Rosé

Rosé wine is a big deal in the U.S. It wasn't always this way. Rosé sales for wine over $7 went from a measly 150,000 cases in 2010 to 2.3 million ten years later!

A look at rosé in the U.S.

Pink wine and food wasn't always a thing

  What is rosé?

The simple answer is it's red wine grapes made like a white wine. White wines have no or very little grape skin contact, so they are clear. Red wines get lots of skin contact to get color, flavors and tannins. Rosé get a few hours to get a bit of color, then into tanks where it made like other white wines. No fancy processing, no expensive wine barrels, and it's in the bottle and out the door in a few months.

  Historically

Rosé has been around a long time, just not very popular. It was usually poor quality wherever it was made. In the U.S. it was generally a cheap, sweet wine. You found it on the cheap wines shelf at the local store or in the gas station mini mart. At this same time, it was considered a cheap, acidic wine in France. Rosé was made from a cobble of cheap red wine grapes.

Over 50 years ago, Sutter Home winery had a stuck fermentation on some Zinfandel, meaning the sugar wouldn't all ferment to alcohol. It was bottled anyway and was a hit. White Zinfandel, American's favorite rosé, was born.

White Zinfandel grew in popularity during the 1980s and '90s. 

By the 2000s, rosé was a popular summer sipper, especially in France, where it was often the drink of choice with a summer lunch.

A winery I worked in about 2000 released a dry, somewhat dark, rosé of Sangiovese. It was dry, it had lots of flavor from the extended skin contact that led to the dark color. This was the first rosé I remember liking. 

Another winery I worked with a couple of years later had a seasonal rosé, called Vin Gris, a term meaning pale pink wine. We released it May 1st, and hoped it sold out before September 1st, because that was its drinking window. When the first heat wave hit Texas in April, I'd have customers calling from Dallas and Houston and begging for it. I put them on a list and happily called them back on May 1st.

  Today

Wine has gone global as seen with wines like French rosé and Italian Prosecco making it to the U.S. in substantial quantities.

The U.S. is third in world rosé production behind France and Spain. The U.S. is the second larger consumer of rosé behind France. Rosé is 10% of the world wine market.

Rosé is s different animal now. Quality grapes, using almost any red fruit, well-made, and usually nearly dry. Rosé is now an interesting wine. It's even found on restaurant wine lists and in fancy wine bars.

Besides using zinfandel, you'll find rosé made from pinot noir, grenache, and any other red grape.

There is still a market for the cheap, sweet rosé (I'm looking at you, Barefoot).

It can be had with food. It's consumed year around, though I expect about April through September is when most of it is sold along with Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Rosé prices are much higher now because of higher quality and big demand. There's a lot of $35 rosé from California.

After the spectacular sales growth, it has leveled off in the few years due to market saturation and escalating prices.

Rosé Sales - Click on graph for a larger image