Winemaking
Rosé wine cannot legally be made in France by blending red and white wines together, with the sole exception of Champagne. Instead, rosé wine is made by the "saignée" method, which uses red grapes only, pressed to ferment with the skins for a short period (10-36 hours) in order to extract some colour. Then the must is "bled" - a process separating the skins from the must. In Tavel, some of the must is kept with the skins longer and then blended into the lighter must, which is what makes the wine more powerful, more tannic and darker than other rosés. The potential alcohol is high, with an upper limit of 13.5% for the appellation.
Read more about this topic: Tavel AOC, Grapes and Wine