Lesser Known Facts about Rosé
Rosé is, in many ways, a return to wine as it was originally made.
Rosé is one of the most aesthetically beautiful styles of wine. When it began to emerge on the international scene in the early 2000s, rosé was quickly embraced not only for its good looks, but also for its pairing versatility and overall deliciousness. Just a decade later, rosé was a way of life - with dedicated museums, clothing, catchphrases, and hashtags. #roseallday, anyone?
Rosé had been rediscovered.
Rosé is, in many ways, a return to wine as it was originally made. Most ancient wines were probably pink or orange since winemakers back then had yet to develop modern techniques to encourage color extraction. Early wine was likely composed of field blends that included red and white grapes.
So in celebration of warm spring days and a style that’s come full circle, here are a few lesser-known facts about this gorgeous bloom in a glass!
The first ‘rosé’ wine was likely made from Rkatsiteli Vardisperi grapes and originated in Georgia. Not to be confused with the US state, Georgia is a country between Eastern Europe and Western Asia. Its winemaking history dates back about 8,000 years, and Georgia is considered by many to be the birthplace of wine. Rkatsiteli is a white grape that grows particularly well there. Rkatsiteli contains notes of green apples, quince, and just-ripe peach. Rkatsiteli Vardisperi is a pink-skinned clone of the grape.
Rosé, in its modern form, was developed in France. When you think rosé, you likely think of Provence. Rightly so, since that’s where the modern-day style got its start - at Domaines Ott, to be exact. Marcel Ott arrived in Provence in the late 1800s and deemed the area perfect for rosé production even though the style was far from appreciated at the time. He replanted phylloxera-ravaged vineyards with high-quality grapes such as grenache, syrah, and cinsault, and his son René designed the distinctively shaped Ott bottle. Today the Louis Roederer Champagne corporation runs Domaines Ott while Marcel’s great-great-GREAT grandsons stick to winemaking.
There are several ways to make rosé. A lot of people think rosé is just a mix of red and white wine. While blending is one way to make rosé, it is only one of several methods:
Blending / co-fermentation / lees - Red and white wines are created differently, and these differences do not necessarily allow finished wines to mix well easily, but it does happen. Rosé Champagne, for example, is made by adding small amounts of red wine to white. Some wineries co-ferment red and white grapes, meaning they undergo fermentation together, and some wineries add the lees (dead yeast cells) of white wine to fermenting red juice to absorb color.
Direct Press - Red grapes can be slowly and gently pressed to allow the juice to absorb color from the skins as it runs off. This press is very gentle to avoid astringent notes.
Maceration - In this method, red grapes are crushed, and the juice soaks up color and tannins from the skins. The amount of time that the juice stays in contact with the skins varies from a few hours to a day and directly affects the intensity of color.
Saignée - This is known as ‘bleeding off’: winemakers crush red grapes and bleed off a bit of the juice from the crushed grapes after it sits on its skins for a short while, allowing it to absorb some color and tannin but not fully develop into red wine (which is what the juice that’s left behind does).
Paler doesn’t mean better. Shade and hue matter more in rosé than in red or white wine when it comes to consumer perception. Studies show that buyers tend to associate paler rosé with higher quality and less sweetness. But what color intensity actually gives insight into is the body of the wine. Lighter-colored rosé tends to be lighter bodied while darkly colored rosé tends to be fuller and more fruit-forward.
Chateau d’Esclans makes the world’s most expensive bottle of rosé: At about $105, makers of the ubiquitous Whispering Angel also make a higher-end line called ‘Garrus.’ However, most of the production stays in Provence and is consumed along the Riviera. Oooh, la la.
Up next: be on the lookout for a list of our favorite rosés for 2021!