Designation for a type of wine with a pale, light red colour. Depending on the intensity of contact with the berry skins, the colour can range from salmon (light red) to cherry (dark red). However, there are no standardised regulations or definitions for rosé wines worldwide. The OIV (International Organisation of Vine and Wine) has no analysis standards that differentiate wines according to colour. Although there is no precise definition, there are country-specific procedures (see below). As a rule, rosé wines are produced exclusively from red wine varieties and vinified like a white wine, i.e. without mash fermentation and with prolonged contact with the grape skins.
Types of wine: White wine, rosé wine, red wine, orange wine
EU regulations for rosé wine
The ban on blending red wine with white wine to produce a rosé wine is set out in EU Regulation 2019/934. Rosé wine may not be produced by blending a white wine (without a PGI or PDO) with a red wine (without a PGI or PDO). The ban on labelling a blend of red wine and white wine as rosé therefore only applies to the lowest wine quality level of wine without origin. Conversely, this means that for rosé wines, a red-white blend would be permitted for Landwein (PGI) and Qualitätswein (PDO).
In June 2009, following fierce protests from some winegrowers' associations, the responsible EU Commission rejected a legislative proposal that would have allowed rosé wine to be produced by simply blending red wine and white wine. This was intended to eliminate the competitive disadvantage compared to the blending of red and white wines for the production of simple rosé wines, which is permitted outside the EU.
Country-specific regulations
Each EU member state can authorise certain methods in national wine law for the quality levels PGI(Landwein) and PDO(Qualitätswein or Prädikatswein). In Germany and Austria, only a wine that has been produced exclusively from red wine varieties and fulfils the legal requirements for a wine with origin (PGI or PDO) may be marketed under the designation rosé wine.
As an exception, blending is also permitted for sparkling wine. In the case of the traditional designations Badisch Rotgold, Schieler and Schillerwein(Rotlinge), which are protected in Germany, white wine grapes and red wine grapes or their mashes are blended or processed. However, according to the provisions of German wine law, these may not be labelled as rosé wine. There are no special designations or protected traditional terms for Austria that describe or authorise the blending of red and white wine.
Blend of grape varieties
However, there are also pale red wines that are made from a blend (grape/mash or wine) of red wine and optionally also white wine varieties (in the case of a grape/mash blend, this is a mixed blend). Which grape varieties are considered red wine varieties or quality wine varieties depends on the country. There are some white wine varieties with red berry skins such as Roter Muskateller ( Muscat Blanc variety), Gewürztraminer (Roter Traminer) and Pinot Gris, as well as Cereza and other Criolla varieties in South America, which produce a more or less reddish wine.
In many wine-growing regions, such as France or Italy, white wine grapes are also permitted in the production of red wine, subject to corresponding exceptions. The grapes are fermented together by means of so-called mixed fermentation. However, these are not rosé wines, but red wines. Due to the usually very low proportion of white varieties, this also has no influence on the colour of the wine.
Natural wine
The wine types that...
