Words by Helena Nicklin
As the sun returns, we’re feeling the love! I spoke to Kevin O’Sullivan on talkRADIO recently about the best kinds of wines for romantic times. My thoughts turned to three styles of wines that can take you from day to evening and each choice with a little story to tell. Enjoy…
Rosé Wine - Jardin de Roses
Outdoor dating is big this summer and the perfect pink will see you through from daytime to evening. Relaxed but sophisticated, think fresh flowers, crisp, linen tablecloths, outdoor scented candles and a fruity, floral bottle of rosé chilling in a silver ice bucket. For this, you’ll want a rosé wine that looks as good as it tastes. We love this pale and elegant looking pink from Languedoc in the South of France. Made with 70% Syrah and 30% Grenache, it has a little more peachy fruit than those from its Provençal neighbours and a lovely, rose petal nose. This one, with its uniquely patterned bottle, translates as ‘bed of roses’ and it comes in six labels, each with an image of different species of rose. Beautiful - and it gives a whole new meaning to the term ‘bouquet’...
Find Jardin de Roses, £13.49 at Waitrose.
Red Wine - Thistledown, Thorny Devil Old Vine Grenache
Light the candles, put the roses in water and snuggle up with a Grenache. If Pinot Noir is the ‘heartbreak grape’, then Grenache is the grape of romance, making wines that are smooth and velvety, with notes of wild strawberry, fig and warm spice. It’s an easy style to love without too much of those astringent tannins and lots of fruit. Grenache from old vines is particularly special as older vines yield fewer grapes and have deeper roots, which means what grows has a gorgeous concentration of flavour and complexity. Try one from the ultimate home of old vine Grenache (aka Garnacha): the region of Cariñena in Spain or one from its spiritual home in Barossa, Australia.
Find Thorny Devil Old Vine Grenache, £15.99 at Virgin Wines
Fizz - Ambriel Rosé 2014
We couldn’t talk about romantic wine without mentioning something sparkling, but how about something other than the standard Champagne? Popping the cork on an English sparkling wine shows that you’ve put a little more thought into your drinks choice. Make it a gorgeous, pale pink little number like this elegant fizz from Ambriel in Sussex. It’s made in exactly the same way as Champagne using 100% Pinot Noir (also one of the Champagne grapes) and has a beautiful perfume of red apple and rose with a quintessentially English, redcurrant crunch. Corney and Barrow describe it as ‘the perfect English rosé with its classic bone structure and cut glass accent’ and we could not agree more. This is an English wine producer to watch!
Find Ambriel Rosé 2014, £28.95 at Corneyandbarrow.com.
Like this? See these other wine guides: 5 new drinks products for socially distanced gatherings, English Wines to Rival Champagne, What You Should Be Drinking With Curry.