Rose Wines

Rosé Wine: Five Bottles, and How to Choose Between Them

Five rosé wines are listed here. For the classic pale, dry Provence style, the Miraval Rose AOC Cotes de Provence Magnum carries the Côtes de Provence appellation on the label, and it is a magnum, so it holds twice what a standard bottle holds. The Zeni Chiaretto Bardolino Classico Rose is a Chiaretto, which is the rosé of Italy's Bardolino DOC. The other three are Ca Dei Frati, Rosa Dei Frati, Il Poggione, Lo Sbrancato rosato, and Monsenhor, Vino Verde Rose. You must be 18 or over to buy alcohol from us.

How Rosé Wine Is Actually Made

Rosé is not, as a rule, red wine mixed with white. There are three accepted methods, as Wikipedia's rosé entry sets out:

• Skin contact. Black grapes are crushed and the skins are left in contact with the juice for a limited time before being removed. A rosé takes its colour from the grape skins, so how long that contact lasts does much of the work.
• Saignée. Pink juice is bled off early from a batch of red wine and fermented separately. It concentrates the red wine left behind, and the rosé comes out of that process alongside it.
• Blending. Adding red wine to white. This one is discouraged in most wine growing regions and is forbidden by law in France, with Champagne as the exception.

Rosé also spans a wide range of sweetness, from the highly dry Provençal style through to distinctly sweet wines. That is worth knowing before you buy: the word rosé on its own tells you the colour, not the sugar. The word itself changes with the language, which is rosé in French, rosato in Italian and rosado in Spanish. That is why Il Poggione, Lo Sbrancato rosato reads the way it does.

Provence, and What Côtes de Provence on a Label Means

Provence is known predominantly for its rosé wine, and Côtes de Provence is the largest appellation d'origine contrôlée within the region. So when a label reads AOC Côtes de Provence, as the Miraval here does, it is telling you which appellation the wine comes from and that it was made to that appellation's rules. Some critics rate the region's reds above its rosés, as the Provence wine entry notes, but rosé is what Provence is bought for.

Chiaretto and Bardolino Classico

Bardolino is a DOC on the south eastern shores of Lake Garda, in the Veneto in Italy, and Bardolino Classico is a named sub-zone within it. Chiaretto is the name given to the rosé made there. So the Zeni Chiaretto Bardolino Classico Rose label is telling you the style and the zone at once. The same Bardolino Classico zone appears in red on the Zeni Bardolino Classico in our red wines.

What a Magnum Gives You

A magnum holds 1.5 litres, which is two standard 75cl bottles in one. The Miraval on this page is a magnum. For a table of six or eight that means one bottle rather than two, and as a gift it is a good deal more of an occasion.

Serving Rosé

Serve rosé well chilled, straight from the fridge. It is usually drunk young and it does not need decanting. Rosé sits between the two other colours, with more weight than most whites and more freshness than most reds, which is why it tends to work with the food that defeats both. It is usually served with:

• Salads, tomatoes and grilled vegetables
• Grilled fish and prawns
• Charcuterie and soft cheeses
• Roast chicken

The Rest of the Wine Range

If rosé is not quite it, our white wines and red wines cover the two ends. For a sparkling rosé instead, Bouvet Ladubay Rose Brut sits in our sparkling wines and champagnes.

Frequently Asked Questions

What rosé wines does vomFASS UK sell?

Five: Miraval Rose AOC Cotes de Provence Magnum, Zeni Chiaretto Bardolino Classico Rose, Ca Dei Frati Rosa Dei Frati, Il Poggione Lo Sbrancato rosato, and Monsenhor Vino Verde Rose.

How is rosé wine made?

There are three accepted methods. Skin contact, where crushed black grapes are left in contact with their skins for a limited time before the skins are removed. Saignée, where pink juice is bled off early from a batch of red wine and fermented separately. And blending red wine into white, which is discouraged in most wine growing regions and forbidden by law in France, with Champagne as the exception.

Is rosé wine sweet or dry?

Both, depending on the bottle. Rosé spans a wide range of sweetness, from the highly dry Provençal style through to distinctly sweet wines. The word rosé on its own tells you the colour, not the sugar.

What does Chiaretto mean on a Bardolino label?

Chiaretto is the name given to the rosé made in Bardolino, a DOC on the south eastern shores of Lake Garda, in the Veneto in Italy. Bardolino Classico is a named sub-zone within it.

How much wine is in a magnum?

A magnum holds 1.5 litres, which is two standard 75cl bottles in one.

Rosé is usually drunk young and well chilled, so buy it to drink rather than to keep. If you want the format that turns it into an occasion, the Miraval magnum is the one on this page that does it.