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Rosé for Summer 2022

Drinks Chat
#1

Hi Everyone,

As the warmer weather slowly creeps up on us, my mind begins to turn to the pink stuff for sunshine sipping.
My parents are due to arrive this summer from Australia as well so my fingers are crossed we get some good weather to enjoy the outdoors along with some lovely rosé.

I’m slightly concerned about the dodgy 2021 European vintage and if that will impact the quality of the new vintage rosés that are due to come online shortly.

Does anyone have any recommendations/advice? Should I look to buy 2020?
What will you all be drinking this summer?

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#2

I have no financial interest in recommending this which is a house wine for Gordon Ramsey and Rick Stein:

Rose 2021 - Chateau Bauduc

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#3

The Ch Vignelaure has never let me down yet! Also like the Cerasoulo D’Abruzzo on the list. Expect a few more to crop up soon…

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#4

Our house pouring is and remains Grand Mayne from Duras, 2021 just released and although I have yet to try, it reads well.

I am no longer a shareholder as the business has just been bought by new Dutch investors and the future is bright. The winemaking team still in situ.

We also have an occasional Triennes from L&W and Felines Jordan from TWS if entertaining for volume occasions.

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#5

For special occasions, you can’t beat Bandol’s Pibarnon Rose. At nearly £30, definetely not quaffing wine.

When the society carries it, Romanin Rose is excellent value for money. Beautiful winery in the Alpilles. I have a case of this in storage.

The best for last: Tempier Rose. Again, no quaffing wine here. Around £30 but well worth it, from a true Bandol giant. I alternate between this and the Pibarnon (which has a little bit more extraction).

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#6

And if you want some food suggestions to go with the above, some lightly grilled deep-pink “crevettes” or some lightly salted, boiled langoustines (add dill to the water if you want to give it a Scandinavian slant). Both will bring out some subtle herbal (garrigue) notes on these Bandol wines.

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#7

I think the Soc’s Corsican rose gets far less attention than it deserves. The bottle I had a couple of years ago was superb.

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#8

Ooooh. I’ll give this a go.

despite any vintage woes, I’ll probably still order a case of the Dom Maby Tavel to quaff my way through over the summer.

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#9

I’d try just one of the Maby first if I were you - I’m sure it’s sweeter than earlier vintages, although by no means the Ribena mentioned by one reviewer.

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#10

Thanks for the suggestion. Assuming I don’t spend all my wine budget trying to import wine from Montilla-Moriles, I’ll stick a bottle in my next society order and see how it goes.

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#11

We (3 families, not just the two of us) had a bottle of this in a sunny park last weekend - not much interest but plenty of fun.

https://www.thewinesociety.com/product/rose-duo-des-plages-igp-2021

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#12

I’d second Nick’s suggestion of Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo. We greatly enjoyed the 2018 and 2019 vintages of this montepulciano rose from Contesa. They had good depth of flavour and body, and were dry but not austere. Lovely to drink by itself on a warm summer day but also good with a range of foods, especially lamb and strongly flavoured fish such as mackerel. Good value in my opinion.

We haven’t tried the 2021 vintage yet. Hope we’re not disappointed.

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#13

I think the ‘Ribena’ review was for the 2020 vintage (?). The one currently for sale is the 2021, so might be a bit different, but haven’t had a chance to open one yet.

Tavel has definitely become my choice of rosé for food; it’s so flavoursome and its heft means it can work really well with many different dishes.

Other than Maby’s Prima Donna, I found ‘Lunar Apogé’ from Domaine des Carabiniers absolutely delicious (we had the 2019), though my favourite to date is from Domaine de la Mordorée - but really difficult to find in the UK for some reason.

A fairly good ‘substitute’ to Tavel is the Guigal rosé, but for quaffing sans meditazione we love the Contesa Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo and this one from Laurent Miquel sold by Waitrose.

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#14

I enjoy this one too. An Italian friend actually knew about this and was surprised to find it at our place. There’s a lot going on for such an affordable price point. The colour was quite a shock. It’s lovely.

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#15

Jane MacQuitty recommended a few in yesterday’s Times, including the

“richly fruited, rose petal-spiced 2021 G & L Moschofilero Roditis Rosé (thewinesociety.com, £8.50), with a dab of red agiorgitiko”.

Edit: the link above only takes you to the TWS Home Page.

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#16

Best Tavel I’ve tried…

https://www.dbmwines.co.uk/wines/123105

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#17

Yes, it was the 2020, which we enjoyed, though I did prefer earlier vintages. Do let us know if you try the 2021!

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#18

What is this ‘summer’ you speak of?

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#19

Agreed! An excellent Tavel :+1:

#20

When I’m over in France - about half the year on aggregate - this is my house rosé - I buy a case direct every year but pleased to see that Wine Direct stocks it currently so I’d have no hesitation to recommend this. It’s a GSM blend, with much emphasis on the M. They went through a weedy phase in the late '10s but currently back on form.

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