TIME Food & Drink

How Rosé Wine Is Actually Made

Brooke Slezak—The Image Bank/Getty Images

Hint: it's not food dye

This article originally appeared on Food & Wine.

Almost every wine region in the world makes rosé—and not one uses pink grapes. Some vintners simply blend red and white wines; others, in an effort to make their red wine more concentrated, bleed off some juice to simultaneously make rosé. The best versions, however, involve leaving red-grape juice in tanks with the grape skins for anywhere from a few hours to several days. The longer the juice is left with 
the skins, the deeper the color (from a hint of pink or salmon to a hot pink or ruby hue) and the more full-bodied the wine.

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