Ahhh, nothing quite beats a chilled glass of rosé on a warm summer’s eve. But how much do you really know about the official drink of summer? From its pretty pink hue to its refreshing taste on a warm sunny day, the infatuation with the beverage has yet to wear off and has proven it’s here to stay. So let’s take a minute to get a couple of things straight, once and for all.
Isn’t rosé made from white and red grapes mixed together?
We see how you might have arrived at this assumption, but the answer is no. In fact, rosé is mainly made with red grapes. We know you’re probably feeling a little deceived right now, so allow us to explain.
Remember that a wine gets its color from the skin of the grape. When it comes to rosé, the juice sees limited contact with the colored skins, sometimes only a few hours! Via the maceration process, the winemaker can achieve a color ranging from the palest pink to the deepest salmon. The wine is then generally vinified in the manner of a white wine, with no oak contact and limited tannic extraction.
Aren’t all rosés sweet?
This is an unfortunate misconception for the beloved drink. The connotation is believed to be rooted in the assumption that the style was made from the notoriously sweet white Zinfandel grape. Wrongo. Rosé is most commonly made from Gamay, Mourvèdre, Grenache, Sangiovese, Syrah, and Pinot Noir grapes — all of which most commonly come through dry.
Mass producers also didn’t help with the misconception. Once they found out about the trend, they quickly poured sweeteners into their juice, giving it a cheap rep before taking the time to understand the beauty of dry rosé wine. We have the Provence-style rosé to thank for popularizing the style properly in America in the early 2000s, proving that rosé can be dry AND delicious at the same time.
Do good rosés only come from France?
