What is Rosé wine? Today we will be going over the basics of Rosé wine in this short video, or you can read the text below. These are pink wines but they’re not the same as a White Zinfandel or a Blush Wine from New York State.

Rosé Wine is Dry

Rosé wine is traditionally a dry wine. They are often confused with things like White Zinfandel and White Merlot because those, especially White Zinfandel has been such a dominant wine in the market from the last few decades.

Whereas those wines are made to have some residual sugar, be a little bit sweeter and lighter, easier drinking, rosés are made by wine makers with what you would associate typically a dry red grape. They are made with some complexity and they have a nice dry finish.

What is Rosé Wine?

This Rosé wine, Bertarosé, for example, is from Italy. It is made with Sangiovese grapes. Sangiovese is a dry red grape, typically a little lighter body, but the wine makers only leave the skins in contact with the wine for very short period during the wine making process. Then they separate the skins out. The Rosé wine only gets a little tinge of the pink and not that full red color that one would normally associate with a Sangiovese.

Same thing with something like this Aimé Roqqesante from the Côtes de Provence in France. It is made with Cinsaut, Grenache and Syrah grapes. Syrah is a very heavy dry red wine that most people are familiar with. When you see a pink colored wine you may not necessarily associate that with Syrah. However, you will get some of those same flavors and you’ll definitely get the dryness that you would typically expect with a Syrah.

The Misunderstood Rosé Wine

Rosé wine is commonly confused and there are many misconceptions about them. People often mistakenly stay away from them because they don’t like sweet wines and they assume that the pink wine will be sweet. But what I really encourage you to do, especially if you’re traditionally a dry red wine drinker, is find a wine that says Rosé on the bottle. Give this wine a try on a nice hot summer day or as a drink with your appetizers, especially if you are starting your meal with shellfish. Rosé wine is served chilled so it’s nice and refreshing. You may find it a little bit easier drinking than your full-bodied red on that hot summer afternoon for your barbecue.

So as you’ve probably heard me say before, there are always exceptions in the wine world. An exception about Rosé wine is that some in particular rosé wines which say, “Delightfully sweet” or “Sweet” right on the label. There are some Rosés that do have some sweetness. So you might want to just double check with the person in your local wine store to make sure that the one you picked out is a traditional dry rosé.

The Flavors of Rosé

Some of the flavors that you find in rosé wine, are strawberries, raspberries, and melon. They go great on their own or pair nicely with salads or shellfish.

I really encourage you to get out and try a Rosé wine this coming summer season and enjoy. Thank you very much for reading, we look forward to your questions, comments and feedback and we will see you soon. Cheers.

Interested in any of the products mentioned in the video? You can check them out below:
Bertani Bertarosé, Aimé Roquesante Provence Rosé, & Ruffino Sparkling Rosé

You can also see more of our videos like this here.