Rosé Wine

An Introduction to Crosé

A Rosé Wine for All Seasons

Crosé, our rosé wine, has become one of our most popular wines. This dry, Merlot-based rosé is fresh and crisp. It pairs well with light fare, and you can enjoy it on its own. Its fans include those new to wine and those with practiced palates. You don’t need to wait for hot weather to try Crosé. Contrary to popular belief, you can enjoy rose wines year-round.

 

A Local Gift with Universal Appeal

Want the perfect gift? Versatile, delicious, and drinkable, our Crosé can please just about anyone. And while some of the world’s top rosés can fetch well over $100 a bottle, our Crosé offers you a well-priced wine that holds the drinker’s interest sip after sip.

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How We Make Crosé

Two days of skin contact, then pressed. Fermentation takes place over three weeks in stainless steel tanks at low temperature. The wine is kept at 55°F to preserve freshness and varietal character. A high level of CO2 kept on top of the wine ensures freshness. No racking occurs after fermentation to avoid oxidation. The wine stays on the lees until bottling and is then sterile filtered. No malolactic conversion was permitted.

The Taste of Crosé

Look for notes of grapefruit, lime, watermelon, and a light grassiness on the nose. Throughout the palate, a lifting acidity carries flavors of bitter cherry, peach, and rose petal. A great companion for the porch or patio. Drink now and serve well-chilled!

The Story of Rosé

Many casual wine drinkers put rose in the so-so quality category. But there’s more to rosé than that. They can have a rich, complex character. And the history of rosé includes a variety of regions, grapes, and winemaking methods.
 
As one of the world’s oldest styles of wine, rosé served as the “red wine” of classical times. Rosé then developed into a category separate from both white and red wines. And red wines have become fuller bodied and tannic.
 

Three Ways to a Rosé


Winemakers can produce a rosé from almost any red grape variety. They most often use one of three methods:
  • Adding red wine to white wine
  • Bleeding juice from red grapes
  • Limiting grape skin content with juice
The bleeding method, known in French as saignee, has a double effect. It both creates rosé wine and concentrates the remaining juice for red wine.
 
Limiting the grape skin-juice contact, maceration, is the most common method. It limits the amount of time the grape skins stay in contact with the juice after pressing. By limiting the skin contact, the wine only extracts a limited amount of color and little or no tannin. This results in a lightly colored wine. The maceration period can range anywhere from a number of hours to as many as 2 or 3 days. Timing depends on the grape variety and the desired rosé style.
 

Where Rosé is Made

In today’s market, Provence, located in the Southeastern corner of France, is the gold standard for dry rosé production. Many wineries produce only rosé wines. The region’s rosés have a Grenache base, with varying levels of Cinsault, Mourvedre, or another of the lesser-known varieties approved for use in Provencal winemaking.
 
Many other French wine regions produce top quality rosés as well. And rosés which come from wine regions all over the world. You’ll find rosés made with grape varieties from Pinot noir to Malbec. These wines range from light and simple to deep and intense.