White Zinfandel vs Rosé
There are so many tasty rosé wines to choose from. With so many different varieties on the table, it can be tricky trying to choose between your Pink Moscato, your White Zinfandel, and your Grenache Rosé. So if you’re fairly new to pink wines, how can you know where to start? Or which wine will be the best rosé for you to try?
Today, we’re going to examine White Zinfandel vs rosé wine types. Some people get confused when they hear the name White Zinfandel, as this leads us to believe it’s a white wine. However, this variety actually features a pink color, which makes it a rosé wine.
Let’s take a look at the White Zinfandel wine in more detail, and how it comes to other types of pink wine on the market.
Rosé Wine: A Quick Guide
One of the more popular bottles of wine enjoyed around the world, rosé is often discounted by wine snobs because of an association with a sweeter flavor profile. However, it may surprise you to learn that there are actually several different styles of rosé wine. There are of course the classic sweeter wines like pink Moscato that feature more residual sugar and have a lower alcohol content, however, there are also plenty of dry rosé wines to choose from.
It’s important to note that rosé wines get that classic pink blush color from reduced skin contact with the grape varietals. Rosé wines are made using different wine grapes, often the darker varieties which are more commonly associated with red wines. The time they are allowed to macerate with the grape skins is reduced, meaning a lower alcohol content because of the reduction in tannins, and generally a sweeter flavor profile.
If you want to opt for one of the many dry rosé wines on the market, you should opt for a specific type of grape. Some of the popular grapes used to give a drier flavor profile are:
- Carignan
- Cinsault
- Grenache
- Pinot Noir
- Mourvèdre
- Sangiovese
- Syrah
For a more savory rosé wine, you should opt for a:
- Tavel Rosé
- Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé
- Tempranillo Rosé
- Syrah Rosé.
So even though rosé wine is often associated with a sweeter flavor profile that has a lower alcohol content, this isn’t always the case. You can find a wide variety of rosé wines to suit your personal preferences.
White Zinfandel: A Quick Guide
This is where things can sometimes get a little more confusing for those who aren’t an expert in different types of wines. Are rosé and White Zinfandel the same? The White Zinfandel is actually a blush wine, meaning it has that classic pink hue that classes it as a rosé wine.
Whereas other types of rosé are made using different types of grape varietals, the White Zinfandel is made using a single grape variety – Zinfandel grapes.
Is white zinfandel rosé? It gets confusing, but yes? White Zinfandel is a pale rosé wine, and has a much sweeter flavor profile than the Syrah Rosé, for example. This style of wine is a much sweeter wine than some competitive pink wines, which has led wine snobs to disregard it over the years. However, it is deliciously versatile, and can be paired with a range of different foods, including cheese boards and various desserts.
Interestingly, this variety of wine was created purely by a happy accident thanks to the Sutter Home Family Vineyards. Bob Trinchero noticed that the wine became stuck during fermentation, where the wine ceased transforming the residual sugar into alcohol. It was then decided in 1948 that this sweeter wine should be offered on the market, and it became an immediate hit.
So if you prefer a sweet wine, then White Zinfandel is the perfect rosé for you to choose. It is one of the more popular wines on the market, and will be perfect for those white wine drinkers who want to fill their glass with sweet rosé wines for a change.
White Zinfandel or Rosé
To help you make a choice between White Zinfandel and rosé wines’ other varieties, let’s take a closer look at the differences.
Taste
When trying to compare White Zinfandel vs rosé in terms of taste, things can get a little tricky. This is because the White Zinfandel is classed as a rosé, despite the confusing name. So it will ultimately depend on the type of wine that you opt for to compare to the White Zinfandel in terms of taste.
Seeing as the White Zinfandel is one of the sweeter rosés on the market, we’ll compare it to a dry rosé wine instead. These typically feature herbaceous notes, with other savory flavors coming through. A White Zinfandel will typically feature fruity notes, floral notes, and other light flavors.
