Blush wine vs. Rosé

"Dena Jo"

I believe 'rose' is the old term.When wine drinking (and making) became more popular, they changed the term to 'blush'. Why? I dunno. Maybe all those girls drinking their white zinfandel got rosy cheeks and looked like they were blushing? In another 10 or 20 years, 'blush' will sound old, and the new generation will come up with some new term. I wonder what it would be?

"Dena Jo"

Oops, I meant to say, "they are different terms for the same types of wine".

There are various techniques for creating a blush (or rose), but both terms seem to be used for _all_ pinkish-coloured wines, still and carbonated, fermented on the skins and blended from white and red wines, etc.

On 23 Oct 2003, Negodki posted thus:

Are you red-faced or really rosé-faced?

In any case, thanks. Those links were helpful.

On 23 Oct 2003, Dan posted thus:

Certainly I did.

blush wine

pinkish table wine from red grapes whose skins were removed after fermentation began.

Rose wine.

pinkish table wine from White grape concentrate and rose petals.

Stephen

I believe 'rose' is the old term.When wine drinking (and making) became more popular, they changed the term to 'blush'. Why? I dunno. Maybe all those girls drinking their white zinfandel got rosy cheeks and looked like they were blushing? In another 10 or 20 years, 'blush' will sound old, and the new generation will come up with some new term. I wonder what it would be?

"Dena Jo"

"Dena Jo"

How do they get their pink colour then? Most red grapes (I understand bacos are an exception) will yield a white wine if there is not some period of skin contact.

"Dena Jo"

That's the point. The longer the skin contact, the darker the blush. At some point after crushing and skin contact begins, the wine becomes rosé.

IOW, blush wines are generally made from red fruit that is pressed very soon after harvesting - often without crushing. Champagne is mostly made from Pinot Noir that is picked somewhat underripe (~18 Brix) and pressed as whole clusters. Most of the color (what there is of it) remains behind in the press pomace. The finished wine from this operation is so slightly tinted that you might easily mistake it for a white (blanc de blancs) Champagne.

I need a word for wines made from Pinot Grigio or Gewurztraminer in a style that tends to acknowledge the inherent color of these varietals (and others, if there are any). My Pinot Grigio looked more like Pinot Noir in the bins. It was clearly _not_ a white grape. The finished wine is a copper/orange color. Part of the color is from the barrel fermentation and aging, but more is from the fruit itself. The flavor is quite intense, and definitely _not_ Chardonnay-like. I think this is a good wine to give some age to.

Some wineries, particularly Pinot Noir producers, will "bleed off" some of the free run juice immediately and make vin gris from that, and dump the skins back into the main lot to enhance its color. This typically raises the pH of the must, but that's easily fixed with a little tartaric. Most wines need a touch of tartaric anyway - at least here in California*.

Tom S

Even with low Brix grapes, an hour or so of skin contact time after crushing is enough to produce the pink color. With ripe grapes, wineries often have problems with too much color because they cant press fast enough to keep up with the crusher..

Just wanted to thank everyone who answered my question!

We're talking about _wine_ grapes here; not table grapes. IOW, I'm drawing a comparison between Bordeaux (e.g.) and Napa - not Fresno.

Not to mention lack of fruit/varietal character.

That's all well and good in a year with clement weather. Unfortunately, as the Bordelais well know, early rains can wreak havoc with that scenario. It happens here in California too (1982 e.g.), but it's a _lot_ less frequent than in Europe.

Exactly. That's basically what I implied, but I stand by my opinion that it's preferable to have to tweak the pH down a little in a must that has normal Brix, to having to chaptalize low Brix must/juice.

Tom S

There is one other possible source for rose type wines. Second run. Use the pressed skins after making red wine, add some sugar and a little water and referment to get a second batch of wine. It turns out a wine that tastes and looks like a cheap rose wine. I am not sure but what some commercial rose is exactly this.

Ray

I use a freebie program called "AllChars". A Google search should turn it up.

Tom S

Called by many names "pink wine" can be made from a number of methods

1. A very short skin contact when fermenting red skinned grapes
2. Blending a red and white wine together, eg. adding 9% Merlot to say Riesling.
3. Even certain white grapes when given an extra skin contact e.g. Pinot Gris will cause a blush wine. However in the wine kits its probably a small amount of red base concentrate added to a white base concentrate, than ran through the pasteurizor prior to packaging.

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