Why is Rose Wine Pink?

Today the Ideal Wine Company has decided to tackle one of the most annoying wine myths known to man. We’ve geared ourselves up to ask: why is rose wine pink?

The rise of rose wine

Go back a decade or two and rose wine was nothing more than a novelty. At best, it was the bottle you would only break out on a particularly scorching summer’s day. At worst, you wouldn’t have even heard of it.

However you can buy some stunning rose wines. A good pink wine manages to mix the bright, fresh characteristics of an un-oaked white, with the rich berry-fruit flavours of a hearty red. People have started to catch on in the last decade, and now you’re just as likely to see rose on the supermarket shelves as you would it’s darker and lighter equivalents.

It’s not a blend!

The rising popularity of rose wine has only more people curious. A lot of wine enthusiasts don’t know how their pink drink of choice is made. We want to take a minute to clear something up. Rose wine is not a blend!

White wine is made from white grapes (mostly). Red wine is made from red grapes. This leads people to believe that rose wine is made by blending white wine and red wine. No.

From clear to pink

It’s usually made with red grapes. In the EU it must be made with red grapes. Did you know that grape juice is clear when it’s first pressed? It’s the skin of the grape that makes wine a certain colour.

This means that white wine is made from grapes with light skins. It can also be made with dark-skinned grapes if the skin is separated out before the juice is left to ferment. Red wines are left to ferment with the skins of the dark grapes they’re made from to attain their famous colour.

Now we get to rose. Rose receives it’s colour in a similar way to red. Dark-skinned grapes are lightly crushed and allowed to macerate with their skins for a short time during fermentation, to provide the tipple with a lovely pink blush. The juice is then separated out and fermented in tanks.

How was your Dom Perignon Rose 1996 made?

So next time you break out a bottle of Dom Perignon Rose 1996 bought from the Ideal Wine Company, stop and think. This decadent rose champagne isn’t a crude blend of white and red grape juice. It was lovingly made to provide you with the shining pink glow that no rose-drinking experience is complete without!  

Five Foods to Pair with Rose Wine

If you’re looking for the perfect complement for your luxury bottle of rose stick around. This week the Ideal Wine Company reveals five foods to pair with rose wine.

What should you do with your bottle of rose?

As a provider of fine wines from around the world at a price you can afford, the Ideal Wine Company has a range of luxury rose wines and champagnes ready and waiting for you to purchase.

But what do you do once you’ve bought one. Maybe you should save it for a special occasion; perhaps a dinner party? Wine is the perfect tipple for a sophisticated dinner party yet it’s a complex drink – you can’t just pair it with any dish or the tastes will strike too sharp a contrast.

Try these five foods with your bottle of rose

The right dish can set off the intricate flavours laced through a bottle of rose just right, but what should you pick? Try pairing your bottle of rose with one of the following five foods…

1)      Chicken: When it comes to meat there’s a rule of thumb. The heavier the wine, the redder the meat. That’s why if you’re looking to serve meat with rose or white wine you should opt for grilled chicken.

2)      Curry: No, we’re not joking. Spicy foods actually strike a scintillating contrast with a glass of rose and the best way to capture this amazing gastric experience is to team your bottle with a curry. The spice cuts through the fruitiness perfectly.

3)      Spanish cheeses: Wine and cheese is a winning combination, yet it’s so hard to get right. Both are so complex that if you pick the wrong cheese for your bottle of wine the flavours clash, leaving a horrible taste in your mouth. Avoid this when pairing cheese with rose wine by going for a nice Spanish cheese such as Roncal or Idiazabal.

4)      Salad:  Salad is a light, refreshing dish. You wouldn’t want to accompany it with a red. It would prove overpowering. Opt for a lighter wine like a rose instead and its subtle undertones will set your lovingly prepared Nicoise off swimmingly.

5)      Rice: Have you ever tried pairing a classic rice dish like Paella with a wine before? It works beautifully as long as you go for something crisp and flavourful yet light. Rose fits that bill to a tee.

Try the Dom Perignon 1996

In other words there are lots of foods that you can pair with rose wines and champagnes. Try some out for yourself now by pushing the boat out and buying a bottle of Dom Perignon 1996 from the Ideal Wine Company so you can see which dish goes best with a stunning rose vintage!