6 Stunning Rose Wines For The Summer

As if we needed another excuse to drink more pink, it’s International Rosé Day on June 12th! As luck would have it, we’ve been bathing in the stuff all year already, so are well placed to recommend a few pretty pinks from around the world. You are welcome!

The Hidden Sea Rosé, Australia 2021

A gloriously unpretentious pink packed full of ripe fruit thanks to the blend of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc and some good old Australian sun. What a mix! Even better, for every case of wine they sell, they pay to remove and recycle the equivalent of 60 x 500ml single-use plastic bottles from rivers and oceans. I mean, what better reason do you need to drink pink?

Find it at Sainsbury’s £9 here

Marius Rosé, Chapoutier, Pays d’Oc, France 2019

Marius takes us over to the South of France where this perky little number comes packed with refreshing notes of fruit salad, from white peach and strawberry to a touch of the tropics. Very easy drinking but elegant with it, from top producer, M. Chapoutier. 

Find it at Simply Wines Direct for £7.99 on offer! (usually £9.80)

Babylonstoren Mourvedre Rosé, Simonsberg, South Africa 2021

This South African pink made with the Mourvedre grape took me by surprise with its incredibly voluminous body and silky texture. Everything about this wine is perfectly together from its ripe peach and spicy notes to its refreshing, saline finish. Just gorgeous!

Find it a Wanderlust Wine for £14.90 

Maison No. 9 by Post Malone, Rosé, Pays d’Oc, France 2020

Created by famously tattooed musician Post Malone and named after his favourite tarot card, (we all have them, right?).  Maison No.9 brings together Post Malone’s love for the Mediterrnean lifestyle with his own unique style and messaging about overcoming challenges. The wine itself from the South of France is understated and elegant with notes of pineapple, peach and citrus. You’ll want to keep the bottle too as a piece of art. Available in larger formats too!

Find it at The Wine Caverns for £18.99. Coming to Tesco soon too. 

AIX Rosé Coteaux d'Aix en Provence

AIX is the failsafe rosé wine from Provence which, with every vintage, manages to bring to the bottle what we have all come to expect from the world famous region: Pale colour, super dry, saline twist and a hint of strawberries and cream. Definitely one for the parties too as it comes in ALL THe SIZES! Have fun. 

Find it in magnum from Majestic for £27.99 (mix six price)

Gusbourne Pinot Noir Rosé, Kent, England, 2020

We couldn’t do pink without looking at England and shining a light on the fabulous wines we make nowadays (not that we can take the credit!). We’re proper fangirls and boys of Gusbourne as you know and this, their limited edition pink is particularly special. Made with 100% Pinot Noir, it’s crisp and elegant with notes of wild flowers, crunchy cherry and orange citrus peel. Just so pretty and every so slightly quirky in the best, most English of ways. 

Find it at Gusbourne.com here for £25

Want some more recommendations? Check out our recent piece on English wines, some of the best cocktail terraces in London or even the best canned wines for summer picnics!

3 Styles of French Rosé You Can Rely On

The sun’s out and we’re still in lockdown, so let’s do this properly! Cue some beautiful pink wine that will make us dream of French holidays we’re not taking. How do you know what you’re going to get, though? Styles of rosé wine can vary enormously, even from the same region, so it’s genuinely hard to know. Fear not however, there are some styles that tend to stay the same. Whether you like it pale and dry, juicy and pink or savoury and practically red, here are three French styles to look for that you can rely on, told through the lens of dance because… #LockdownMadness

The Ballerina

Style: Pale and dry

Look for: Côtes de Provence

If this rosé had a dance, it would be ballet: pale pink, elegant and delicate to look at, but capable of powerful, complex twists and turns. If you like your pink wine creamy, weighty and dry with a saline tang and just a whisper of fruit, you can’t go far wrong if you look for ‘Côtes de Provence’ on the label. Provence is the only French wine region where there’s a classification dedicated to premium rosé wine and the world is now trying to emulate this classic style of pink. Grapes used are often a blend of Grenache and Cinsault, sometimes with a splash of Rolle, Syrah and others. Try these...

Bargain: Château de Rouet Provence Rosé, 2018, £8.50 (50cl), Coop

Mid-range: Château de Berne, Côtes de Provence, 2018, £13.99 mixed six price, Majestic.

Blow-out: Ultimate Provence Rosé 2018, £26.83, winebuyers.com

The Tango Dancer

Style: Dark and savoury

Look for: Tavel, Rhone Valley.

Dark and dramatic, with high kicks of wild strawberry fruit amongst the savoury notes of grilled meat, this wine’s dance is the Tango. Often almost red, with a grippiness you can get your teeth into, these are well-structured wines, perfect for a barbecue and great at any time of year.  Tavel is an appellation (dedicated wine growing area) in Southern Rhone Valley in France, not a million miles from the more famous Châteauneuf du Pape. The difference is that Tavel is France’s only appellation dedicated solely to rosé wine. Grapes used traditionally are Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault and sometimes others. Look out for the distinctive bottle too! Try these…

Bargain: Tavel Rosé, 2018. £7.99, Lidl ( in store)

Mid range: Tavel Rosé, E. Guigal, 2019, £14, Vinatis

Blow out: Château de Manissy Organic Rosé, 2018, £16.95, Amathus

The 80’s Disco Queen

Style: Bright and candied

Look for: Rosé D’Anjou

Just like throwing those shapes on the dance floor to Wham and other cheesy 80’s hits, Rosé d’Anjou can be a bit of a guilty pleasure. Hailing from Anjou in France's western Loire Valley, these pinks are vibrant in colour and sweeter than many other rosé styles, bar some Californian white zinfandels (if you like those, try this). It’s not sugary sweet, but very fruity, like strawberry sweets. Serve them well chilled in the sun with some cold cuts or mildly spiced snacks like chilli nuts or Bombay mix. The main grape for this sweeter style is Grolleau Noir, often blended with Gamay and Cabernet Franc. Try these...

