See our top-rated rosé wines below...
Summer is the season for chilled rosé, to be enjoyed during the heat of the day and on into the balmy nights. From pale salmon pink to rich bronze and even some reddish shades , rosé is as beautiful as it is palatable.
Rosé wine sales have developed from the bottom up, gaining momentum over the last decade or so thanks to uncomplicated, approachable styles and pretty colours.
But premium rosé is changing the category, offering complex styles derived from intriguing grape blends, barrel ageing and – in the case of Clos Cibonne’s Cuvée Spéciale des Vignettes – vinification under a layer of flor.
The best rosé wines tend to show a complex range of fruit characters including strawberry, redcurrant, cherry, peach, rhubarb and pomegranate, as well as fresh, crunchy, zesty or leafy acidity. Notes of orange peel, garrigue and savoury characters can also be found. Fruit intensity rather than neutrality is also important.
Colour has little correlation with quality, contrary to popular opinion, and instead reflects grape variety and origin.
Food friendly
These top rosés are ideal food wines. Fiona Beckett suggests that ‘as a very general rule, lighter styles of rosé will tend to pair better with more delicate food, such fresh salads or charcuterie. Fuller-bodied rosé wines, perhaps with riper fruit and more structure, are more likely to stand up to barbecued meats or foods with a bit of spice.’
