Fermenting Roucaneuf

[MisterEd]

Hopefully next year I may have enough roucaneuf to make a small batch of wine. I froze the grapes from this year and will add them to next year's crop.
I have never fermented a rose. Is it recommended to ferment as a white or red (w/ the skins)?

 

[salcoco]

A rose is by definition juice removed from the crushed grapes after a short interval, 12-24 hours, and fermented as a white wine.

 

[MisterEd]

A rose is by definition juice removed from the crushed grapes after a short interval, 12-24 hours, and fermented as a white wine.

I understand what your saying but since the grape juice is just a mild light rose color would there be any harm in letting them ferment like a red? They're not going to get dark in color sitting on the skins. Or would they pick up flavor components that are not desired in a true rose?

 

[salcoco]

I am not familiar with the grape you are using but I presume it is a red. the red color of the grapes skins is what makes a red wine red not the juice. continued contact with the juice by the skins will cause the juice to turn red, additionally the skins will add tannin more so than what would be in a rose. However it is your choice. good luck

 

[Luse_Cellar]

I can't seem to find much on this grape and am not familiar with it, but everything I found seemed to suggest that it was a white grape. I would think there's no harm in trying to ferment it on the skins but there's likely a reason why most people prefer not to. You could always ferment it on the skins but taste it frequently and press it off if it starts developing some off flavors, or isn't turning out how you want it. It could be very interesting, or perhaps not good at all. My best advice is to grab some skins and really chew them up and taste them. If you like the flavor of the skins it may be worth doing, if not then that's likely why others tend to choose to press off first. Alternatively, you could cold soak it on the skins for a couple of days before inoculation where it will extract more slowly and be a more controlled extraction without alcohol there to increase extraction, or higher temps which also aid in extraction.

In general, white wines aren't typically fermented on the skins because it often makes a wine that is too phenolic and bitter. Additionally, the color tends to become a bit too orange for most people's tastes. I've never tried a white that was fermented on the skins but have been tempted to experiment with making some.

 

[wpt-me]

I would suggest Googling "Orange Wines". White Wines fermented on their skins.

Bill

 

[heatherd]

Orange wines are something I just recently read about in a Wine Spectator article. It was actually about sommeliers crafting natural wine lists, but mentioned orange wines as well. Something new to try!

 

[MisterEd]

I am not familiar with the grape you are using but I presume it is a red. the red color of the grapes skins is what makes a red wine red not the juice. continued contact with the juice by the skins will cause the juice to turn red, additionally the skins will add tannin more so than what would be in a rose. However it is your choice. good luck

This is considered a rose grape AFAIK. I know the juice I have collected for testing has a rose color to it. I am like everyone else in knowing very little about this varietal. Information is scarce.

 

[MisterEd]

Information is hard to come by this varietal. I have no idea how to best approach fermenting it. Perhaps the first time around I will just proceed as if it were a white. There will hopefully be several years down the road whereby I can try different methods to see how it varies as an end product.

I can't seem to find much on this grape and am not familiar with it, but everything I found seemed to suggest that it was a white grape. I would think there's no harm in trying to ferment it on the skins but there's likely a reason why most people prefer not to. You could always ferment it on the skins but taste it frequently and press it off if it starts developing some off flavors, or isn't turning out how you want it. It could be very interesting, or perhaps not good at all. My best advice is to grab some skins and really chew them up and taste them. If you like the flavor of the skins it may be worth doing, if not then that's likely why others tend to choose to press off first. Alternatively, you could cold soak it on the skins for a couple of days before inoculation where it will extract more slowly and be a more controlled extraction without alcohol there to increase extraction, or higher temps which also aid in extraction.

In general, white wines aren't typically fermented on the skins because it often makes a wine that is too phenolic and bitter. Additionally, the color tends to become a bit too orange for most people's tastes. I've never tried a white that was fermented on the skins but have been tempted to experiment with making some.

 

[Luse_Cellar]

Information is hard to come by this varietal. I have no idea how to best approach fermenting it. Perhaps the first time around I will just proceed as if it were a white. There will hopefully be several years down the road whereby I can try different methods to see how it varies as an end product.

I was surprised by that but also couldn't find much on it. I guess it'll have to be an experiment but approaching it as a white may be the safest approach. You could also try splitting up the batch, and fermenting one half of it on the skins and the other as a white. That's what I would do if I had enough of it to do so with. Maybe the best way to approach it is to do that and then blend the two together? Who knows but personally, that's the way I would approach it.