So is rose the first wine produce in history?
It is in the 3rd millennium before Jesus Christ, in Mesopotamia that the first vinification technics were born.
Study show that the wine produce could have been only clear in colour has the wine was produce from red grapes (and it is only from the red skins of red grapes that red wines or rose get their colour) and they were directly pressed and fermented without any length of maceration or “cuvaison” (meaning that the red skins providing the colour were not in contact with the pulp for a long period, and consequently the wine produce couldn’t have a dark red colour)
It is like if, thinking about a tea bag as red grapes skins and hot water as pulp, you can imagine what colour will be your tea if you only leave the tea bag in contact with the water for few seconds.
The extension of the romans empire will lead to the extension of the culture of the wine. During this period, vinification was only base on red grapes with a short maceration between the skin and the pulp.
After the fall of the romans empire, churches continue to produce wine and commercialise it everywhere in Europe.
This clear wine called “vinum clarum” in Latin will become “claret”.
In the 13th, in Bordeaux, 87% of the production was “claret” and only 13% red wine (“vinum rubeum”)
It is only in the 17th in Paris that popular demand for wine changed towards more colour and tannic style coming from longer maceration and seeing as feeding the body, good for manual worker, giving strength.
During the 18th the length of maceration increase in every wine producing area consequently the colour of he wine evolved from rose to red.
In England, the demand increase for this “new French clarets”. The term “claret”, with time will evolved and be use as reference for wines coming from Bordeaux, meantime the term “rose” will be use everywhere in Europe.
In the 19th, rose production decreased meanwhile red production increased till it reaches 80% of the production.
Rose account for less than 10% of the production.
It is only by the beginning of the 21st that rose restart to be appreciated by the wines consumers.
