Will Britain’s new-found love affair with rosé run out of steam? Well not if the summer is good and not if the retailers have anything to do with it – there seem to be more pinks on the shelves than ever. In this 21-rosé salute to summer I’ve gathered the latest crop for a seasonal round-up of some of the most interesting examples. June and July always throws up a clutch of promotions and discounts on the pink stuff too, so happy hunting.
sparkling
First Cape, Limited Release Sparkling Rosé NV, South Africa
12.0% ABV, cork. A blend of Shiraz and Pinotage, this has light, floral-edged fruit on the nose with rose-hip and cherry notes. The palate is dry and a touch thin, though it’s a decent mouthful of bubbles at the price. 84/100. £5.99, Sainsbury’s
Brown Brothers, Moscato Rosa 2009, Australia
7.0% ABV, screwcap. A gently fizzy sweet Moscato in the d’Asti style, with a bold colour and nose, suggesting strawberry and ripe peach, but also with a fragrant Ogen melon note and touch of florality. On the palate it is pettilant rather than sparkling, and although there is an icing sugar sweetness, a lemon sherbetty zest and those delicate strawberry flavours are balanced and summery. 86/100. £6.49, Waitrose
Taste the difference Vintage Cava Rosé Brut 2007, Spain
11.5% ABV, cork. 80% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay made by Codorniu. Strawberry fruit and herbs with a full, crisp mousse leading on to an attractively dry palate with just enough fruit sweetness to make this easy to drink and charming. 86/100. £6.99, Sainsbury’s
Fresita, Sparkling wine with Patagonian Strawberries, Chile
8.0% ABV, cork. Made with an all-natural infusion of Patagonian strawberries in a sparkling base of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Moscatel. The wine pours a deep crimson pink, and has lifted aromas of strawberry and a touch of patchouli, leading onto a palate where the strawberry flavour persists but sits nicely within quite a crisp, elegant acidity and the wine staying fresh and breezy to the finish. There’s got to be room for fun products like this in the sometimes serious world of wine surely? 86/100. £7.49 Formulawine.co.uk but on offer at £5.99 during June 2010. See all stockists on wine-searcher.com.
Sainsbury’s Brut Rosé Champagne NV
12.0% ABV, cork. This 87% Chardonnay, 13% Pinot Noir Champagne is made by Duval-Leroy. Yeasty, nettly, Champagne nose with a certain sweetness to the palate, but a racy acidity powers through, and the fine mousse leaves this quite attractive. 87/100. £19.49
Piper Heidsieck Rosé Sauvage Champagne NV
12.0% ABV, cork. 25% of the blend is Pinot Noir that has been vinified as red wine. Winemaker Regis Camus has made a deep, deep coloured wine – almost light red – with a very yeasty and herbal nose and dense fruitiness on the palate. A powerful, robust style, and needs food. 88/100. Around £29.99, Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury’s. See all stockists on wine-searcher.com.
Champagne Delamotte Rosé NV
12% ABV, cork. Delightful, moreish, soft strawberry fruit. Lots racy, more mineral notes too. The palate has a certain creaminess and richness of that red fruit, but there’s a nicely pitched acidity beating at the heart of this wine. Very dry and food friendly. 91/100. £32.33, Corney & Barrow. See all stockists on wine-searcher.com.
still
Sainsbury’s Rosé d’Anjou 2009, France
11.0% ABV, synthetic cork. 80% Grolleau, 20% Cabernet Franc. Bright, watercolour paintbox and summer pudding aromas, with a sweet, very easy drinking charm if no great complexity. 82/100, £3.99
Sainsbury’s House Dry Rosé NV, Chile
12.5% ABV, screwcap. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon made by the San Pedro winery in Curico. Creamy summer berries, lovely dry drinking, with tangy acidity and a bit of real depth to the fruit. Deliciously drinkable at the price, if simple. 84/100. £3.99
Chilano, Merlot Rosé 2009, Chile
12.0% ABV, Central Valley, screwcap. From Viña Ventisquero, this relatively pale pink wine has fresh, breezy raspberry aromas. On the palate there’s a bit of sweetness that flatters and softens the mid-palate, with a ripe strawberry character too, but maintaining that nice suggestion of crispness with the little nip of cherry skin tartness and good acidity. Quaffable and good quality. 84/100. £5.99, Morrisons, The Co-operative.
