Rose - Summetime!

Rosé (from French: rosé also known as rosado in Portugal and Spanish-speaking countries or rosato in Italy) is a type of wine that incorporates some of the color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. There are 4 main methods for making a rose wine, below are a few or our favorites from each method.


1. Limited Maceration Method: Rosés can be produced in a variety of ways with the most common method being early pressing of red grape varieties after a very short period, usually 12-24 hours, of skin-contact (maceration). During maceration, phenolics such as the anthocyanins and tannins that contribute to color as well as many flavor components are leached from the skins, seeds and any stems left in contact with the must. In addition to adding color and flavor, these phenolics also serve as antioxidants, protecting the wine from degradation of oxygen exposure. While red wines will often have maceration last several days to even several weeks, the very limited maceration of rosés means that these wines will have less stable color, potential flavor components and oxygen protection.

via this method:
2016 Commanderie de Bargemone Rose $18.99
2016 Commanderie de Perassol Rose $21.99



2. Vin Gris Method: Unlike the maceration method which gives some, albeit very brief, time for the juice to be in contact with the skins vin gris are wines made from the immediate pressing of red skin grapes without any maceration time. Despite the name vin gris, the resulting juice is actually not gray but rather a very pale pink that is usually much lighter than traditionally made rosés using the limited maceration and saignee methods. Under French wine laws, wines labeled gris de gris must only be made from lightly tinted grape varieties such as Cinsault, Gamay and Grenache gris.

via this method:
2016 Villa des Anges Rose...$12.99*(My pick for best bang for your buck)
2016 Domaie Lafage Bastide Miraflor $14.99



3.Saignee Method:. The saignee (French for "bleed") method is the practice of removing ("bleeding off") some of the juice from the must in order to more deeply concentrate the phenolics, color and flavor the red wine. The Saignee method is used most often in regions famous for their red wine production, i.e. Burgundy, The Rhone Valley and Bordeaux.via this method:

2016 Chateau Lancyre Rose $16.99
2016 Le Cirque Rose Cotes de Catalan $13.99


4. Blending Method: This method is used almost exclusively in the production of Rose Champagne. In this method a small amount of still Red Wine is blended back in to the finished Champagne in order to achieve the Rose color. Many producers of Rose Champagne believe this method adds richness and enhances the age-ability of their Rose Champagnes.

via this method:
NV Jeam Louis Denois Brut Rose of Pinot Noir...$21.99
NV Joel Falmet Brut Rose Champagne...$49.99