a tiny bit of red to get pink.

Rosé Food Pairings

I often hear the misconception that all rosés are sweet. While there are sweet rosés, many are actually fermented totally dry. These dry, pink wines can be very versatile and pair beautifully with a range of foods. Lighter styles can elevate a green salad, complement seared fish and go perfectly with pesto pasta. Meanwhile, a fuller bodied rosé can be barbecue's best friend. Prefer a sweeter rosé? Try it out with strawberries and cream!

Our Favorites

Provence gets a lot of attention for having some of the world's best rosé. However, so many other regions do a killer job too. Here are a couple of our favorites:

2021 Weingut Müller-Ruprecht Blanc de Noir Trocken (Pfalz, Germany)

2021 LaSelva Rosato (Tuscany, Italy)