Rosé Saigner – 2025

Rosé Saigner 2025. Dry rosé made from red wine grapes, with notes of raspberry and mint.

Rosé Saigner 2025 is a dry rosé made from Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Dorsa, produced using the saignée method at Weingut Markus Schneider. No sweet rosé, no blend of red and white wine, no wine for aging.

The Rosé Saigner 2025 is a Palatine rosé from Ellerstadt, whose juice is drawn off without pressing from a fermentation vessel full of red grapes. It thus begins its life like a red wine.

After a short time, part of the juice is separated from the skins and becomes rosé, while the rest becomes red wine. The result shines in a delicate pink and smells of raspberry.

Raspberry, sour cherry and a cool hint of mint

The Rosé Saigner 2025 shows raspberry, sour cherry and redcurrant on the nose, accompanied by a cool note reminiscent of mint. On the palate, the fruit remains crisp. Well chilled, the mint note appears more prominent; with a little warmth in the glass, the raspberry moves forward. A lively acidity and a dry finish ensure that no impression of sweetness arises.

The color is deliberately kept light. The juice had only brief contact with the berry skins, which contain the pigment.

Anyone expecting a full-bodied, almost red rosé with noticeable tannins will find this wine too delicate. It focuses on freshness and fruit, not on body.

With gazpacho, vitello tonnato and lamb köfte

Fruit and acidity make the rosé a versatile companion for light cuisine. A cold gazpacho with roasted croutons picks up the acidity and lets the raspberry note stand out. Vitello tonnato pairs well with it because the acidity lightens the creamy tuna sauce.

An oven-baked salmon fillet with a herb crust suits the red fruit. Lamb köfte with yogurt and fresh mint play with the cool note in the wine. A tomato tart with thyme and goat cheese rounds off the selection for a vegetarian table.

Good to know: Serve it at 8 to 10 °C; a white wine glass with a slight tulip shape is sufficient. It is not suitable for dark stews or full-bodied game, as it lacks the body. It thrives on youthful fruit and does not belong in the cellar.

How a light rosé is made from red wine grapes

The saignée method takes its name from the French saigner, to bleed. The red grapes are first placed in the fermentation vessel, just like in red wine production. Shortly thereafter, part of the juice flows off without pressure, by gravity alone.

This juice is vinified into rosé in a temperature-controlled stainless steel tank. The red wines made from the remaining must thus gain density. In earlier vintages, the winery referred to a juice draw-off of around 20 percent.

For the rosé, the winery harvests the grapes specifically before the main red wine harvest. They come from several red wine parcels, where the soils range from limestone to loam, loess and terrace gravel. Each parcel is harvested separately as soon as fruit and acidity are in balance.

A side note: Cabernet Dorsa is a German crossbreed of Dornfelder and Cabernet Sauvignon. The variety is known for its deep dark berries, but in the rosé, only brief skin contact is needed for the color.

A rosé for the terrace and the set table

This rosé comes from the estate's red wine vineyards but is harvested specifically earlier. This keeps the acidity lively and preserves the fruit of the red varieties. Thus, no byproduct is created, but a wine with its own purpose.

As a gift for a garden party, brunch, or a light dinner, it is an uncomplicated choice. It travels well in a cooler bag for a picnic, and as an aperitif, it opens a light menu. Anyone looking for a vintage comparison will find the previous year's rosé. How the house's red wine varieties taste as a cuvée is introduced by the Ursprung, a dry Palatine red wine cuvée.

A rosé for guests who like it dry and prefer to taste raspberry rather than candy on the first sip.