Saignée is a French word that means "bleeding". When making red wine, sometimes a small amount of the liquid part is removed during the alcoholic fermentation process. This method is called the saignée method.
This increases the ratio of solids to "liquid" in the fermentation tank (pulp, skins, seeds). When alcoholic fermentation proceeds under these conditions, the remaining liquid (the liquid that was not removed) becomes more concentrated, resulting in a deep red wine.
Many wineries ferment this extracted pink liquid to make rosé wine.
This saignée method is also used when the sole purpose is to make rosé wine, rather than as a by-product of red wine.
First, just like when making red wine, the grapes are soaked without separating the skins and seeds and allowed to ferment.
When the juice turns pink, the skins and seeds are removed and the liquid is left to ferment. This method of making pink rosé wine is also called the saignée method.