Bargain: Champteloup Rosé d’Anjou, £6.29 on offer, Waitrose

Mid range: Domaine des Cedres, Rosé d’Anjou, 2018, £10.58, Corkingwines.com

By Helena Nicklin

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Meet the Godfathers of Provençal rosé: Domaines Ott

If you’re a wine drinker, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you will have noticed a surge in the amount of rosé wine on our shelves over the past few years. What has also changed however, is who is doing the drinking. Gone are the days of a female only audience who like a sweet style in hot pink because it’s pretty, it’s girly and it’s summertime. Real men now drink pink - and all year round, it turns out. In a sea of pale and dark rosé wines, some sweet, some dry, where no one seems to know what they’re getting, there’s one key region that’s leading the way for its consistency, quality and charm: Provence, France.

Provençal rosé is famously pale and dry, with a creamy weight and complexity that belies its powder pink looks. It’s a style you can rely on and one that goes with everything from media launches and film premieres on the beach in Cannes, to intricate food matches at the finest dining establishments in mid-winter. Provençal pinks are not just wine; they are a lifestyle, one that once back home in Blighty, has us heading to the nearest wine shop to seek out the names that will bring summer back into our lives again: Mirabeau, Chêne Bleu, Aix, Whispering Angel and of course, the grandfather of them all, Domaines Ott. But it wasn’t always this way.

Côtes de Provence is the only French appellation dedicated purely to high quality, fine pink wines and it owes its name and success to one man with a vision: Marcel Ott. Marcel and his wife moved Provence from Alsace in 1896 after a grand wine tour of the country. The vine louse that destroyed many of Europe’s vines at the time had wreaked havoc in Provence, but Marcel fell in love with the area. Land was cheap, so they stayed and planted vines again, only this time, with different grapes: Sémillon and Vermentino for white wines and Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah for the pinks and reds. The estate built a reputation quite quickly for fine, textural white wines. There were pink wines in the region then, but much darker and sweeter than those we know now. Wanting something a little different, something more weighty and dry, a bit like the Alsace wines he was used to, Marcel pioneered a new style of pale, dry rosé. He sold it alongside his famous whites as a serious pink, where it quickly developed its own reputation as a boutique wine available only to those in the know. The question of moving again came up again - they were practically giving away land in North Africa – but Marcel’s wife put her foot down. She wasn’t going anywhere. The Ott’s stayed and the appellation as we now know it, began to flourish.

This pale and dry style of pink, with its trademark creaminess and weight from lees stirring and skin contact, was not the only thing Marcel and his family did for the region and its wines. They were responsible for the creation of the whole Côtes de Provence appellation. That’s some legacy! And not only this, but if you’ve ever noticed how a lot of Provençal pinks have unusual shaped bottles, that was The Ott family too: René Ott pioneered the first ‘skittle’ bottle shape in 1926, which many châteaux in the area have since emulated, though they are never allowed to be exactly the same as Ott.

Try a taste of the original Provence

Domaines Ott owns three estates: Clos Mireille and Château de Selle in the Côtes de Provence appellation and Château Romassan in Bandol AOC, each making distinctive wines in their own styles.

Château de Selle in Taradeau, near Draguignan, was the first estate that Marcel bought in 1912 and produces pink and red wines. Clos Mireille came next in 1936 and was originally famous for its ‘blanc de blancs’ white wines until it started also producing rosé in 2006. The terroir at Mireille is extraordinary for its microclimate and location right by the sea. Airborne salt from the settles on the skins of the grapes and the soil, which help to give it their characteristic saline tang.

Château Romassan is the newest estate acquired in 1956 and is located within the Bandol AOC area. Mourvedre is the key grape in this appellation, which Jean-Francois Ott describes deliciously as ‘the bad boy of wine grapes: meaty, gamey, a bit crazy. A party animal!’ Rosé from here is a little beefier, a little more structured and the reds pack a might punch.

Want to taste the wines? Head to Château de Selle where you can try them all – and totally for free. When I asked them why they don’t charge for tastings, I was told: “We say to our staff, ‘don’t worry about selling. Pour, let them taste. They’ll buy some anyway!’” They buy so much in fact that each visitor is limited to twelve bottles of each.

What to eat with Ott wines?

There’s a real confidence in the product at Ott. They know their wines are good and trust me, they really are. The pinks and whites are not just about summer sipping immediately after their release either; they can age. We tried a 2014 rosé which had developed an incredible texture and licorice spice. These are gastronomic wines that are incredibly versatile with food and work all year round. I personally love the pinks at Christmas when red feels to heavy at lunchtime as they’re awesome with turkey and all the trimmings. Other matches for the whites and rosés we tried include tagines and ceviche, but they can also take mild curry sauces, ground coriander, sushi and roast chicken. The reds are powerful, so great with stews and steaks. The Bandol also makes a fabulous, slightly surprising match for dark chocolate cake and red fruit salads.

So, with or without food, at Christmas or by the beach, picnic or fine dining, pink from Provence is a style you can rely on and once you’ve tried Ott, you’ll n’Ott go back.

Where to find Ott wines:

Clos Mireille Rosé 2017 RRP £37 from Oddbins or £33.95 from Slurp.co.uk

Clos Mireille Blanc de Blancs 2011 £29.95 from Fortnum & Mason

Château Romassan Rosé, Bandol 2016 £35 (£31.50 mix 6 price)

Château de Selle ‘Coeur de Grain’ Rosé 2017 £310 for 12 at Millesima

This piece was originally written for Savile Row Style Magazine in July 2018

By Helena Nicklin