Contrary to what many think, rosé wine is not obtained by mixing white wine and red wine. The vinification principle is much more complex, and responds to a strict process. Would you like to know the secrets of the vinification of the Côtes de Provence Rosé? Discover the manufacturing techniques and the characteristics of rosé wine.
The vinification of rosé wine
The development of rosé wine is made from different techniques, selected according to the maturity of the harvest, the grape variety, or the desired result. The vinification then includes all the stages of creation, from harvest to bottling.
The sorting of grapes
After the manual or mechanical harvest of the grapes, 3 steps are possible before pressing or maceration.
- The scratch: separating the grapes from the roundup (frame from the grape cluster) is the preliminary step to any elaboration of rosé wine;
- Drainage: we can then choose to separate the juice from solid materials;
- Facing: it is also possible to burst the bays of grapes, to extract the must without crushing the seeds.
If scratching is an essential step, drainage and stagger are optional, and will depend on the chosen winemaking technique.
The two techniques of winemaker of rosé wine
To make rosé wine, two techniques are mainly used. Each of them will then have a different process.
Film maceration
After scratching and staggered, the must obtained will macerate in a tank for 2 to 20 hours, at a temperature between 10 and 15 ° C. The pigments and aromas present in the skin of the grapes will mix with the juice, giving it a pretty pink color. Once the winemaker obtains the desired color, he will go to the pressing stage, where the juice will be separated from solid residues (seeds and skins).
Direct pressing
This technique aims to press the grape directly after harvest or scratch. The pressing is then extremely slow, which allows the juice to retrieve the pigments and aromas of the film of the grapes. Direct pressing pink wines are generally lighter than pink wines by film maceration.
These steps make it possible to recover a drop juice (obtained following drainage, before pressing), a press juice or bleeding juice (obtained after having removed the drop juice, and pressed the marc from the tank).
Fermentation
After following these steps, the juice obtained is then put into fermentation, whatever the technique used. Fermentation is often preceded by a debt, a process which consists in clarifying the must.
Alcoholic fermentation is a chemical process that transforms grape sugar into alcohol, under the action of yeasts. It can be followed by partial or total malolactic fermentation, which consists in letting anaerobic bacteria transform malic acid into lactic acid. This will give a more flexible and stable rosé wine. This step is not essential for a rosé wine or a white wine.
Food, conservation and bottling
To finish the process, the racking (or clarification), will eliminate the latest solid particles, before putting the wine in tank for conservation. The last step will be bottling.
The vinification of the Côtes de Provence rosé
The uniqueness of the rosé coast of Provence lies in part in its particular color, which it is difficult to obtain. Making a quality vintage requires real know-how.
Rosé de Provence: Zoom on a delicate color and difficult to obtain!
After following the different stages of the winemaking of rosé wine, you will have understood that this specific color comes from the natural pigments contained in the skin of black grapes. To obtain such an elegant color, and such aromas, it takes a perfect control of the contact between the pulp and the film of the grapes.
Maceration or pressing must be long enough to allow the pigments to give the wine this pink dress, but short enough not to spoil the flexibility and elegance of the wine with too marked tannins.
The vinification of a coast of Provence Rosé is then a real know-how, which the winegrowers of the Berne domain master perfection.
The pink wines color chart of Provence
You will probably have noticed, there is not a unique color for Provence wines. The color chart is even wide, and there are 6 main colors for the coast of Provence rosé: fishing, melon, mango, pomelo, mandarin and currant.
This classification of colors with fruit names is a reference for producers and consumers who are looking for a typical oenological profile of pink wines from Provence.
The manufacture of a rosé coast of Provence requires an absolute mastery of vinification techniques. the Berne Castle invites you to discover this ancestral know-how through an exceptional pink wines tasting.
