Peller Estates Ice Cuvée Rosé NV

An interesting sparkling wine from Niagra, Canada here. It's a traditional method sparkling wine made from 55% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir and 10% Cabernet Franc. After vinification and 12 to 14 months on lees, the wine is disgorged and a dosage of 115 ml of Cabernet Franc and Vidal icewine is added.

I didn't know what to expect really, but I was impressed. I was also impressed by the white version a couple of years ago. The rosé has strong red-fruit character, quite strawberry-ish. A touch of sweetness, but not enough to qualify as a demi-sec type wine. Overall highly enjoyable.

Canadian wine isn't easy to get in the UK, and little wonder why when you look at the cost. This goes for $35 Canadian, which is about £22 using today's exchange rates. Is it as good as sparkling wines from England, Spain, Tasmania, etc? Perhaps, but Canada can't really compete on price.

Peller Estates

Ice Cuvée Rosé NV VQA

Niagra, Ontario, Canada

$35 CDN

3.5/5

Sainsbury's Brut Rosé Champagne

Continuing on with our tradition of drinking rosé wine while watching the Formula One race, Random Aussie Bloke upped the ante by bringing over this Sainsbury's own-label pink Champagne.

It's actually made by Duval-Leroy, of which I am a fan. To be honest, I've only ever had their 2002 vintage Blanc de Blancs, but I thought it was one of the best value sparkling wines I've ever had (at the offer price that is).

This rosé is a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and is pretty good, notable the lively acidity and strawberry flavours. I'm not a Champagne expert, but I think it's safe to say that it's good value at £19.99. Rosé Champagne can be a bit overpriced I think, but this certainly isn't.

Sainsbury's

Brut Rosé Champagne

Champagne AOC, France

£19.99

3/5

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Côtes De Provence Rosé 2009

Random Aussie Bloke instructed his wife to pick up some rosé from Sainsbury's. He wisely told her to 'get the most expensive ones they have'. She came back with a Sancerre rosé, and this other one from Provence. I would have made the same choices.

However, unlike the Sancerre wine, this one was terrible I thought. I've had it twice I think, and the first time I remember being a bit underwhelmed. The second time though it was clear that it isn't a very good wine, so I feel compelled to share. Not much to say really, it's harsh and has an unpleasant finish. It reminds me of wines I tried in when I visited Brussels last summer - you could get Provence rosé from the supermarket in similarly shaped bottles for under 4 euros, and they were grim.

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Côtes De Provence Rosé 2009

Côtes De Provence AOC, Provence, France

Sainsbury's

£7.99

2/5

CVNE Rioja Rosado 2008

This is the third different rosé wine I purchased from Majestic on the weekend, and the one that I suspected would be the best. Actually, as I was putting the bottles into my cart, a member of staff mentioned to a watching customer that this was probably the one he'd recommend as the best one there. Like I said in a previous post, they didn't have a very good selection for some reason.

Anyhow, I was right and this one hits the spot. It's a deep pink colour - these types I prefer to have with food (although it's totally fine without it) - dry and refreshing. It's a bit negative, but for me what makes a good rosé is what it isn't sometimes. It lacks what I think are three things that make bad rosé: a confectionery-like flavour (like candy floss), a bitter finish, and an overtly alcoholic flavour/finish. These flaws are pretty common in rosé (especially new world like Australian), and Spain is probably my first choice if I want to avoid these (and not pay crazy prices). You are left with the dry red-fruit flavours and just enough tang to make you reach for the food platter.

Forget Shiraz for BBQs, this is more like it.

CVNE
Rioja Rosado 2008
Rioja, Spain
Majestic
£7.99 (£5.99 when you buy 2 or more)
3.5/5

Southbank Estate Sauvignon Blanc Rosé 2009

If you read my rant yesterday about the available of good rosé, you would have noticed that I bought a few wines at my local Majestic. This interesting example was one of them.

