How Rosé is Made
It takes as much talent to make a good Rosé as a good red or white wine. Some very affordable Rosés are a mixture of white and red wines and others are made by crushing red grapes and using just the run-off juice to make a Rosé, increasing the concentration of RED wine made from the remaining grapes, but Mcbride Sillig presses solely Cabernet Franc grown in Marlborough, to produce a full bodied wine with captured tannin and exceptional aroma. Our Franc Rosé is made with the ENTIRE de-stemmed crushed grapes, that are left to macerate for a few hours to pick up a blush of skin colour, THEN PRESSED. It is the degree of contact between the red skin and clear juice from the white flesh that determines the wine’s final colour.
The juice or “moût” is left to ferment, then is clarified and bottled to retain its fruit, flavour and freshness.
Our family’s skills are dedicated to growing and making a fabulous Franc Rosé in Marlborough for a connoisseur market.
Vintage 2010
Harvested on April 14th at 24brix, the fruit was crushed, de-stemmed and cold-soaked for colour and flavour extraction. It was then pressed to tank for a long, cool ferment before being rested on lees until bottling.
The result is a classic Cabernet Franc Rosé, fresh yet full bodied. It is a pretty pale pink with aromas of strawberries and biscotti. Off dry in style, it has a full rounded ripe fruit palate, flowing to a delicate lingering finish with a trace of minerality.
FRANC ROSE is easy to drink and goes with just about any food. For those who have not got the time, no need to worry with wine matching, pairing white with the starter, red with the main.
FRANC ROSE is light and easy with enough heft to hold up to most summertime food. I mean, who does not smile at the thought of a pink wine?
The Rosé Story
More than one million years ago, grapes grew around the Mediterranean, on vines that barely resembled the modern style of today. It was in around 3000 BC that the first vinification techniques were developed and the wine culture was born.
In the early days of winemaking, vinification was based essentially on red grapes, which, after a quick “foulage” (crush) and no maceration produced a pink wine called “clairet” (claret).
In the thirteenth century France produced 87% of clairet -appreciated for their vivacity and freshness- to 13% red. The clairets were considered healthy, nourishing wines by their mostly urban, often aristocratic consumers. By the 1300’s, clairets had vanished in favour of reds. Occasionally clairets were a mixture of white and red grapes, first called Rosé in 1682.
Paid holidays were introduced in France in the 1920’s and the annual migration of holidaymakers to the South, brought some colour to the Rosé market. However, it wasn’t until the beginning of the 21st century that the style returned to favour. Quality was not always good, but this has now changed radically, as Rosé is enjoyed internationally, for its delicate colour and fruity flavours.
