Rosé wine facts for kids

Rosé wine

Rosé wine is a special kind of wine that has a pink color. It's made from red grapes, but unlike red wine, the grape juice only touches the grape skins for a very short time. This short contact is what gives rosé its unique color and flavor.

What is Rosé Wine?

Rosé wine gets its name from the French word "rosé," meaning "pink." It's not a mix of red and white wine, but a distinct type of wine made in its own way. The color of rosé can range from a very pale, almost orange pink to a bright, deep pink, depending on how it's made and the grapes used.

How Rosé Gets Its Color

The color of wine comes from the skin of the grapes. Red grapes have pigments in their skins that give red wine its deep color. When making rosé, the grape juice is allowed to sit with the red grape skins for only a few hours, usually between 2 to 20 hours. This short time is called "skin contact."

During this short skin contact, the juice picks up some of the color from the skins. It also picks up a small amount of tannins. Tannins are natural compounds found in grape skins, seeds, and stems. They can make wine taste a bit dry or bitter. Because rosé has very little skin contact, it has fewer tannins than red wine, making it lighter and often fruitier.

Different Ways to Make Rosé

There are a few main ways winemakers create rosé wine:

• Maceration: This is the most common method. Red grapes are crushed, and the juice sits with the skins for a short period (a few hours). Once the desired pink color is reached, the juice is separated from the skins and then fermented.
• Saignée (Bleeding): This method is often a side product of making red wine. When winemakers want to make a red wine more concentrated, they might "bleed off" some of the pink juice early in the process. This bled-off juice is then fermented separately to make rosé.
• Blending: In some regions, especially for sparkling rosé, a small amount of red wine is blended with white wine to create a pink color. This method is less common for still (non-sparkling) rosé wines.

Taste and Style

Rosé wines are known for being light, refreshing, and often fruity. They can have flavors of red berries like strawberries and raspberries, citrus, or even floral notes. They are usually enjoyed chilled and are popular in warmer weather.

Images for kids

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  Sparkling rosé in the cave of Schramsberg Vineyards, in Napa, California

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  A rosé wine from Washington state, USA

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  Many of the earliest red wines were closer in color to modern rosé since many of the early winemaking techniques involved pressing soon after harvest.

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  In the United States, a stuck fermentation while producing a red wine from Zinfandel would lead to the development of the popular rose-colored wine White Zinfandel.

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  One method of making rosé is to press the wine early (often after 12–24 hours of skin contact) while red wine producers will leave the juice macerating with the skins for several days or even weeks longer.

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  A sparkling rosé Champagne

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  Sample of Mourvedre and rosé that had been bled off (saignée) from the red wine juice.

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  Rosés can come in a variety of colors depending on the grape variety and method of production.

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  A bottle of Gametime rosé from Nocking Point Wines in dark green glass.

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  A rosé from Bandol

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  A Tavel rosé

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  Rosé d'Anjou is made primarily from the Groslot grape.

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  Rosé Champagnes can range in color from pink to copper.

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  A French rosé in a one-liter squat bottle

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  A slightly sparkling Lambrusco rosé

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  A Cerasuolo made from the Montepulciano grape in the Abruzzo region

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  A rosado from the Cigales region

See also

In Spanish: Vino rosado para niños