Rose’ wines, hundreds of shades

It is early afternoon and I am visiting a new restaurant:

Me: “This is our Pinot Grigio blush”

Restaurateur: ”It is delicious, better than the one we currently list, but ours has a darker colour and our patrons will find yours too light in colour and complain”

In the UK, there is a saying: "never judge a book by its cover", still, we often judge rosé wines by their colour. And it is not just restaurateurs. I see it every time I choose a rose wine’ for one of our wine tastings, the first comments are always about its colour. This doesn't happen for white or red wines despite their colour’s differences. We don’t seem to notice the different shades in red and white wines, but we do in roses.

We expect rosé wines to be one of two colours: either a light pale orange, like most Pinot Grigio blush, or the brighter pink of Zinfandel rose’. Any other shade, and we question the wine. Rose’ wines are very little known, largely because supermarkets only stock wines of the two colours, preventing rose’ wine, the whole category, from reaching popularity and becoming mainstream.

Rosé wines are some of the most versatile wines available. By simply adjusting the serving temperature, either slightly warmer or cooler, more like a red or white wine respectively, rose' wine can pair a wide variety of foods all year round. Italian rosé wines, in particular, are made to complement food. Their color, ranging from very pale copper to light ruby, is the result of the winemaking process and the grapes used, with variations due to longer or shorter fermentations.

No winemaker, except industrial or commercial bottlers, decides the shade of a rosé wine in advance, sat at the table. The resulting colour is the consequence of the winemaking process and grapes and can vary between vintages. Rosé wines are made using red grapes that are harvested early, before reaching full ripeness, to have higher acidity and lower sugar content, undergoing shorter fermentations to prevent tannins to be released.

Like red and white, rosé wines come in many shades. So, next time you choose a rosé wine, don't judge it by its colour. Instead, ignore it, be bold and adventurous, pick a different shade and only judge the wine based on its aroma and taste, just as you would with a red or white wine. Check our range of rose' wines