International Rosé Day Date in the current year: June 28, 2024

Many people believe that rosé wines are made by mixing white wine with red wine. In reality, only a small fraction of rosés are made by blending. The most common method of making rosé wine is the limited skin contact method. Dark-skinned grapes are crushed, and the grape skins are allowed to remain in contact with the juice for a limited period of time. As a result, the wine incorporates some of the tannins and color from the skins, but not enough to be classified as a red wine.

Rosé wines have been around for quite some time, although they haven’t always been labeled as such. It is believed that red wines produced by Greek and Roman winemakers were closer in appearance to modern rosés than to today’s red wines. For a long time, the production of rosé was centered in Provence, France. Today, rosés are also produced in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the United States, New Zealand, and other countries.

Due to the popularity of Californian White Zinfandels (despite the word “white” in the name, these wines are actually classified as rosé), a lot of people think that all rosés are bright pink and sweet. However, this is just one of the many styles of rosé. Rosés can vary in color from very light pink to almost orange. Like white and red wines, they come in a wide range of sweetness levels, from very dry to sweet, and can be still, semi-sparkling, or sparkling.

International Rosé Day originated in Provence, a French wine region known predominantly for its rosé wine. The holiday is the brainchild of Valérie Rousselle, the owner and CEO of Château Roubine and Château Sainte-Béatrice in Provence, who wanted to share her love for rosé with the world and raise the profile of Provençal rosé. She created the International Rosé Organization (Organisation Internationale du Rosé, OIR) to plan and manage the celebration. The inaugural International Rosé Day was celebrated on June 22, 2018.

There are many ways to join the celebration of International Rosé Day. You can raise a glass of your favorite rosé and toast to this amazing but often underappreciated wine, try rosé wines from different countries, attend a rosé tasting or a wine and food pairing class, and spread the word about the holiday on social media with the hashtags #InternationalRoséDay and #RoséDay.

International Rosé Day is not the only holiday celebrating rosé. New Zealand Rosé Day, observed annually on February 5, was established by the wine and lifestyle company Sip NZ to promote premium NZ rosé wines. Americans have their own National Rosé Day, which is celebrated on the second Saturday of June. This celebration focuses on American rosés, including famous White Zinfandels.