Rosé

[citation needed] The pink color can range from a pale "onionskin" orange to a vivid near-purple, depending on the grape varieties used and winemaking techniques.

Black-skinned grapes are crushed and the skins are allowed to remain in contact with the juice for a short period, typically two to twenty hours.

[4] When a winemaker desires to impart more tannin and color to red wine, some of the pink juice from the must can be removed at an early stage in what is known as the Saignée (from French bleeding) method.

The red wine remaining in the vats is intensified as a result of the bleeding, because the volume of juice in the must is reduced, and the must involved in the maceration becomes more concentrated.

Both red and white wine grapes were often pressed soon after harvest, (with very little maceration time) by hand, feet or even sack cloth, creating juice that was only lightly pigmented.

The darker wine produced from must that had longer skin contact were known as the vin vermeilh (or pinpin to the English) was considered to be of much lesser quality.

[8] In 1975, Sutter Home's "White Zinfandel" wine experienced a stuck fermentation, a problem in which the yeast goes dormant, or in some cases dies off before all the sugar is turned to alcohol.

In 2010 Mill Creek produced a rosé wine for the first time in years, although Jeremy Kreck (Charles' grandson and current winemaker) chose not to use the Blush name.

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.

[1] For some red winemakers, the juice bleed off is simply poured down the drain or used as "topping wine" to fill the ullage (the headspace of barrels and tanks) during storage.

Despite the name vin gris, the resulting juice is actually not grey but rather a very pale pink that is usually much lighter than traditionally made rosés using the limited maceration and saignée methods.

[4] The aromas and flavor of rosés are primarily influenced by the particular grape varieties used to produce the wine, but the method of production also plays an important part.

[23] The large Cotes de Provence AOC includes 85 communes between the towns of Nice and Marseille and is responsible for nearly 75% of all Provençal wine with rosés alone accounting for 80% of that total.

Grenache is the dominant grape of the region, comprising at least 60% of the blend with Syrah, Cinsault, Mourvedre, Tibouren, Carignan and Cabernet Sauvignon playing supporting roles.

Here rosé accounts for around 35% of the AOC's production with Grenache, Cinsault and Mourvedre being the dominant varieties and Counoise, Carignan, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon rounding out the blends.

[26] The Bandol AOC in southwest Provence is dominated by the late-ripening Mourvedre grape which produces well in the limestone, silicon rich stony soils of the region.

[26] Around the city of Nice in southeast Provence is Bellet AOC where the hot summers is tempered by the cooling sea coast breeze off the Mediterranean.

[23] Under AOC laws the remaining blend must be at least 15% Cinsault with the remainder of the wine permitted to include Carignan, Syrah, Bourboulenc, Calitor, Mourvedre and Picpoul.

[1] Wine expert Karen MacNeil describes well made examples of Rosé de Loire as being fruity with light cherry flavors and moderate acidity.

[4][25] In Bordeaux, rosé production is permitted in most AOC using the same varieties as the region's well known reds—Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carmenere.

The long history of Italian rosés, particularly in the warm southern part of the country, stem from difficulties in the early days of winemaking to make dark, fully colored dry red wines without temperature controlled fermentation vessels.

As the must macerated with the skins, the intense heat of the process would often kill the yeast resulting in a stuck fermentation and residual sugar in the remaining wine.

Ramato, a specialty in the Veneto, are copper-colored rosés made from pink-skinned Pinot grigio grape that are allowed a period of extended maceration.

[2] In the Valle d'Aosta DOC, locals refer to the indigenous grape Premetta as a rosato naturale due to the extremely thin and lightly pigmented skins of the variety that even with extended maceration can only produce a very pale rosé wine.

According to wine experts Joe Bastianich and David Lynch, Valle d'Aosta Premetta rosés are very fruity with strawberry aromas and spicy cinnamon notes.

While not always a rosé, the color of Schillerwein range from dark red to pale pink depending on the grape varieties and percentage of each used in the blend.

[23] In the eastern regions of Switzerland, near the German and Austria borders, a special style of rosé known as Süssdruck is produced using only the free-run juice of Pinot noir.

Even today, more than half of Navarra's wine production is dedicated to rosados made primarily from the Garnacha (Grenache) grape.

[34] In 1942, a winemaker from Vinho Verde, Fernando van Zeller Guedes, was inspired by the sales success that the lightly sparkling wine from his home region was having in Portugal and Brazil.

By the 1980s, both the red and sparkling white versions of Mateus accounted for over 40% of the entire Portuguese wine industry, with worldwide sales of 3.25 million cases.