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Rosé de Saignée
Rosé de Saignée : this is the method that consists of leaving the must to macerate briefly (a few hours) with the skin of the grapes. It is the natural pigments contained in the skin of the black grapes that color the juice.
Discover in this category, our favorite Champagnes and recommendations of winemakers and Champagne Houses in terms of Champagne rosé maceration.
know-how at the heart of rosé de saignée
Champagne rosé de saignée, as opposed to rosé d'assemblage, is obtained by macerating the juice with the skins of black grapes for several hours. Their pigments color the liquid, enriching it with aromatic components. This method calls for a high degree of expertise, on which the taste and color of the resulting champagne depend.
the 5 stages in creating a rosé de saignée
1/ After harvesting, the grapes are de-stemmed, separating the berries from the vegetal parts of the bunches.
2/ The berries are lightly crushed before being placed in vats to allow the grape skins to split and the juice to color on contact with the skins. This involves letting the juice extract the color present in the grape skins for a short period of time.
3/ For this skin maceration, the most difficult thing is not to let it ferment too long, so as not to alter the taste of the red wine. That's why we recommend working the fermentation for a maximum of 8 to 14 hours.
4/ Bleeding is carried out after a few hours, when the winemaker judges that the juice contains sufficient pigments for a rosé (pale pink, rose petal pink, salmon hue, raspberry, pomegranate juice, cherry, partridge eye, etc.).
A portion of the juice (around 10%) is removed. This partial puncture of the juice is extracted under the marc cake, made up of the skins floating above the grape juice.
5/ Once separated from the skins, this new rosé must begin fermentation at low temperature. Likewise, rigorous temperature control will preserve all the finesse and flavor of this future wine. The temperature should be as close as possible to 16° (maximum 20°) for longer, gentler fermentations.
rosé de saignée: precision maceration
Rosé de saignée is a production method that involves brief maceration (usually 8 to 12 hours, but can be longer) of the juice with red grape skins until the desired color is achieved. After maceration, the tanks are "bled" (hence the name) and the grape juice is separated from the skins.
This, too, is where the expertise of the Champagne winemaker comes into play, as the puncture during bleeding will determine the desired color (generally salmon or partridge eye). Compared to rosés d'assemblage, rosés de Saignée are often more sparkling and intensely colored, and are the result of maceration of Pinot Noir, but not only: there are also rosés de Saigné made from meunier.
There are now a number of rosés de saignée from Pinot Noir terroirs (Côte des Bars, Montagne de Reims). Sometimes crisp, other times full-bodied, these are rosé wines made for the table... and not just for summer!