Retailers tell me that many of their customers are suspicious of deeply coloured rosé wines and insist on buying only very pale, almost white, wines. Many seem to believe that darker rosés are inferior or will be sweet. None of this is true.
Several factors determine the colour of a rosé wine. The first is the length of maceration. Almost all grapes have colourless juice. The colour in a rosé (or red) wine comes from the pigments, or anthocyanins, in the skins. A pink colour is achieved by crushing and then macerating red grapes (or a mix of red and white grapes) in their skins for a short period. For a rosé, this can be anything from two to 24 hours. The longer you leave the juice in contact with the skins, the deeper the colour.
The grape variety used can also make a difference. Some varieties, such as grenache and cinsault, have thin skins and any wine made from these will probably be pale in colour. Other varieties, such as mourvèdre, syrah and cabernet sauvignon, have thicker, more deeply coloured skins and will produce darker wines.
You can also add white grape varieties to make rosé. Many of the pale Provencal wines contain both red and white grapes. However, it is illegal in the EU to simply blend red and white wine; the white and red grapes must be fermented together.
Whispering Angel is the wine that first sold us on rosé. Somehow, it also convinced us that pale-coloured rosé is better. Most Provence rosé is pale, almost colourless. Tasted blind, I suspect many people would think it was a white wine. More deeply coloured rosé is likely to be richer and have more fruit – not a bad thing, especially with food. I find they tend to have a little more character. Most rosé, pale or coloured, is dry, although some, such as white zinfandel and rosé d’Anjou, are sweet.
