Or should you just stick to the most recent vintage...?
Does rosé wine age well? – ask Decanter
Stephen Powell, London, asks: Does rosé age, or should I always go for the most recent vintage?
Richard Bampfield MW, a wine educator, speaker and judge, replies:
Dry rosé wines in the Provençal style would generally be drunk as young as possible, preferably from the most recent vintage.
However, new entrants such as Domaines Sacha Lichine are introducing oak-aged rosés (Garrus, Les Clans), made from their best grapes, and there are early indications that these have ageing potential.
The top dry rosés from Bandol are also considered to have ageing potential over perhaps three to five years.
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Sweeter styles of rosé such as Rose d’Anjou and Californian blush Zinfandel, as well as rosés from the southern hemisphere, are definitely made to be drunk as young as possible.
The one exception to the ‘drink rosé young’ rule is vintage rosé Champagne, the best examples of which age wonderfully.
Mature vintage rosés from Dom Pérignon, Dom Ruinart, Roederer Cristal, Billecart-Salmon and some others deserve a place among the world’s greatest wines.
First published in the July 2014 issue of Decanter. Subscribe to Decanter here.
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