A popular misconception is that pink wine is made by mixing red wine and white wine together. While that is true in rare cases (specifically, some Champagnes), really almost all rose wine is made by limiting the amount of skin contact that the juice is allowed to have.

Red pigment in a typical red wine grape is found only in the skin of the berry. At the initial crush, the juice from the grapes runs clear; it’s possible (and often really delicious) to make a white wine from red grapes. Red wine is made by allowing the crushed skins to sit in the juice; like tea leaves releasing color and additional flavor, the skins add pigment and aromatics to the wine, resulting in those broody, flavor-packed red wines we love in the cooler months.

Rose wine is made by separating the juice from the crushed grape skins before the wine gets all the way stained red. This is achieved in two ways:

1. draining some of the (unfermented) juice from a tank of what’s to become red wine, with the skins still sitting inside

2. removing the skins, in the case of rose wines that are a dedicated production, not a byproduct of an intense red.

The resulting pink juice can be made into all kinds of wine; from sweet to dry and from still to bubbly, aged at the winery or immediately released to market. This process works on any grape variety or blend of varieties to make a lighter version of wine.