Rose made from red and white grapes

Have any of you ever seen a commercial rose made from a blend of red and white grapes? And by a blend, I don’t mean <10% of something added in.

I only recall seeing one before - Cargasacchi had a lower-priced label whose name escapes me, and they had a rose that was some kind of 50-50 mix of a white and red variety.

If you have, do you know how it was made? Was it all made like white wine and rose (crushed and pressed right after harvest, only the juice gets fermented)? Or was the red wine made like red wine (fermented with the skins and seeds mixed with the juice), the white wine like white, and then they were blended together some time after fermentation?

Just curious. Thanks.

While not a rose, Copain’s P2 is 1/2 Pinot Noir, 1/2 Pinot Gris if I recall.

Not technically a rose but the Flowers Perennial is a blend of Pinot, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay

Lichen Estate in Mendocino County has made a blend from Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. I believe that it was made as a white wine…



Lichen Estate 2017
LES PINOTS NOIR & GRIS
ANDERSON VALLEY:
https://www.lichenestate.com/xe/xe.asp?page=viewitem&p=206&cat=wine

Chateau d’Arlay in Jura produces a wine called Corail which is a co-fermenting of the 5 common Jura varieties (pinot noir, trousseau, poulsard, chardonnay, savagnin), and maybe some other legacy grapes as well. Indeed it comes across as a wines with white-typical acidity and mouthfeel, and lots of red-fruit flavors (I really like it, FWIW)

I think also Lopez de Heredia Rosado is garnacha, tempranillo, and viura; I am not sure from their description whether the grapes are fermented together or blended later.

Yes, the RLdH Rosado is a grenache-dominant blend, along with tempranillo and viura. The blend % of the 2008 vintage is pretty comparable with the vintages from late 90s and 2000: Garnacho (60%), Tempranillo (30%), and Viura (10%)

If my memory is correct (not always a guaranteed condition), they co-ferment all the varieties for the rosado. I believe that’s at least one of the reasons they only make the rosado in certain vintages - because they need all the varieties to ripen in a close enough time window that they can be co-fermented. Take the above with a grain of salt, but it’s correct to the best of my knowledge.

I just wish I could have scrounged up more than 1 bottle from the measly allocation that came into the Seattle market. Guess that means I’m going to have to continue to stretch my remaining stash of earlier vintages.

Michael

Dominio del Águila, Pícaro Clarete from Ribera del Duero. A blend of Tempranillo, Albillo, Garnacha, and Bobal.

I know at least a few rose champagnes do this, if they count. Not sure if it’s really all that common, or just more common among the ones I buy.

I had a cofermented counoise/melon recently—the Swick Ellaguru from Oregon.
Unique and tasty, but I didn’t rush out to repurchase.

It was legal in Rioja and elsewhere in Spain and is still practiced. It’s not going to be legal much longer, if it still is in Rioja though, notwithstanding the fact that it’s traditional. In Ribera there were no white grapes even allowed for DO status wines - the wine had to be Castilla y Leon only. A few years ago they agreed to allow some white grapes.

In Provence, I believe it’s not allowed - rosé has to be from red grapes only, but elsewhere they allow it.

The problem is that unless they pick the reds to make a rosé, it doesn’t really work IMO. If you pick reds to make red wine, you pick riper than if you pick to make rosé. So adding a bit of that red to the white wine to make rosé doesn’t really give you the best version.

The better blended versions are those that add white to wine that was already destined to be a rosé.

I believe that La Clarine Farm’s “Mo-Ma” would be something along the lines of what you’re describing - 61% Mourvedre, 32% Marsanne, 7% Roussanne

Here’s another, the Vesper “Mar-Cin” - 50% each Marsanne and Cinsault.
023 vesper.jpg

You’ll get some “pale reds” to rosé color with field blends which include red/white/gray grapes. Especially in the ‘natural’ wine space. E.g. La Salada Roig Boig in Catalonia.

Musar’s rose is a red/white blend.

Yes but with approx only 5% Cinsault

This is the one I was going to suggest. A very interesting wine and often divisive.

So I’m sure there have been [oops.gif] that happen like blending Chardonnay with Tempranillo… right??? newhere

D’Esclans’ top wines reportedly have 25-30% Rolle (Vermentino), mentioned below. They are AOC wines from Provence.

https://esclans.com/examiner-chateau-desclans-for-serious-rose/

You are right Doug, it’s not uncommon in the south of France. I was told by one wine maker that it wasn’t allowed but I never checked on that. I should have reflected a bit before posting because Le Paradou is also one of those and I just had a bottle the other night! I think Banfi makes one down there too, again with a bit of Vermentino. Campuget does too - they do a bleed of Syrah and then add the Vermentino, or Rolle.

Ameztoi Rubentis is mostly white wine with around 10% red added in.