Pink or rosé wines are mostly made by pressing red grapes before fermentation, or macerating red grape skins with grape juice overnight or for just a few hours. France still leads the way in both quality production and consumption.
My top tips for enjoying a glass or two? Serve at around 8C (46F) and pray for sunshine! Oh, and remember to check dates since many wines from the 2020 vintage are already starting to fade. Extending la vie en rose, some pink wines can cellar brilliantly, including Domaine Tempier’s archetypal garrigue-scented Bandol Provençal rosé (the 2020 vintage is still available from Noble Grape), but not all…
The first three pink picks are all 2021s and two out of those three – from France – are completely bone-dry. Pour them with salty snacks and all manner of dishes, including fish and shellfish, leafy/tomato/Niçoise salads, pissaladière and sushi (hello again Kitsu!). And who can resist a bargain-price trad method pink bubbly, my fourth selection below?
1.Specially Selected Coteaux de Beziers Rosé 2021
Chassaux et Fils, France (Aldi, £5.99, 12.5%)
France typically accounts for just over a third of global rosé wine consumption and is therefore easily the planet’s leading rosé consumer country. Like everything else, pink French wine has been creeping up in price recently, but this Aldi bottle is a giveaway. Great rosés don’t just come from Provence so bag my favourite French bargain-buy rosé, a truly excellent and quaffable bone-dry rosé from the Mediterranean coast of Languedoc-Roussillon, well-balanced and with juicy red fruit, peachy, herbal and red appley notes alongside wisps of citrus fruits. It’s a lovely pale pink colour and a star wine for salads and seafood. Magnifique!
2. Cramele Recas Babele Rosé 2021
Romania (Laithwaites, £7.99 mix 12, 12.5%)
This piquant and fruity rosé is part of Cramele Recas’ ‘Babele’ collection, named after the Romanian tradition of commemorating the coming of spring. Seize this scrumptious strawberry, raspberry, floral and apple-perfumed pink, enhanced with Merlot, Feteasca Neagra, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, from a Romanian winery started by Englishman Philip Cox and his Romanian wife – with winemaking expertise from Australia and Spain – in 1998. It’s dry, but not quite bone-dry like the other two wines (and much less pale than the standout Provençal selection below, which was also established by British ex-pats), a great party wine and a joy to drink. Juicy/tangy acidity sustains the high energy levels. Noroc!
3. Mirabeau Pure Provence Rosé 2021
France (Tesco, £15.50, 12.5%)
This is a Côtes de Provence gem, made from Grenache (70%), Syrah (15%) and Cinsault (15%) grown in some of the hallowed appellation’s highest vineyards. It’s a powdery pink colour, with scents of hibiscus, pink grapefruit, blackcurrant leaf, tangerine peel, passion fruit and super-fresh, light citrus and red berry flavours. Exactly what you would expect from first-rate grapes and winemaking. It’s a cracker of a dry rosé high on finesse that would make a lovely aperitif, or try it with seafood…
4. Graham Beck Pinot Noir Rosé 2017
South Africa (Majestic, £14.99, save £5, mix six; or Frontier Fine Wines, £19.99, 12.5%)
Great sparkling pink wines don’t just come from France. It’s tricky to find rosé bubbly under £20 that’s worth drinking so nab this South African crowd-pleaser made by the labour-intense traditional method (‘Methode Cap Classique’ aka MCC). One of the planet’s most marvellous sparkling rosés below £20. I love it for a treat. Now discounted by £5 at Majestic (just £14.99).
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