ROSE\' WINES

Rosé wines can be fresh and light that resemble white wines, and warm and structured very similar to red wines. To obtain a rosé wine, the law prevents mixing a red wine with a white wine, instead practicing allowed to produce Champagne and some Rosé sparkling wines. It is possible to produce rosé wines with red berried grapes, gray-berry grapes (Pinot Gris, Grenache Gris, etc.), grapes of coloring matter (Pulsard, Doux d'Herry, etc.), berry grapes bainca and red vinified together and assemblage of musts obtained from red and white grapes. The most used method to produce a rosé wine is to use red grapes and leave the skins for a short period in contact with the must; the characteristic of vinification in rosé consists in starting with the mashing of the grapes according to the wine-making process in red and continuing with the alcoholic fermentation of the white vinification. The must obtained from de-stemming and crushing of the grapes is pushed into temperature-controlled steel tanks to be brought immediately to low temperatures in the order of 8/10 °; often some recoveries are used to keep the marc moving, but under these conditions the fermentative activity, and consequently the extraction activity, is strongly slowed down and this allows a greater control of the quantity of anthocyanins and tannins that pass from the peels must. Once the desired color is reached, after 10/12 hours, the must is tapped, the skins are gently pressed, and the whole is pumped into another tank to proceed with the alcoholic fermentation carried out like some of a white wine. The control of the temperature in rosé wine is particularly important because in addition to preserving the fresh and fruity aromas it must prevent oxidative processes that are particularly dangerous because the low concentration of anthocyanins makes them unsteady. Once the alcoholic fermentation is over, the racking and the subsequent decanting are carried out, and the wine must always be kept at rather low temperatures to prevent aging early. A high technique of rosé wine production is to use a mixture of red grapes and white that must be perfectly calibrated so that the red part is not excessive. Lately you can use a technique that always involves the use of red grapes, but they are divided into two parts: the most abundant is pressed, while the other is de-stemmed, pressed and mixed to the other must so that the fermentation takes place together. More than any other practice, vinification in rosé is closely linked to the sensitivity of the producer who has to capture a beautiful shade of color and find a difficult balance between fruity and fresh aromas and a slightly acidic taste but also soft enough to neutralize the few tannins present. There are countless opportunities to drink a rosé, when a red wine seems too demanding, during a cold buffet, for a picnic, with ham and other cured meats, or at the seaside at sunset.