9 rosés to try before you die

Few drinks deliver as much immediate refreshment as great rosé, and we’ve rounded up nine labels that all pink wine lovers must try before they die.

The nine rosés that feature come from a range of regions, but several are from Provence – you probably won’t be surprised to learn

Over the following pages we have selected the top-scoring wines from our Global Rosé Masters 2017 – highlighting the quality available whatever the price point.

Each of these wines has achieved a Silver medal or higher in the competition, which is highly impressive considering the rigorous nature of our judging process and the exacting palates of our judges – who are listed below.

The nine rosés that feature come from a range of regions, but all of them are from Europe and, you probably won’t be surprised to learn, the majority are from France, with several from Provence in particular.

Each of these wines has been judged blind, allowing our experts to asses them purely for quality without prejudice about their brand.

The rosés were tasted over the course of one day at Bumpkin in London’s South Kensington on 17 May.

While this is just a selection of the top-performers, you can see all the medal-winners in The Drinks Business Rosé Masters by clicking here.

And for those on a budget, you can see our list of ten brilliant rosés that won’t break the bank by clicking here.

Meanwhile, the best of the best can be seen over the following pages.

The judges in the Global Rosé Masters 2017: Top row (left to right) • Patrick Schmitt MW, editor-in-chief, The Drinks Business • Antony Moss MW, director of strategic planning, WSET • Jonathan Pedley MW, wine lecturer and consultant • Christine Parkinson, group head of wine, The Hakkasan Group • Clive Barlow MW, wine trainer and consultant • Clément Robert MS, group head sommelier and wine buyer, 28º-50º Bottom row (left to right) • Elizabeth Gabay MW, wine writer, Provençal rosé specialist • Dee Blackstock MW, wine buyer and consultant • Beverly Blanning MW, wine writer and lecturer • Patricia Stefanowicz MW, wine educator and consultant

9. By Ott, 2016

The style: Dry rosé
The medal: Gold
The price: Approx £15
The sugar content: 1g/l
The ABV: 13%
The closure: Natural cork
The producer: Domaines Ott
The source: Provence, France
The grape varieties: 70% Grenache / 20% Cinsault / 10% Syrah
The taste: Those looking for the archetypal Provençal rosé need look no further than this delicate citrus and berry-scented example from Domaines Ott, which delivers a wonderfully balanced form of refreshment. However, for those looking for a bit more red fruit, complexity, and creamier structure, then there’s always Domaine Ott’s range-topping Clos Mireille, costing more than £25.

8, Alpha Rosé, 2016

The style: Dry rosé
The medal: Silver
The price: Approx £18
The sugar content: 1g/l
The ABV: 13%
The closure: Natural cork
The producer: Alpha Estate
The source: Florina, Greece
The grapes: 100% Xinomavro
The taste: With its minimalist label and beautiful bulbous clear glass bottle showing off the pale rosé inside, this is a pink wine designed to make an upmarket visual statement. Neither the fact that it comes from Greece, nor that it’s made with the country’s native Xinomavro grape, are stated on the front of this elegant package, perhaps because it’s thought that such information might detract from its top-end positioning. However, for the professional, both these facts make the wine an interesting arrival on to the luxury rosé scene, which is, of course, dominated by products from Provence. And having tasted it without knowledge as to source region or constituent grapes, it is a wine that sits alongside its French rivals in terms of quality. As for style, it is delicate aromatically, but has an appealing oily feel in the mouth, with summer berries, some peach, and a touch of red apple too. Fruity and balanced, this is a lovely dry rosé, and a brilliant option if you find yourself in the eastern part of the Med.

7. Château Brown Rosé, 2016

The style: Dry, barrel-aged rosé
The medal: Silver in 2017’s competition, and Gold for the 2015 vintage in 2016’s competition
The price: Approx £25
The sugar content: 1g/l
The ABV: 13%
The closure: Natural cork
The producer: Château Brown
The source: Bordeaux, France
The grapes: 50% Cabernet Sauvignon / 50% Merlot
The taste: With four-months spent in one-year-old French oak barriques, this pale peach-coloured rosé from Bordeaux may look delicate, but has toasted nutty characters more commonly associated with full-bodied barrel-aged white wines. This complements the ripe red berry fruit, adding a welcome layer of complexity, while enhancing this wine’s versatility – it would certainly pair well with white meats as well as pre-dinner snacks. Meanwhile, the Cabernet-Merlot base, coupled with Bordeaux’s maritime climate, ensures that this rosé has a bright refreshing finish, so it remains quaffable, which is so important for any pink drink. Indeed, among the small class of barrel-aged rosés, few are better balanced.

6. Château La Sauvageonne La Villa, 2016

The style: Dry, barrel-aged rosé
The medal: Master
The price: Approx £40
The sugar content: 1g/l
The ABV: 13%
The closure: Vinolok glass closure
The producer: Gérard Bertrand
The source: Languedoc, France
The grapes: Vermentino / Viognier / Mouvèdre / Grenache
The taste: For those looking for a more structured, serious and versatile rosé then this is the ideal wine. With a proportion transferred to oak barriques for six months, this rosé has a complexing layer of nuttiness from the wood (and lees) contact, as well as a mouth-filling creamy texture, along with masses of ripe red berry fruit and a tangy citrus finish. Although it is quite a powerful wine, it delivers wonderful rosé refreshment, and proves that oak barrels can be successfully used in pink winemaking. Yes, it’s expensive, but it’s also delicious.

