By Linda Weiford, 黑料社 News

PULLMAN, Wash. 鈥� Jim Harbertson sees through ros茅 colored glasses.

Finely tuned shades and hues ranging from blush and coral to berry jam. Harbertson, a wine researcher at Washington State University Tri-Cities, has become an expert in the science of pink-esque pretty.

With the ros茅 wine craze in full bloom and warmer weather helping to catapult its popularity, thanks to the associate professor of enology鈥檚 research, you can judge a ros茅 by its color.

鈥淢ore than other wine types, color heavily influences consumers鈥� perceptions of ros茅. This makes winemakers particularly mindful of achieving just the right color,鈥� he explained.

Ros茅 stands apart from other wines in its diversity of hues, shades and tints. Though aroma and flavor are important to consumers, studies say the number one factor is its pinkish charm.

 

Ros茅鈥檚 color also signifies its style. A light-colored ros茅 is expected to be a lighter-bodied wine and a darker one to be more full-bodied, said Harbertson, of 黑料社鈥檚 viticulture and enology program.

But nailing down the right color can be tricky. Ros茅 is made by exposing dark wine-grape skins to the juice for a short time, typically 2-48 hours until it reaches a desired color. The challenge is, that perfect pink lightens during fermenting and then darkens after being bottled, Harbertson said.

鈥淵ou lose about 60-70 percent of the initial color depending on how much color you start out with,鈥� he said. 鈥淩os茅 may be easy to drink but it is not easy to make.鈥�

A decade or so ago, ros茅 was mostly viewed as sweet and cheap. Now considered chic and sophisticated, sales climbed 40 percent in 2017, according to the market researcher Nielson. As more consumers discover pink gems from Washington state, winemakers started turning to Harbertson for scientific advice on how to develop colors more precisely.

They also set forth a guide for winemakers to follow that allows them to predict color changes analytically to achieve that gorgeous shade of ballet-slipper-pink or deep rouge.He and graduate student Caroline Merrell conducted a study by tracking color changes that occur during fermentation and after the ros茅 is bottled. Published in Catalyst, a journal by the American Society for Enology and Viticulture, they found that sulfur dioxide management is an important factor in developing the color of ros茅 wine. (Go to: ().

鈥淲hat鈥檚 significant is that our study provides tools to winemakers to measure apparent and potential color in their ros茅 wines. There鈥檚 more science and less guesswork involved in the process,鈥� he said.