Pink wine gets its colour from contact between juice and red grape skins. The longer the contact, the deeper the colour, and the more tannin and flavour compounds are extracted.
Three methods of making rosé:
1. Direct pressing (Provence method): Red grapes are pressed immediately or with only a few hours of skin contact. This produces the palest, most delicate style, the signature of Provence rosé (Grenache, Cinsault, Mourvèdre blends). Dry, crisp, and subtle.
2. Saignée ("bleeding"): A portion of juice is "bled" from a red wine fermentation tank after several hours of skin contact. The red wine becomes more concentrated; the bled juice becomes a richer, more structured rosé as a byproduct.
3. Blending: Red and white wine are mixed. This is only permitted for quality wines in Champagne (rosé Champagne), no other EU quality wine appellation allows it.
Skin contact whites (orange wine): White grapes left to ferment on their skins for days or even weeks produce amber or orange-coloured wines with tannin, texture, and oxidative character. The method is ancient, Georgia has used clay amphora called qvevri for over 8,000 years. Orange wines have seen a strong revival with natural wine producers.
Key rosé regions: Provence (pale and dry, the global benchmark), Rioja rosado (deeper, Garnacha-based), Tavel in the Rhône (a rare appellation dedicated entirely to rosé), Anjou Rosé, White Zinfandel (semi-sweet, USA).
