Majestic Rosé and Rioja

My brother-in-law was up for the weekend, and he brought up a couple of wines from his local Majestic in Devon.

First up was this Merlot rosé from Chile. We had it after a long day watching rugby at Twickenham, and to be honest I wasn't paying too much attention to it, but I do remember finding it pleasant and refreshing. Then I found out it was only £3.99. The next day we went to our local Majestic in London to do the wine shopping for an upcoming family holiday. This was all sold out, and no wonder. We settled for a couple of French ones, and some Rioja rosé instead.

The next day was this Rioja Crianza. I just kind of sipped at this, and it got me wondering about Tempranillo (the main grape variety in Rioja), and what made it taste like it does. I had a hunch that it made wines with low acidity, as they can sometimes taste very soft and lacking a bit of bite. Sure enough I was right, although in the better examples this is rectified by planting in higher vineyards in cooler climates, and blending with higher acid varieties. That's not to say this one was poor, it isn't, but I just seemed to notice a lower-acidity in it. It was actually very nice, with a good expression of fruit and a mellow smoothness.

Neblina Rosé 2008, Chile

£3.99 (£4.99)

3/5

Marques des Concordia

Rioja Crianza 2005

Rioja, Spain

£5.99 (£8.99)

3/5