With temperatures continuing to climb this summer, but a higher chance of not getting abroad, bring a taste of the south of France with this selection of some of the best Provence rosés, all recommended by our experts and available for under £20 / $30 – plus one just above £20, which was one of our best panel tasting wines of 2020.
Choosing Provence rosé
These wines normally are a blend of the grapes Cinsault, Syrah and Grenache.
‘When choosing your wine, don’t be fooled into thinking that ‘all these wines should be pale,’ judge Rod Smith MW noted last year’s panel tasting. ‘But pale doesn’t always mean good – once you’re stripping out colour you’re also homogenising flavour.’ Many of the best rosé wines can have a deeper colour.
As for what to drink when, Smith said: ‘At the beginning of the summer, try drinking the end of last year’s rosés rather than the early new one, especially if they’ve only just been bottled. People think it has to be the youngest vintage, but it doesn’t.’ There are plenty of 2019s in the selection below to choose from. Overall, the 2019 vintage was a good one, both size and quality, and could be ones to allow to age a few years.
Serving rosé wines
Recommending the perfect way to serve these wines, Elizabeth Gaby MW previously told Decanter.com: ‘Some crucial advice for rosé lovers: serving your wines ice cold does them no favours. The ideal temperature should be about 11°C to 15°C – between how you’d serve white and red wines. Sometimes decanting brings out greater complexity too.’
Rosé wines can also ‘be one of the best partners for a wide range of food,’ wrote food and wine expert Fiona Beckett, in our matching rosé wines with food guide, and a dry rosé can always work well as an all-rounder barbecue wine.
Look out for Elizabeth Gaby MW’s pick of 30 top Provence rosés, in Decanter magazine this summer.
