Don’t be fooled by the marketing hype, rosé is not just for summer. We think rosés can be enjoyed all year long and there is often a style that suits everyone's taste. Let’s break down rosé in general and then talk about this richer version from the Rhone Valley. 

How Rosé Is Made

Rosé is not a grape but a style of wine. So how exactly do we get rosé? There are actually two different ways. Well, technically 3 but mixing red and white wine together is pretty much frowned upon unless you are making champagne.

The first is whole cluster press; in this method, the grapes are picked with the distinct purpose of being made into a rose. This means they are usually picked a little bit earlier than they would be if they were being made into red wine, resulting in higher acid and lower sugar content in the grapes. These grapes are allowed to sit on their skins for only a number of hours. Then they are pressed and then fermented like a white wine.

The other way is called a bleed, or if you want to get fancy, you can use the French term, saignée. For this method, you pick the grapes for a red wine that you want to make, and then, after the wine has been crushed you pump off some of the juice into a separate tank. The juice you bleed off is what you make the rose out of, and you finish fermenting it like you would a white wine. The red juices and skins that are left in the tank are now going to have a more concentrated flavor because the ratio of juice to skins is now lower.

Rhone Valley, France

The wine that we have for today is from the Rhone Valley in France. The Rhone Valley is actually broken up into two distinct sections, the Northern Rhone and The Southern Rhone. Our wine is from the Cotes Du Rhone which is at the heart of the Southern Rhone. And the Southern Rhone Wines are all about the blends. This wine is no exception. 

Famille Perrin

Famille Perrin, the producer of this wine, is one of the largest organic producers in the Southern Rhone. This wine is a blend of Cinsault, Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah. 

You get a ton of minerality on the nose along with notes of red fruits like ripe strawberries and some slightly herbal qualities as well. On the palate more of those red fruits carry through. This is a rich and robust rosé perfect for those crisp winter afternoons.