Saint Roch les Vignes Côtes de Provence Rosé 2009, France (£6.99 Majestic) Honest and tasty, quite deeply coloured rosé with rich, slightly jammy plummy berry flesh, quite full but just a touch simple. B-
Château Coussin Sainte Victoire Côtes de Provence Rosé 2009, France (£13.99 Oddbins) More subtle and crisper, finer-boned, with touches of citrus to the light raspberry flavours, and a fragrant minerally finish. S-
Château Méaume Bordeaux Rosé 2008, France (£6.99 Majestic) Bit of an oddball, with quite weighty, intense juicy plum and strawberry flesh set against an earthy, green leafiness. Will work for some, but not for everyone. B(+)
Yali Wetland Merlot Rosé 2009, Colchagua Valley (£6.49 Majestic – £4.79 until Aug 31st 2010) Shows the plumper, plummier edge of Merlot, off-dry and slightly bland. C
Mas Belles Eaux Rosé 2009, Vin de Pays d’Oc, France (£8.99 Ocado) Lovely fresh rosé, with quite intense but sappy flavours of apples, citrus, plums and raspberries, with a clean minerally finish. S-
Santiago Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé 2008, Valle Central, Chile (£8.90 QP Wines) There’s an OK note of sappy berry, but not much else – could be fresher too. 0
Zalze Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz Rosé 2009, Coastal Origin, South Africa (£6.49 Waitrose) Honest and juicy, with fleshy red berry but finishes just a bit bland – feels as if it was picked too ripe and had to be acidified that bit too much. C+
The second of two videos I’ve done in the lead up to English Wine Week (the first one is here)
Chapel Down English Rosé 2009 (£9.20 Waitrose – link is for the ’08, but ’09 should be around soon) Simple but honest and tasty style of rosé, with a flavour reminiscent of strawberry & apple pie, just off-dry, decent summer quaffer. B-
Bolney Pinot Noir 2009 (£10.95 Waitrose) It’s not Burgundy, but this sappy youngster does a pretty reasonable imitation of Beaujolais. Tangy and earthy, with crunchy raspberry and blackberry fruit and a refreshing finish – trying chilling this. B
Bolney Dark Harvest 2008 (£8.95 Waitrose Wine Direct) A blend of Rondo and Triomphe, this has a spiky, almost fizzy bramble and dark berry fruit character, but is let down by slightly vegetal notes. C
Three Choirs Classic Cuvée NV (£10.25 Three Choirs) This blend of 65% Seyval Blanc, 25% Reichensteiner and 10% Pinot Noir succeeds thanks to a decent amount of time on lees, which has given a nutty, biscuity/brioche edge to the smoky, floral-scented apple fruit. Good wine. B+
Gusbourne Brut 2006 (~£21.99 01233 758666) Nice cooked bread, green apple and citrus fruit, quite delicately flavoured but marred by a rather intrusive cheesy/lactic character – shame. B-
The Theale Vineyard Blanc de Blancs Founder’s Reserve Brut 2005 (£22.99 Laithwaites) Leaner and finer than the Gusborne, and very classy. Has apple & lemon intensity, touches of yeasty richness and floral notes, and a dainty, fine-boned finish. From Laitwaites own vineyard, but made by the team at Ridgeview. S
PS A note to some of the vineyards on here and on the previous video – many of your websites need updating with the current vintages…
Chivite Gran Feudo Garnacha Rosado 2009, Navarra, Spain (£7.99 Waitrose) Sappy young rosé packed with blackcurrant, apple & blackberry pie flavours, refreshing and juicy, with a dry, succulent finish. B(+)
Palo Alto Shiraz Reserva Rosé2009, Maule, Chile (£7.99 Asda, Booths) Gentle style, maybe lacking some freshness, pleasant red berry fruit, a touch off-dry. C+
Delheim Pinotage Rosé 2009/10, Stellenbosch, South Africa (£7.95 Museum Wines, Mill Hill Wines, Palmers Wine Store, Rackhams, Michael Jobling Wines, George Hill, Naked Grape)
The 2009 is fresh and fruity with an almost Sauvignon-like grassy edge, apples & blackberries – like summer pudding in a glass – with a touch of Pinotage banana. B(+)
The 2010 smells fuller and fleshier than the 2009, with plumper plum and berry flesh – if the ’09 is picnic pink, this is the one for barbecues. B+
A couple of wines from a well-known (in the UK at least) singer’s estate in the Algarve plus a rather unusual sweet wine from the Ribatejo – or Tejo, as we should now be calling it.
Onda Nova Verdelho 2008, Algarve (£9.99 www.mollybrownswinelist.co.uk ) Clean, fresh, tight peach, citrus peel and gritty pearskin character with a touch of brine, ripe but still refreshing, wears its 14% alcohol well. B(+)
Onda Nova Syrah Rosé 2008, Algarve (£9.99 www.mollybrownswinelist.co.uk ) Bouncy rosé, packed with strawberry (fresh and tinned) flavours, fleshy and ripe but still dry, with an honest lively finish. B
Quinta da Lagoalva de Cima Late Harvest 2008, Ribatejo (N/A in UK – Clark Foyster are Lagoalva’s importers) A touch of volatility (think nail varnish), then oodles of fruit – peach, pear, apricot, grapefruit, elderflower, orange marmalade – but there’s also a less ripe, almost smoky edge that seems slightly at odds with the lusher sweeter side of the wine. Overall though, pretty tasty. B+ (see notes on the 1995 here)