So choosing between the two types will really come down to which style of rosé you prefer. If you’re after a fruity wine with a sweeter flavor profile, then White Zinfandel should be your choice. If you prefer a dry rosé, then other styles will be better suited to your palate.
Calories
Similar to our above note on taste, it will depend on the variety of rosé wine that you choose to compare to the fruity wine that is White Zinfandel. The type of wine that you choose to compare should really be a dry rosé so that you can better choose between differing flavor profiles.
A dry rosé will have a higher alcohol content than a White Zin. This is because the residual sugar has been allowed to ferment into alcohol, and more tannins remain in the wine. This will then mean that it has a lower calorie content than the sweeter White Zin.
Because of its sweeter flavor profile, there is more sugar present in your average bottle of White Zin. So this means that it will typically have a higher calorie content than your average bottle of dry rosé. But in general, it will be much of a muchness, as any alcoholic beverage is going to be relatively high in calories.
Health impact
So what about in terms of health impact? Rosé wines tend to have a lot of healthy antioxidants present, which can help to:
- Boost heart health
- Reduce the risk of cancer
- Reduce your cholesterol.
This is because of the maceration methods used to produce a bottle of blush wine. Because of the use of dark grapes, this means rosé wines typically have a higher antioxidant content than white wines.
Seeing as White Zin is also classified as a rosé, this means it will also have plenty of antioxidants to go around. The only thing to note is that because of the higher sugar content, you will need to monitor your sugar intake.
It will also be worth remembering that any health benefits you gain from drinking a glass of rosé wine or White Zin will be entirely dependent on moderation. If you choose to drink to excess, this will have negative impacts on your health.
Hangover
Similar to how moderation will impact the health benefits you gain from drinking rosé, so will it impact the type of hangover you get from drinking too much of this type of wine. If you were to drink too much in one go, it goes without saying that you will get a hangover the next morning.
But what about when we compare dry rosé wines to White Zinfandel?
It’s worth noting that thanks to the higher sugar content in White Zin, this means that the alcohol content is lower than it will be in competitive dry styles of rosé wine. So this will mean that if you were to drink lots of White Zin instead of a Grenache Rosé, then chances are that your hangover won’t be as bad.
However, if you were to select a dry rosé with a higher alcohol content, this will give you a worse hangover the next day if you were to drink it in the same amount.
Are Rosé and White Zinfandel the Same?
It can be confusing when trying to distinguish between White Zinfandel and other rosé varieties. This is all down to the name of White Zin, which of course leads us to think that it’s actually a white wine! However, White Zin is actually a blush wine, with the classic pink hue associated with rosé wines. So while rosé and White Zin are technically the same thing, it’s important to remember that rosé is the umbrella term used to describe this style of wine as well as other pink wines.
Is Rosé Better Than White Wine?
This is a relatively hard thing to quantify, as it usually comes down to personal preference. However, rosé wines are arguably more versatile than white wine, as they can be enjoyed with a variety of different foods, including soft cheese. There are also so many different complex blends to choose from when it comes to pink wines, that it is super easy to find the fruity flavors that suit your palate. The versatile flavor of rosé tends itself well to a variety of occasions.
Is White Zinfandel Rosé?
Yes, White Zinfandel is indeed classed as a rosé! So no need to choose a winner in the White Zinfandel vs rosé battle. This is because it has the classic pink hue of a rosé wine, and it makes use of a dark grape to produce this color. It also has a sweeter flavor profile, as the residual sugar hasn’t been completely fermented into alcohol. White Zin is a type of rosé that is best suited to those looking to enjoy a sweeter glass.
Time For a Taste!
So there you have it! Even though you may be tempted to think that White Zinfandel is made using a white grape and is therefore a white wine, as the name suggests, this is actually a light-bodied rosé wine. It is made using Zinfandel grapes, whereas other styles of rosé wine make use of a variety of grapes. If you are looking for a sweeter wine to introduce you to the wonders of rosé, the White Zin is a great place to start.
The fantastic thing about rosé wines is that there are lots of different styles to choose from, so you can easily find the variety that suits your taste buds.
