The skinny on skin colour (cont'd)

A final word for pink to complete the triangle...

In case you were wondering, rosés are produced through a winemaking process in which contact with the grape skins is restricted. This is as it is with white wine production methods, however the key here is that red grapes are used instead of white ones. Typically this means the must of red grape varieties is removed from the skins earlier in the winemaking process and thus the resulting wine has a lighter hue. The idea that rosés (also called pink or blush wines) are simply a blend of red and white wines is generally incorrect though some white grapes are occasionally vinified along with the red as part of the process. New fangled bottles I've seen for White Merlot may not help to keep this idea straight with the consumer but whatever the White Zinfandel or Cabernet Blanc that you may happen upon, you should know that there is no white grape blended into that rosé wine.

The following useful resource indicates that while rosé wines are not blends of white and red wines, white grapes are increasingly brought into the red wine mix. Read more on the topic of rosé winemaking.