Grenache rosé: what it tastes like and where the best comes from

The short answer: Grenache rosé is pink wine made mostly or entirely from Grenache, the grape Spain calls Garnacha. It is usually dry, with strawberry and raspberry fruit, a soft, round feel and a little more body than most rosés. It is the grape behind much of the rosé of southern France and northern Spain.

Why Grenache makes such good rosé

• Thin skins, light colour. Grenache doesn't carry much colour, so pale rosé comes naturally. With longer skin contact it can still go deep pink.
• Ripe red fruit. Strawberry, raspberry and red cherry, often with a herbal or white-pepper note.
• Plenty of sugar, so body. Grenache ripens with lots of sugar, which becomes alcohol. That's why its rosé feels round and generous rather than thin.
• Soft structure. Little tannin and moderate acidity. That's why it is so often blended: Cinsault for freshness, Syrah and Mourvèdre for colour and backbone.

Where does it come from? Most experts place its birthplace in Spain, probably Aragón. Sardinia, where it is called Cannonau, has its own claim. Either way, it spread around the western Mediterranean centuries ago, and it loves heat, sun and wind.

How rosé is made

Rosé is made from black grapes with only a short time on the skins. There are three main ways:

• Direct pressing: the grapes are pressed straight away, so the juice picks up only a little colour. This gives the palest rosés, the Provence style.
• Short maceration: the juice sits with the skins for a few hours, or a day or two, then is drained off and fermented like a white wine. Deeper colour, more flavour.
• Saignée (“bleeding”): juice is drawn off a tank of crushed black grapes early in the process. In Navarra this is a tradition in its own right.

Colour tells you about the method, not the sweetness. A deep pink rosé can be completely dry.

Where Grenache rosé comes from

Provence: the pale benchmark

Provence is the rosé most people picture: very pale, dry, delicate, with red berries, citrus and a herbal lift. Grenache is one of its main grapes, usually blended with Cinsault, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Tibouren, a grape that in France grows only in the Var. Côtes de Provence is mostly rosé.

One Provence rosé is different: Bandol. It is built around Mourvèdre, with Grenache and Cinsault in support, which gives a firmer, more serious wine.

Tavel: the rosé that thinks it's a red

Tavel, on the west bank of the Rhône near Avignon, is France's only appellation for rosé alone, an AOC since 1936. Grenache is the base, with Cinsault and other southern Rhône grapes. Longer skin contact than most rosés gives a deeper colour and a full, dense, spicy wine. Tavel is one of the few rosés that can age, and one of the best with food.

Navarra: Spain's rosado country

In Navarra, rosado is an old tradition: WSET points to written records from the 16th century. The classic method is saignée, letting free-run Garnacha juice run off the skins by gravity, without pressing. The result is vivid in colour, juicy and full of red fruit. Garnacha rosado is also made across northern Spain; in Catalonia the grape is called Garnatxa.

Is Grenache rosé sweet?

Almost all European Grenache rosé is dry. Some New World pink wines are made off-dry. If the label says dry, you're safe; a low alcohol figure can be a hint that some sugar was left in.

How to serve it

• Temperature: well chilled, about 8–10°C, for pale Provence styles. A little warmer for Tavel and other full rosés, so the fruit can show.
• Glass: a universal wine glass works better than a small one. See the best wine glasses.
• When: most rosé is made to drink young, within a year or two of the vintage. Tavel can keep longer.

What to eat with Grenache rosé

• Mediterranean food: salade niçoise, grilled vegetables, olives, tapenade.
• Seafood: grilled prawns, paella, fish soup.
• Charcuterie, jamón, tapas and mezze.
• Gentle spice: Grenache's fruit and roundness handle a little chilli better than a crisp white. Tavel is lovely with roast chicken, lamb and spiced dishes.

Don't overthink it. Grenache rosé is a wine for long tables and warm evenings. Choose by the feeling you want: pale and breezy, or deep and generous. Love that strawberry note? Here's why wine smells of strawberry. Want something more delicate? Try Pinot Noir rosé.

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