The 9 Best Rosé Wines From Around the World to Drink Now in 2025
What are the differences among rosé wines from various regions?
Rosé wines can be made from just about any red wine grape. Many of the California rosés are made from Pinot Noir, but in Spain they’re made primarily from Garnacha. In France they can be made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Cinsault, and Mourvèdre and the Italians like to use Sangiovese as well as Nerello Mascalese grapes. There are basically four techniques to make a rosé wine. The first and easiest is to blend white wine and red wine together, but this is generally not allowed in most wine regions. The second is to make a vin gris which literally translates “gray wine,” by allowing a very limited maceration time, which refers to the wine’s actual contact with the skins. The third method involves just a very light pressing of the grapes and then a very short maceration time. Many of the most famous light pink wines made in Provence utilize this method. The fourth technique is the saignée method (French for bleeding) which involves crushing red grapes and bleeding off some of the lighter pale juice to make a rosé wine. A secondary effect of this method is that it will render the remaining red juice darker and thus making a more concentrated red wine.
How should you drink rosé?
We like to drink rosé out off a large, deep-bowled, Bordeaux style glass because it offers the best conditions for aromas to be released and appreciated. It also allows the wine the necessary space to open and show off its flavors. Rosé should be served at a temperature between 45° and 50° F and if you store your bottles in a temperature-controlled cooler or cellar, they should be further chilled in the refrigerator or an ice bucket for about 20 minutes.
How did we choose the rosé wine on this list?
We factored in several elements when making our choices, and the most important is taste, but how a wine actually “tastes” involves a variety of impressions, including flavor, texture, tannins, acidity, and finish. We also considered ability to age and a combination of rarity and accessibility: We sought out wines that are made in relatively small quantities but at the same time are available to purchase without having to join a winery club or allocation list. The majority were tasted blind in comparative tastings with similar wines. One or two of these may have been enjoyed on the back of a friend’s yacht but we can neither confirm nor deny the validity of this statement.
Why should you trust us?
Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen, Robb Report’s wine editors, have been writing about wine for two decades, have visited wine regions and wineries around the world, have tasted wine with the people who make it and they like rosé. Last year they tasted over 6,000 wines and are on target to sample more than 7,000 in 2024. They are judges for the internationally renowned Concours Mondial de Bruxelles wine competition, and their work has appeared in Wine Spectator, Forbes, Wine Enthusiast, Huffington Post, Saveur, and books published by Oxford University Press. They have been featured for their expertise in wine on The Today Show, The Martha Stewart Show, CNN, CBS, Fox, WGN, WPIX and NBC. Known as the World Wine Guys, they are the authors of six wine books which have received various accolades and awards including “Best Wine Book in the World” from Gourmand International. In addition to articles like this, they also write The Oeno Files, Robb Report’s weekly wine newsletter.