Yali Wetland Merlot Rosé 2009, Chile
12.0% ABV, Colchagua, screwcap. Creamy but bright and clean as a whistle strawberry and watermelon fruit, with a background of soft earthiness. On the palate the fruit is lovely: very juicy and ripe, with a richness to the flavour and texture, and a finish that has the merest hint of sweetness but an overall dry and savoury balance. 86/100. £6.49 but £4.79 when you buy two, Majestic until 30th August
Taste the difference Côtes de Provence Rosé 2009, France
12.5% ABV, synthetic cork. 75% Grenache, 25% Syrah. Creamy, bright, charming nose. Tight raspberry and strawberry fruit, a hint of sweetness and a long, appetising finish. 86/100. £7.99, Sainsbury’s
Tariquet, Marselan Rosé 2009, France
12.5% ABV, VdP de Cotes de Gascon, screwcap. This Gascony wine is made from Marselan, a relatively new grape of the south of France which is a cross of Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache. It has a very bold, vibrant colour, and a zippy aromatic character with cherry and firm-edged fruitiness, and a hint of spice. On the palate there is plenty of fruit; it is sweet and brightly-focused, with lots of red berry flavour and a punchy finish. 86/100. RRP £7.99, no stockists as yet.
Yalumba, ‘Y Series’ Sangiovese Rosé 2009, Australia
11.5% ABV, South Australia, screwcap. A bold, light- to medium colour, with a nose of subtle, creamy, soft red berries. On the palate this has a pleasingly tart juiciness, with a ruby grapefruit edge to those softer, more earthy fruit flavours. I like the little twist of dried herbs too, which is typically Sangiovese, and the cherryish bite to the acidity. A really nicely-pitched, savoury style. 87/100. £7.99, Selfridges. See all stockists on wine-searcher.com.
Olivier Leflaive, Bourgogne Rosé Cuvée Margoton 2008, France
12.5%, synthetic cork. Pale, delicate colour. Some herbal, grassy notes to raspberry fruit. The palate is dry and savoury – that delicacy persists, though the finish is rather abrupt and watery. 84/100. £8.50, Corney & Barrow See all stockists on wine-searcher.com.
Domaine Sainte Lucie, ‘MiP’ Provence Rosé 2009, France
12.0% ABV, synthetic cork. MiP stands for “Made in Provence” giving a contemporary edge to this typically pale-coloured blend of Cinsault, Syrah and Grenache, with a touch of the white grape Rolle (Vermentino). It has a soft, delicate peachiness with a gentle, nicely pitched fruitiness on the palate too, the redcurrant and rose-hip flavours staying crisp and ending with a very fresh, lemony, food-friendly acidity. 88/100. £9.50, Lea & Sandeman. See all stockists on wine-searcher.com.
Maguelonne, Ardeche Rosé La Selve 2009, France
12.7% ABV, cork. 50% Grenache with Cinsault and Syrah, this comes from a vineyard in conversion to organic and biodynamic certification and from 35-year-old vines. It has a vibrant but delicate colour and a gently herbal nose, with a soft undertow of peach and strawberry fruit. On the palate it has lovely fruit; soft and caressing, yet with a freshness and little edge of grip. Good acidity too in a dry, food-friendly yet summery style. 88/100. £9.99, Oddbins.
Château Léoube, Côtes de Provence Rosé 2009, France
13.0%, cork. Delicate colour with refined summer fruit aromas and a certain, gravelly minerality. The palate has nice concentration and fruit filling the mid palate before that tangy acidity dries the finish and gives this lots of punch and verve. 88/100. £10.63, Corney & Barrow. See all stockists on wine-searcher.com.
Clarendelle, Bordeaux Rosé 2007, France
13.0% ABV, cork. From Domaine Clarence Dillon, owners of Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion, this blend of 61% Merlot and 39% Cabernet Franc has a deep colour and a creamy, dense, quite serious nose with plum and blackcurrant and an elegant earthiness. On the palate this wine fills the mouth. texturally, and in terms of its sweet, fleshy fruit, it is a fascinating style, the finish showing a little hint of that creamy, earthy richness and lots of savoury, dry acidity. 89/100. £10.99, Avery’s. See all stockists on wine-searcher.com.
Chateau Miraval, ‘Pink Floyd’ Provence Rosé 2009, France
13.5% ABV, cork. So named because Chateau Miraval housed a recording studio where Floyd recorded their epic ‘The Wall’ album in 1977. This Provence blend of Cinsault with a splash of Grenache gas delicate, sherbetty, rose-hip and watermelon notes with a dry but very sharply defined, beautifully fruity palate. There’s a raciness of raspberry and a delicate peachiness, and a long finish. 89/100. £11.99-£12.99, Oxford Wine Co, Fortnum & Mason, Bentalls, Hennings. See all stockists on wine-searcher.com.
Chateau Val Joanis, Luberon Rosé 2009, France
13.5 ABV, Synthetic cork. From a terroir said to be reminiscent of Châteauneuf-du-Pape this Rhône pink is a blend of Syrah with some Grenache. It has a delicate peachy-pink colour and clear, bright cherryish and vinous aromas. On the palate it is dry but has a very nice fruit quality; the crisp clarity of the juicy red berries comes through, and this stays sharp and well-defined by food-friendly acidity. 87/100. Price N/A. Val Joanis wines are distributed in the UK by Philglas & Swiggot.