Rose wine is NOT a mixture of white wine with red wine, because this practice is forbidden in the European Union. Exceptions are certain sparkling rose wines produced in Champagne (France), which use the mixture of musts from white and black grapes. The definition according to which, in order to be considered a rose, wine must come from black or red grapes has become obsolete in recent decades, due to modern winemaking techniques and the creativity of oenologists.
Rose wine is the oldest wine in the world, given the multitude of ways to obtain it, from error to perfection. In ancient times grapes of all colors were picked and pressed together, the maceration being discovered much later, when a wine monk, asleep by the Bacchic steam, would have forgotten the must on the bostina and once awakened by the basala of the drosophiles, noticed the much more intense color of the wine resulting from the fermentation of that must. Centuries later, rafinancing the methods, the winemakers made white wine and mixed it in different proportions with the red wine, until they found the shade suitable for the pleasure of their eyes. Nowadays, this practice is forbidden at European level.
Having such a generous color spectrum, from pale rose to raspberry or the color of the onion peel, the specialists agreed that there is no typical color for rose wine, so this aspect is not even judged, but only mentioned in the descriptive judging.
Is rose wine a summer wine? Marketing clean! Basically, rose wine is put up for sale in early spring and it is recommended to be sold until the start of the new harvest, in autumn, at least for two reasons: to be consumed fresh and not to block the storage capacities of the wineries. The aromas of the rose wine are the primary (which come from the grapes) and the secondary ones (which come from the fermentation process). If we detect tertiary flavors, the rose wine is either no longer at its first youth, or it was deliberately left to mature, or it was forgotten and aged. We can appreciate the taste of watermelon or rose, citrus fruits or red fruits, strawberries, strawberries, raspberries, sometimes even notes of rhubarb.
Rose wine is usually drunk from glasses for white or sparkling wine, but it will not be disadvantaged by a glass intended for red wine, especially if it is face to face with a passionate who knows how to detect the fine flavors, plucked from the skins during the time spent by the must together with the grape berries. We order a rose wine in the Anglophone countries, in France and Germany, a rosato in Italy and a rosado in Spain. Wherever we locate them, most of the rose wines are dry, refreshing, but we can also meet semi-dry or semi-sweet wines, because there is no absolute typicality here either.
Provence region in the south of France is considered the most prolific area for the production of rose wines of remarkable quality, at affordable prices. Wines from the South rhone, such as Tavel wine, can be pale pink or light salmon, up to intense pink burgundy, and in taste we can find notes of strawberries, raspberries and citrus.
In Romania there are two grape varieties from which only rose wines are generally made: Busuioaca de Bohotin and Mamaia (grape variety created at SCDVV Murfatlar – Romania, obtained by controlled hybridization / crossing between Merlot and Muscat Ottonel varieties and registered in 1991. The grape can accumulate 210 to 230 g /l sugars, has a fine rose flavor and can give wines from pink to light red.)
The technology of making rose wine is almost identical to that for red wines, differing only at the duration of the must’s contact with the skins of the grapes and the lack of maturation stage, because this wine passes from the equalization – storage tanks (which can be made of stainless steel, ceramics or cement) directly to bottling. By passing the ravac must directly to fermentation and continuing the technology as when obtaining white wines, one can even obtain a white wine from black grapes. However, the wine called White Zinfandel is a rose wine, because the coloring intensity of the skin of the grapes of the black Zinfandel variety is quickly taken over, in a very short time, even in the ravac must.
Says the law:
The mixture of white wine with red wine is forbidden:
- at European level, in accordance with Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No …/… 606/2009, updated and
- at national level, according to article 33, paragraph (4) of GD 512/2016 on the Rules of Application of the Law on Vine and Wine 164/2015.