I had picked out 6 wines at this point, four from Spain and two from France. Then I looked over at the tasting table and noticed they had a couple of rosés there. One of them was this Sauvignon Blanc rosé from Marlborough. I gave it a try and was impressed, so I promptly put back my two bottles of Torres Vina Sol rosé (I've actually never tried it) and replaced them with these.

It tastes very much like a Sauvignon Blanc, but it has a little Syrah mixed in which gives it a pink colour but also contributes a red-fruit flavour essential to rosé wine. It's a winning combination, and one I'll look out for in the future.

Southbank Estate

Sauvignon Blanc Rosé 2009

Marlborough, New Zealand

Majestic

£7.49 (£5.99 when you buy 2 or more)

3/5

Marquis de Pennautier Cabardès Rosé 2009

Is it just me, or has the rosé wine bubble burst? Every year we hear that consumption increases by X%, and that it is more popular than ever. If that is the case, then why does my local Sainsbury's currently have the worst selection of rosé ever? It's 95% complete plonk. Waitrose has on offer a grand total of 4 wines, and those include Gallo and Blossom Hill (the other two aren't any better either). All this when we are well into what looks like to be a hot summer?

Defiantly, I marched to Majestic at Clapham South. They usually have a good selection of rosé - everything from Provence to Spain to New Zealand. Unfortunately, they had a poor selection as well - at least less than they usually have, and not all of them had the 'buy 2 save £X' promotion. However it was better than the supermarkets had to offer, so I took advantage of their new walk-in policy that allows you to buy only 6 bottles.

Cabardès is a tiny appellation in the Languedoc, only about 500 hectares. Interestingly, it is the only appellation that is allowed to blend Mediterranean varieties like Grenache and Syrah with Bordeaux varieties such as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. What this means for the wine I'm not sure, but it certainly makes it more flexible for the winemaker.

So how is the wine? After 3o minutes in the freezer to chill it down from room temperature (these days about 25C), I thought it tasted a bit rough. After another 20 minutes or so in its freezer sleeve it went down a lot smoother. I wouldn't say it's going to be a favourite around here - the slightly bitter finish, like a lot of rosé, makes it pretty average.

Chateau de Pennautier

Marquis de Pennautier Rosé 2009

AOC Cabardès

Languedoc, France

Majestic

£6.99 (£4.99 when you buy 2)

2.5/5

Araldica Brachetto d'Acqui 2007

This a new one for me. It sounded interesting enough - an indigenous grape variety (Brachetto) to Piedmont, Italy, one of my favourite wine regions. Pink, slightly sparkling, sweet, and made by a producer I respect.

Unfortunately I didn't really like it. It's what you'd call cloying. Or sickly sweet. I like sweet and off-dry wines, but they are balanced with acidity. This isn't - it's just sweet like a soft-drink. It had good fruit flavours, but not enough to convince me it's any better than bad Lambrusco.

Araldica

Brachetto d'Aqui 2007

Piedmont, Italy

Waitrose

£5.99 (£7.99)

2/5

Isla Negra Reserva Merlot Rosé 2008

I first tried this at a café in Battersea park. I think it was last summer, but it may have been the one before that. It stuck in my mind, I remembered it. I thought it was strange that I liked a Chilean rosé so much. Usually I drink French rosé - Australian rosé is generally horrible, and unless you want to pay £10 - £12 for Pinot Noir rosés from New Zealand, France is my best option.

This is of the darker red style, one I usually don't really like. However it has a very tasty fruit character, with none of the oily bitterness that seems to accompany this style. I won't over-complicate things - it's just really tasty. The price is weird - £9? I got it for half-price, and I'd say that's a good deal. I'd pay £6 for it, but £9 is too much.

Isla Negra

Reserva Merlot Rosé 2008

Central Valley, Chile

Tesco

£4.49 (£8.99)

3.5/5

Bay of Fires Tigress Rosé NV

Outside of Champagne, my two favourite regions for sparkling wine are Burgundy (Crémant de Bourgogne) and Tasmania. You can usually get pretty good bottles from these regions for about £8 - £12. So, a Tasmanian sparkler for £4.99? It must be crap right?

