How Our 2024 Malbec Rosé Is Made From Whole Cluster Pressing to Bottle

Rosé can look effortless in the glass, but the best examples are made with a lot of intention. Color, texture, freshness, aroma, and balance all start with decisions made before the grapes ever reach the press.

Our new 2024 Malbec Rosé comes from Tallent Vineyard in the Texas Hill Country, and it was made with a simple goal: capture the energy of Malbec in a lighter, brighter style. Rather than treating it like a red wine, we made it in the style of a white wine, beginning with whole cluster picking, whole cluster pressing, and a fermentation focused on freshness.

That approach gives the wine its delicate color, clean fruit character, and crisp feel on the palate.

Rosé starts with red grapes, but not always red wine methods

Rosé is often misunderstood as something halfway between red and white wine. In one sense, that is fair. It is made from red grapes, but it does not usually ferment like a red wine.

The main difference comes down to skin contact.

Red wine gets its deep color, tannin, and much of its structure from fermenting with grape skins. The skins float to the top during fermentation, forming a cap that winemakers manage through punchdowns or pumpovers. That process extracts color, flavor, and tannin over days or weeks.

Rosé usually takes a different path. For a bright, fresh rosé, the grapes are pressed early, and the juice is separated from the skins before fermentation begins. The wine then ferments more like a white wine.

That is the style behind our 2024 Malbec Rosé.

Picking whole clusters helps preserve freshness

The first major choice happens at harvest. For this wine, the fruit was picked as whole clusters, meaning the grape bunches stayed intact rather than being destemmed and crushed right away.

This matters for a few reasons.

Whole clusters are gentler on the fruit. When berries stay intact, there is less immediate extraction from the skins. That helps keep the juice lighter in color and softer in texture, both of which are important for rosé.

It also helps protect freshness. Rosé depends on lively acidity and clean aromatics. Picking and handling the fruit gently can help maintain the qualities that make the final wine feel crisp and refreshing.

With a grape like Malbec, this choice matters even more. Malbec is known for dark color and generous fruit. If handled like a red wine, it can quickly produce a deeply colored, more structured wine. For rosé, we want a different expression: a lighter touch, a brighter profile, and just enough Malbec character to make the wine distinct.

Whole cluster pressing shapes the color and texture

After harvest, the clusters go to the press. In whole cluster pressing, the bunches are loaded directly into the press without being crushed first.

This is one of the most important steps in making this style of rosé.

Pressing whole clusters lets the juice run out gradually. The stems and intact berries create natural drainage channels inside the press, which can make the pressing more even and gentle. The goal is not to force out every bit of color and tannin. The goal is to collect clean, lightly colored juice with good flavor and balance.

Color in rosé comes from a short period of contact between juice and red grape skins. Since Malbec has plenty of pigment, even brief contact can create a beautiful rosé shade. Whole cluster pressing helps keep that color in check, producing a wine that looks intentional rather than heavy.

Texture is shaped here too. A gentle press can reduce harsh phenolics, which are the compounds that can make a wine feel bitter, drying, or coarse. In a rosé, especially one meant to be fresh and drinkable, that softer texture is part of the appeal.

Fermenting rosé like white wine keeps it bright

Once the juice is pressed and separated from the skins, fermentation begins. This is where the white wine approach becomes clear.

For red wine, fermentation normally happens with the skins. The must includes juice, skins, seeds, and sometimes stems. As fermentation progresses, alcohol helps extract more color, tannin, and flavor.

For our rosé style, the juice ferments after pressing, without extended skin contact. That makes the process closer to white winemaking.

White wine style fermentation is usually focused on preserving freshness and aromatics. The winemaker pays close attention to temperature, timing, and clarity. Cooler fermentations can help protect delicate fruit notes, while clean handling helps the wine keep its lift.

The result is a rosé that highlights fruit without becoming heavy. Instead of building the wine around tannin and depth, the focus is on brightness, balance, and a clean finish.

This is why rosé made from red grapes can feel so different from red wine made from the same vineyard. The grape variety matters, but the winemaking path matters just as much.

Why Malbec works so well as a rosé

Malbec brings a lot to the table. As a red wine grape, it often shows dark fruit, color, and a plush mouthfeel. In rosé form, those traits can translate into a wine with attractive fruit, a little depth, and a rounder feel than some lighter rosé styles.

That does not mean it has to be heavy. When picked and pressed with care, Malbec can produce a rosé that is both flavorful and refreshing.

From Tallent Vineyard in the Texas Hill Country, this 2024 vintage gives us a chance to show another side of the grape. Texas Hill Country fruit can carry warmth and ripeness, and the rosé method helps frame that fruit in a crisp, approachable way.

Rather than turning Malbec into something it is not, the winemaking process narrows the focus. It keeps the parts that work beautifully in rosé: color, fruit, and presence. Then it avoids the parts that would push the wine too far toward red wine: extended extraction, firm tannin, and weight.

From cellar to bottle

After fermentation, rosé is handled with freshness in mind. The wine is typically allowed to settle, then prepared carefully for bottling. The goal is to protect the clean fruit character and the balance created during pressing and fermentation.

By the time it reaches the bottle, the wine should show the full thread of decisions that shaped it:

• Whole cluster picking to keep the fruit intact and fresh

• Whole cluster pressing to gently separate juice from skins

• Limited skin contact to guide color and texture

• White wine style fermentation to preserve brightness

• Careful finishing to carry that freshness into the glass

  
  

Each step is simple on its own. Together, they define the style.

Taste the 2024 Malbec Rosé in Boerne

Our 2024 Malbec Rosé is now available at the Missick Cellars tasting room at 941 N School Street in Boerne.

This wine is a fresh expression of Malbec from Tallent Vineyard in the Texas Hill Country, made for those moments when you want red grape character without the weight of a red wine. It is a rosé built from gentle handling, thoughtful pressing, and a fermentation style that keeps the wine bright from start to finish.

Stop by the tasting room, taste it for yourself, and see how whole cluster pressing shapes what ends up in the glass.