8 summer rosés to up your rosé game
Pimp up your pink shelf with these top drops, says Sam Wylie-Harris.
The very essence of summer, it’s easy to be enchanted by a glass of rosé.
Especially when you want to slow down, savour the prettiest palette – we all love to drink with our eyes – and sink the pink.
Over the past few years, Provence has fuelled a boom in rosé with its pale, dry style, and with the growth in premium rosé, so too has our taste for fun and frivolous, to blush bubbly at its best.
With summer socials in full swing and a roster of rosés vying for our attention, we’ve plucked the prettiest pinks to up your rosé-fest…
1. Porta 6 IG Lisboa Rosé 2022, Portugal, £6.50 from £7, Asda
An easy drinking rosé to remind us how one of Portugal’s most famous exports – Mateus Rosé – put pink wines on the map. Similarly fruity, it has lovely aromas and flavours of strawberries, candied citrus and red apple, underlined by a floral character and fresh acidity. With a picture-postcard label illustrating Lisbon’s vintage trams and glimpse of its laidback lifestyle, it’s one for armchair travellers in a favourite suntrap.
2. Specially Selected Costa Toscana IGT 2022, Italy, £7.49, Aldi, in-store
Super fresh and utterly delicious, if you haven’t explored Aldi’s new summer rosé range, now’s the time to snag this brilliant bottle. It’s trendy too, with a ribbed glass design. With enticing red berry aromas, creamy summer fruits on the palate and mineral notes, it’s molto bene and cries out for antipasto, crostini and good company!
3. Baron de Ley Rosado de Lágrima Rioja 2022, Spain, £8 from £10, Asda
A Spanish rosé which speaks with a French accent, this dry, pale rosado is styled on a Provençal pink – veneered with some Spanish flair – as you would expect from this well-known producer from the Rioja wine region. It’s mouth-watering and fresh, with attractive strawberry and red fruits on the nose. It has similar flavours flowing, which linger on the pure palate and are supported by balanced acidity. Bring on the tapas party.
4. Château La Négly La Natice Rosé 2022, Languedoc, France, £13.75, Co-op, in-store
One to reach for if you don’t want to dig deep into your Provençal purse strings. The worst-kept secret in the wine world is to look for rosé from the south of France – namely the Languedoc – which can be just as impressive as its famous Provence neighbour. A gold-medal winner at the Concours des Grands Vins de France, it’s elegant, fragrant and has a delicate balance between strawberry, a hint of gooseberry and tangy fruit, smoothed out by a mineral acidity and silky peachy notes.
5. Casa Canevel Prosecco Rosé NV, Italy, £16.95 from £18.50, Strictly Wine
Pink prosecco took the ‘all things pink’ drinks world by storm when it landed on our shores a few years ago – and this Venetian beauty lives up to expectation. A brut (dry) style, it’s popping with blossomy aromas and wafts of peachy-pear fruits, a fine stream of red berry fruit with hints of cherries and wild strawberries, fresh acidity and pretty florals lingering on the bright finish. A gondola ride in a glass.
6. M de Minuty Côtes de Provence 2022, France, £19.99, Waitrose
This limited-edition artwork – by-the-by, candles in a tall, narrow wine bottle are still a thing – will remind you how the aromatic, vibrant and succulent flavours left you thirsty for a Riviera lifestyle and breathtaking views. Produced by Château Minuty, overlooking the Gulf of St-Tropez, it’s deliciously fresh and flush with yellow fruits, melon, peachy accents, citrus, and has herbaceous notes lingering on the finish.
7. Château d’Estoublon Roseblood Rosé Méditerranée 2022, Provence, France, £20.99, £17.99 Mix Six, Majestic
With the allure of a celeb-backed wine – co-owners include former president and first lady, Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni – Roseblood rocked the rosé wine scene when it launched a couple of years ago – Château d’Estoublon has a winemaking history dating back to the 18th century – and this is a favourite new find. Silky smooth, the more you swirl, the more the wine gifts you with hints of rose petals entwined with peony and apricot on the nose, a long, pretty peachy-apricot palate, elegant minerality, just-right freshness and masses of charm.
8. Château de Berne La Grande Cuvée 2021, AOP Côtes de Provence, France, £29, The Wine Caverns
A full-bodied style of rosé and smooth as a silk stocking, this ‘gastronomique’ rosé spends a short time in oak for roundness and complexity. Akin to a fine wine and a rosé-lover’s rosé, it’s seductive on the nose with creamy, peachy, and fleshy fruit, enhanced by soft spice; beautifully rounded, complex and elegant with a persistent long finish. It’s one to share with your significant other. Stunning.