No - it isn't. This is part of a one-off parcel that Majestic somehow conjured up. It's a blend of Champagne varieties Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The label says strawberries, toast and mushrooms. I don't get the toast and mushrooms (but I never do), but I get strawberry jam. A perfectly good wine, and a ridiculous bargain. I just ordered a case.

PS - if Majestic runs out of stock, you can always pick it up at Channel 4's wine club for £20...

Bay of Fires

Tigress Rosé NV

Tasmania, Australia

Majestic

£4.99

3/5

Borgo SanLeo Nerello Mascalese Prosecco Rosé NV

This wine is the type of thing I'd serve to guests as an aperitif. However it sat in my fridge for ages because there never seemed a good time to open it due to the weather being rubbish and the general lack of dinner guests. That all changed last weekend though - guests aplenty and some warm sunny weather.

This sparkler was getting a bit of hype over the summer, and deservedly so. It's a blend of the white Prosecco grape and the red Nerello Masaclese, and the result is this non-vintage sparkling rosé. It's intensely pear-scented and gluggably moreish. No, it's not Champagne but it beats boring Cava and for just over £5 a bottle (currenly 33% off) there is no better deal around at the moment.

Forgive me, I've thrown out the bottle and can't remember what I paid (think around £7), so I'm not sure of the exact region it's made in, and the price quoted below the current offer price on WaitroseWineDirect.

Borgo SanLeo

Nerello Mascalese Prosecco Rosé NV

Italy

Waitrose

£5.05 (33% off)

3/5

Marqués de Caceres Rioja Rosado 2008

This is good stuff. I haven't tried too many rosés from Rioja, but I'm willing to bet they are just as good value as the reds, if this is any indication.

I guess the regular price of £7.99 would be expensive for a rosé, but this is Majestic, and the regular price doesn't count. Buy 2 and get it for £5.99 is better, but some may still think (and rightly so) this is on the pricey side for a rosé.

It's worth it though. It's leaning towards the redder side of pink, but on the palate it's still quite delicate, and it can hold its own - it was a great match for a particularly spicy chile con carne.

Marqués de Caceres

Rioja Rosada 2008

Rioja, Spain

Majestic

£5.99 (£7.99)

3/5

Domaine de Buganay Rosé 2008

This is a very drinkable rosé from Provence. This is how I like my rosé in the summer - light, almost like a white wine with a bit of red berry fruit to it. They are also very dangerous - before I noticed I had drank over half a bottle over dinner and spent the next hour or so wondering why I felt tipsy.

I think this goes for around £8 at Waitrose, but I got it for about £6 on offer (sorry I don't remember the exact prices). Good Provencal rosés are more expensive than say good Spanish ones, but they offer a different experience and are perhaps a bit more elegant.

Domaine de Buganay Rosé 2008
Cotes des Provence AOC, Provence, France
Waitrose
~£8
3/5

Chateau de Sours Rosé 2008

If Carlsberg made rosé...

For whatever reason, this rosé has garnered the praise of the late writer Auberon Waugh. I don't really know anything about him, so I'm not going to pretend to. However his words are immortalized on the back label of this wine: "Probably the best rosé in the world."

I started buying this wine 2 years ago, and felt that it was pretty decent then. This summer (2009) however, I've been sampling a lot of different rosés. Some are boring, some are too red, and some are too expensive. This still tastes great, and perhaps this is a good wine to help all you Merlot-hating Sideways fans remember that this grape deserves its reputation. Actually, maybe Pomerol or St. Emilion would be better for that, but this is a start.

Chateau de Sours

Rosé 2008

Bordeaux, France

Majestic

£6.99 (£8.99)

3.5/5

Tagus Creek Rosé 2007

Gold medal winning (IWC) winning rosé. Cheap. What's there not to like?