5. Aix Rosé, 2016

The style: Dry rosé
The medal: Gold
The price: Approx £20
The sugar content: 2g/l
The ABV: 12.5%
The closure: Natural cork
The producer: Maison Saint Aix
The source: Provence, France
The grapes: 60% Grenache, 20% Cinsault, 20% Syrah
The taste: The top blend from the Maison Saint Aix, this is a classic Provençal rosé, with redcurrants and raspberries, bright acidity and even a touch of chalk, giving a mouth-watering dry sensation on the finish. Pretty and persistent, this is the perfect aperitif for when you want to pretend you’re in the French Riviera.

4. Château d’Esclans Les Clans, 2015

The style: Dry, barrel-aged rosé
The medal: Gold
The price: Approx £35
The sugar content: 1g/l
The ABV: 13%
The closure: Natural cork
The producer: Château d’Esclans
The source: Provence, France
The grapes: Grenache, Vermentino
The taste: The younger brother of Garrus – the range-topping rosé from Château d’Esclans – Les Clans delivers a little less toasty oak and complexity, but a bit more colour than its pricier older sibling. Nevertheless, relative to Garrus, Les Clans appears good value, with some its creamy oak and warming red berry fruit at half the cost. Les Clans also has an appealing sweet and sour lemon curd character. While it is delicious on its own, it could happily complement white meat or fish-based dishes.

3. Marqués de Murrieta Primer Rosé, 2016

The style: Dry rosé
The medal: Gold
The price: Approx £35
The sugar content: 1.4g/l
The ABV: 13%
The closure: Natural cork
The producer: Marqués de Murrieta
The source: Rioja, Spain
The grapes: 100% Mazuelo
The taste: This newcomer to the luxury rosé scene adds elegance to the category, with its pretty packaging, pale appearance, and delicate red berry fruit flavours. Despite the many Grenache and Tempranillo base rosados from Rioja, Marqués de Murrieta chose to use just Mazuelo (otherwise known as Carignan) for this top-end pink. Just 5,000 bottles are made of the wine annually, and drinkers can expect plenty of ripe fruit, but also a bone dry refreshing finish, while, in contrast to the practice of barrel-ageing Rioja’s reds and whites, this rosé has not been fermented or aged in oak.

2. Château de la Soujeole Rosé, 2016

The style: Dry, barrel-aged rosé
The medal: Gold
The price: Approx £30
The sugar content: 1g/l
The ABV: 13%
The closure: Natural cork
The producer: Gérard Bertrand
The source: Malepère, Languedoc, France
The grapes: 50% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot, 20% Malbec
The taste: A really exciting find in a world where the majority of rosés seem to be coming from the same source – Provence – and the same grapes: Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault. In contrast, this example uses Bordeaux grapes from the southern French appellation of Malepère. This origin and these ingredients, when coupled to a touch of barrel-ageing, yields a pink product that’s distinctive and delicious. Expect flavours of crushed strawberries, and a creamy, slightly nutty note – presumably from the 20 days the wine spends in barriques – as well as a chalky taste and texture, which brings an appealing dryness to the wine. Layered, and refreshing, this is a complex rosé that would pair well with a light lunch. If only it were easier to find.

1. Château d’Esclans, Garrus, 2015

The style: Dry, barrel-aged rosé
The medal: Master
The price: Approx £70
The sugar content: 1g/l
The ABV: 14%
The closure: natural cork
The producer: Caves d’Esclans
The source: Provence, France
The grapes: Grenache, Vermentino
The taste: It should be stated immediately that this blockbuster of a wine is barely a rosé. Looked at through its thick clear glass bottle, it’s more like a deeply-coloured white wine than a pink product, although it is made predominantly with red grape Grenache. Now, if it were judged as a white, people would praise its wonderful balance of fresh fruit and smoky, gently nutty, barrel-source characters.

As a rosé, however, it takes the style into new extremes, surprising tasters with its toasty aromas, as well as it high price – no still rosé is more expensive than Garrus.

But, once the shock of a oak-aged, £80 rosé passes, the product can be enjoyed for its ripe, red fruit flavours, creamy texture, and grapefruit lift on the finish, along with a lovely note of grilled nuts. Layered, bright, and oh-so-pale, no other rosé is quite like this one. But none are as memorable either.

And finally…

Although we haven’t assessed these labels blind in our Rosé Masters, other great pink-wine producing estates to look out for are Bandol’s Domaine Tempier and the southern Rhône’s Chêne Bleu. Both these brands are brilliant sources of pale but punchy pinks.

And for those wanting to try something completely different, there’s always Rioja’s López de Heredia – the family behind the Viña Tondonia Rosé Gran Reserva Rosado. Currently selling a pink product from the 2000 vintage, don’t expect a bright pink, berry-scented product, but an almost tawny-coloured liquid that has all the complexity of an aged wine.