page_title: Rosé
section_title: Champagne
hierarchical_section_title: Rosé / French rosés / Champagne
caption_attribution_description: © FXR - March 2008
context_page_description: A rosé is a type of wine that incorporates some of the color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the skin contact method. The pink color can range from a pale "onion-skin" orange to a vivid near-purple, depending on the grape varieties used and winemaking techniques. Usually, the wine is labelled rosé in French, Portuguese, and English-speaking countries, rosado in Spanish, or rosato in Italian.
  There are three major ways to produce rosé wine: skin contact, saignée, and blending. Rosé wines can be made still, semi-sparkling or sparkling and with a wide range of sweetness levels from highly dry Provençal rosé to sweet White Zinfandels and blushes. Rosé wines are made from a wide variety of grapes and can be found all around the globe.
  When rosé wine is the primary product, it is produced with the skin contact method. Black-skinned grapes are crushed and the skins are allowed to remain in contact with the juice for a short period, typically two to twenty hours. The must is then pressed, and the skins are discarded rather than left in contact throughout fermentation.
context_section_description: Rosé Champagnes account for between 3-5% of Champagne's yearly production. These Champagnes are distinct from Blanc de noirs (white of blacks or white from black grapes) in that rosé Champagnes are often noticeably and intentionally colored, with hues that span from "baby pink" to copper salmon, while Blanc de noirs are white wines with only sometimes the palest of coloring that could range from a "white-grey" to a light salmon. This color traditionally comes from the very brief skin contact of the black grapes (Pinot noir and Pinot Meunier) during pressing that the Champagne producer decides not to remove by any decolorizing techniques. However, many modern rosé Champagnes are produced as regular Champagnes but are later "colored up" by adding red Pinot noir wines to the finished wine. According to wine expert Karen MacNeil, some Champagne producers believe this second method adds more richness and age-ability to the wine.
  In the Aube department, a separate AOC for still rosé produced around the commune of Riceys was established for rosé produced by the saignee method from exclusively Pinot noir. Produced only during the warmest, ripest vintages of Champagne (with often less than 7500 bottles made on average), Rosé des Riceys  can be difficult to find. According to wine expert Jancis Robinson, Rosé des Riceys can be some of France's "most serious rosés" while fellow wine expert Oz Clarke describes them as "oddball" wines that come across as full-bodied and nutty with a golden pink color.
caption: Rosé Champagnes can range in color from pink to copper.
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