Rosé Wine Tasting
Enhance your enjoyment of this most refreshing summer tipple with our guide to tasting rosé properly.
1. LOOK AT YOUR ROSÉ WINE GLASS
The first indication of how the wine will taste is the way it looks. A paler rosé is more likely to be a dry wine style from Provence, such as our own Chateau Léoube.
The colour of the rosé can also indicate how the wine was made. Paler styles are typically made by the direct press technique, in which whole bunches of red grapes are gently squeezed in a big rotating press – the light pink juice that is extracted is the final colour of the wine.
Darker rosé is often produced by blended or saignée methods. Deeper colours often mean more tannins and more intense flavours, but not always.
2. SWIRL & SNIFF YOUR ROSÉ WINE
We swirl to widen the surface area of the wine and bring more oxygen into the glass, which helps to release aromas.
By sniffing we are checking that the wine is good to drink and doesn't have any faults such as cork taint, which smells like soggy cardboard that has been left out in the rain
3. SIP AND SAVOUR
This is where our taste buds come into play. When we sip we want to take in some oxygen too, which helps swirl the rosé wine around every part of your palate.
If a wine is sipped, swallowed and then all flavour disappears, this is known in the trade as a “short length”. Flavour that lingers is known as a “long length”.