Well, a couple of things. I'm kind of going off these medium-to-full-bodied rosés for one thing. What's the point? If I wanted a red, I'd ask for a red.

I'm not really sure what the point of rosé is, but I do know that I like it. I guess it must be different for each person. I prefer my rosé to be basically like a white that tastes a bit like red fruit, not a red that's had water added to it, which is what this one reminds me of.

Anyway, it's rosé, so maybe I shouldn't be so critical, and it was just bad timing to trigger my rant about too-red rosés. It's good enough - it doesn't taste like cough syrup, Red Bull, or Ribena, and to be honest, that means it's a decent rosé.

Tagus Creek

Rosé 2007

Ribatejo, Portugal

Waitrose

£5.99

3/5

Sainsbury's Limited Release Spanish Rosé 2008

This a decent Spanish rosé at a decent price. I've said it before, but if you like rosé then your best bet for value for money is Spain.

This is a blend of Tempranillo and Shiraz (do we really care?), is light to medium bodied and is perfectly enjoyable on its own or with food.

I'm not sure what the deal is with Sainsbury's and these 'Limited Release' wines. Can someone fill me in? They don't seem to be of staggeringly high quality (despite what it says on the label: 'great quality fine wines'), and they always seem to be half price. How is this supposed to fit in with the 'Taste the Difference range'? I mean, this is OK and good value at £3.99 (yes, half price), but you'd have to be out of your mind to pay full price for it.

Anyway, despite the confusion this rosé is a good deal and I recommend it. Just don't try it immediately after brushing your teeth like I did, unless you enjoy the taste of cough syrup.

Sainsbury's

Limited Release Spanish Rosé 2008

Castilla y Leon, Spain

£3.99 (£7.99)

3/5

Bonterra Vineyards Rosé 2007

I really appreciate Bonterra's Chardonnay, so naturally I wanted to try their rosé. It's a bit pricey at £9.99, so I waited patiently until it was on offer at Waitrose for two-thirds the price.

Like a lot of new world rosés surfacing these days, this tends toward a more medium-bodied style. I'm not really sure why this is. It was pleasant enough - a good rosé to me drinks like a white wine but with notes of red berry fruit, which this resembles. However, I think anything would have tasted good immediately following this, which was the case here.

The label didn't mention anything about the grape varieties involved, so I had to resort to the Waitrose website. It's apparently mostly Sangiovese, along with some Zinfandel and Grenache.

A bit expensive at regular price, but a good deal at the current offer price.

Bonterra

Rosé 2007

Mendocino, California

Waitrose

£6.66 (£9.99)

3/5

St. Hallett Barossa Rosé 2008

I'm just going to come out and say it. This is hideous. It smells like melting plastic, and tastes like diesel oil.

I'm surprised and I'm not. Not surprised because I recently saw a "tweet" from Oz Clarke basically dissing Australian rosé. It kind of made me think...have I tried many Australian rosés? I haven't actually, and I really couldn't tell you the last one I had. I tend to drink a lot of French or Spanish ones, and I think if I've had any New World rosés recently they've been Chilean. I wasn't avoiding Aussie rosés on purpose, it's just that I tend to stick to things I like.

On the other hand, I'm surprised because St. Hallett is a good producer. I'm a huge fan of their white Poacher's Blend, and their red Gamekeeper's Reserve is a favourite among wine critics, even winning a Decanter World Wine Awards regional trophy.

It's a very full bodied rosé. These types are meant to be drunk with food. We had it at a picnic, and admittedly all the food was gone by the time we tried it. Is that an excuse for its repulsiveness? I don't really think so. Even my Aussie friend (and picnic companion) said he's never had an Australian rosé that he's liked.

Here's a challenge to everyone: tell me about an Australian rosé that's actually good. We'd like to know about it.

St. Hallett

Barossa Valley Rosé 2008

Barossa Valley, Australia

Waitrose

£5.49 (21% off)

1/5

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