Pink, the third color of Wine

What is Rosé Wine? Carpe Travel’s top picks and everything else you need to know about the pink drink.

My first real experience getting to know rosé wines was in college and included a box of White Zinfandel with an easy-pour spout that took up most of the top shelf in my refrigerator. Times have changed, my friends. Gone are the days of sweet, blush wines. Today, rosé wines are in a class of their own – both sweet and bone-dry – and have become one of the leading categories of wine sales in the country.

Much of that growth is due to the increased production of our favorite pink drink worldwide. According to the International Organization of Wine and Vine (OIV), since 2000, production of red wine has declined by 25%, while white wine production has increased by 13%. Rosé wine production, on the other hand, has increased by 25% during this period.

While rosé wines are native to France, with Provence being the most widely known region to produce rosé, it can now be found in nearly every wine region that makes red wine around the world.

While any red grape can produce rosé wine, the most common are pinot noir, cinsault, carignan, grenache, and syrah, which are grapes traditionally found in France. As the expansion of producing rosé around the world continues, winemakers are producing it with other red grapes — tempranillo, cabernet franc, merlot, Malbec, Mourvèdre, Tannat and cabernet sauvignon, to name a few.

Pro Tip: Provence is generally considered to be home to premium rosés and are often (although not always) priced to match that perception. You can easily pay upwards of $50 for a bottle of rose but you can also find quality bottles for $25 or less. AIX, Olema and Whispering Angel are three examples of well-made rosés usually under $20 from Provence.

The versatility of the grapes used to produce rosé shows in the variety of colors, which range from the subtlest pink to deep raspberry, and in the flavor profiles, which range from super light and refreshing to bold, dark, and savory. In terms of specific flavors, milder rosé wines can showcase honeydew melon, strawberry, lemon, peach and celery. While bolder ones have flavors of cherry, plum, raspberry, pomegranate and orange zest. Occasionally, you might also detect hints of allspice, green olives, green peppercorns, meatiness, smoke, tomato, violets, and white pepper.

Pro Tip: Wines smell and taste differently at different temperatures. Serving a wine at the wrong temperature can dramatically affect how much you enjoy it. Like white wine, rosé should be served chilled at around 50 – 60°.

What Makes a Rosé Pink?

If you’ve ever cut a grape in half, you know that hiding beneath the skin – be it red or white – is a pale, basically colorless interior. That said, any color a wine has, comes from its skins. Since there are no “pink” grapes, rosé wines can obtain its shades of pink using a few different methods.

Maceration Method

Rosé wines are generally made the same way as red wines using the maceration method. With red wines, the crushed grapes are left to macerate with the skins for days, even weeks. The rich pigments from the skins give red wines their deep, rich red color and structured flavor profile. When producing a rosé, winemakers follow the same process, although the skins are generally allowed to stain the juice for anywhere from two to 24 hours, which accounts for the wide range of pinks found in different rosés. Without the skins releasing additional pigment, rosé wines will stay the same shade of pink they were when the process was interrupted.

This skin contact also contributes to the amount of tannins in the wine, helping to shape the flavor profile. Tannins are responsible for the mouth-puckering astringency, dryness, and slight bitterness associated with dry wines. A high tannin content, along with a lack of sugar, is responsible for the dryness in a wine. That said, if you prefer a drier rosé look for those produced from the Carignan, Cinsault, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, or Syrah grape varietals. Most rosés from Europe are on the bone-dry side.

Saignée Method

Another method for producing rosé wine is called saignée (san-yey) which is French for “to bleed’ and is a byproduct of making red wine. Winemakers seeking to produce a concentrated, bold red wine bleed some of the juice during the first few hours the crushed grapes are left in contact with the skins into a new tank; they use this juice to produce a small batch of rosé wine in addition to the concentrated red wine. This isn’t commonly used since it produces a reduced yield of both the rosé and the red wine. But, it is the only way rosé is made in Navarra, a northern region of Spain. You will find Navarra rosé wines rich in color and fruit-forward in flavor.

And, yes, you can make rosé wines by mixing white and red wines but it is the least common method used outside of some sparkling wines.

Rosé Wine Pairings

Pairing wine with food should be a delicious process, not a stressful one. But, all too often it’s the latter. Rosé wines make food pairings easy. Being light-to-medium in body with low tannins, nice fruit and acidity, rosé is the perfect food wine. I like to think of it as the perfect restaurant roulette wine – when someone orders meat and the other orders fish. It can work with both! Its versatility helps it go particularly well with a mix of dishes but especially pizza, sushi, spicy Asian foods, and my favorite – cheeseburgers.

Carpe Travel’s Top Rosé Wine Picks

Whether you’re looking for serious sippers or budget bottles, I’ve compiled a great list of my personal favorite rosé wine picks that you should be able to find locally or order online. They are in no particular order or ranking, at least not yet.

Rosés of the United States

Casteñada Rosé, Three Sticks Winery, Sonoma

Charles & Charles Bolt Rosé 2023, Columbia Valley, WA

Stoller Pinot Noir Rose 2023, Willamette Valley, OR, $17

Grgich Hills Estate Rosé 2022, Napa Valley

Colterris Wines Rosé of Cabernet, Colorado

William Chris Vineyards Mourvèdre Rosé, Texas

Stinson Vineyards Rosé of Tannat 2023, Virginia

Warson Wine Rosé 2020, Santa Ynez Valley, CA, $22

Warson Wine Rosé 2019, Santa Ynez Valley, CA $22

Rosés of Europe

A portion of this article appeared in Elaine Schoch’s column, The Pour on Vail Daily.