Nine delicious rosés over £20 for summer 2018

The category of fine rosés is fast-emerging, and we bring you the best examples of pricy pinks from this year’s Rosé Masters, comprising nine brilliant wines from France, Italy, Australia and California, ranging from a little over £20 to almost £100.

Over the following pages we have selected the top-scoring wines from our Global Rosé Masters 2018 – highlighting the quality available for those prepared to pay fine wine prices for pink products (and why not?).

Each of these wines has achieved a Gold 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 most 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 or source.

The rosés were tasted over the course of one day at 11 Pimlico Road in London’s Pimlico on 19 April.

While this is just a selection of the top-performers, you can see all the medal-winners in The Drinks Business Rosé Masters 2018 by clicking here.

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

The judges: (L-R) Patrick Schmitt MW; Jonny Gibson; Andrea Briccarello; Patricia Stefanowicz MW; Tim Jackson MW; Lauren Eads; Alistair Cooper MW; Nicola Thomson; Roberto Della Pietra; Tobias Gorn

1.  Rock Angel Château d’Esclans 2017

The style: Dry part barrel-fermented rosé
The medal: Gold
The score: 93
The price: Approx £20-30
The sugar content: 0.8 g/l
The ABV: 14%
The closure: Cork
The producer: Château d’Esclans – Domaines Sacha Lichine
The source: Provence, France
The grape varieties: 47% Grenache, 23% Vermentino, 13% Syrah
The taste: Bedrock of the barrel-fermented rosés in the Château d’Esclans range, this is the cheapest of this Provençal producer’s more grown-up textural pinks. More soft-rock than punk, it is gently creamy in taste and texture with ripe peachy fruit flavours and a pure, crisp lemon-zest edge.

2. Rosa Mara 2017

The style: Dry rosé
The medal: Gold
The score: 93
The price: Approx £20-30
The sugar content: 2g/l
The ABV: 13%
The closure: Cork
The producer: Costaripa
The source: Lombardy, Italy
The grape varieties: 60% Groppello Gentile, 30% Marzemino, 10% Sangiovese & Barbera
The taste: This refreshing alternative to the raft of pale rosés from Provence uses a blend of native Italian grapes to create a delicate red berry and pomegranate-flavoured wine with a touch of grip and a persistent zesty finish. Unique, and delicious, it shows that the Italians can play the premium rosé game with style and substance.

3. Scalunera Etna Rosato 2017

The style: Dry rosé
The medal: Gold
The score: 93
The price: Approx £20-30
The sugar content: 2.1 g/l
The ABV: 13.5%
The closure: Cork
The producer: Tenute Piccini
The source: Sicily, Italy
The grape varieties: 90% Nerello Mascalese, 10% Nerello Cappuccio
The taste: For those not yet convinced by the successful combination of volcanic soils and Vitis vinifera, try this rosato from the slopes of Sicily’s Mount Etna, which is as pale as anything from Provence, but has its own distinctive personality. Expect raspberry and peaches, along with a touch of tangy pink grapefruit, as well as a mouthwatering salty edge, bringing an extra layer of character, while drawing out the flavours so the taste lingers long after the wine has been swallowed. A delicious find in the expanding world of upmarket rosés.

4. César à Sumeire l’Afrique 2017

The style: Dry rosé
The medal: Gold
The score: 93
The price: Approx £20-30
The sugar content: 0.2 g/l
The ABV: 13.5%
The closure: Cork
The producer: Famille Sumeire
The source: Provence, France
The grape varieties: 55% Syrah, 45% Grenache
The taste: An upmarket limited-edition expression from this respected Provençal producer, this pale rosé uses fruit from 35 year-old vines to craft a deliciously peachy pink wine with notes of pomegranite and citrus. A benchmark rosé in a ripe but delicate unoaked style.

5. La Boheme Act 2 Dry Pinot Rosé 2017

The style: Dry rosé
The medal: Gold
The score: 94
The price: Approx £20-30
The sugar content: 1.4 g/l
The ABV: 12.5%
The closure: Screwcap
The producer: De Bortoli Wine
The source: Victoria, Australia
The grape varieties: 88% Pinot Noir, 11% Sangiovese, 2% Pinot Meunier
The taste: Our first rosé from outside Europe comes courtesy of Australia’s De Bortoli, which puts in a stunning performance with this berry-scented pink, complete with notes of peaches and cream. If Puccini made rosé, then this Pinot-based pink would certainly be a composition to make him proud.

6. Rosé of Pinot Noir 2017

The style: Dry rosé
The medal: Gold
The score: 93
The price: Approx £20-30
The sugar content: 0 g/l
The ABV: 14%
The closure: Screwcap
The producer: Rodney Strong Vineyards
The source: California, USA
The grape varieties: 100% Pinot Noir
The taste: If you thought all Californian rosé was sweet and sourced from Zinfandel, then try this pretty, dry, pale pink Pinot Noir from Rodney Strong, which is a refreshing, gently peachy wine packed with juicy, ripe red-berry fruit.

7. Château la Sauvageonne La Villa 2017

The style: Dry, barrel-aged rosé
The medal: Master
The score: 97
The price: Approx £30-50
The sugar content: 1 g/l
The ABV: 14%
The closure: Cork
The producer: Gérard Bertrand
The source: Languedoc, France
The grape varieties: Grenache, Meurvedre, Viognier
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.

8. Les Clans Château d’Esclans 2016

The style: Dry, barrel-aged rosé
The medal: Gold
The score: 94
The price: Approx £30-50
The sugar content: 1.3 g/l
The ABV: 14%
The closure: Cork
The producer: Château d’Esclans – Domaines Sacha Lichine
The source: Côtes de Provence, France
The grape varieties: 54% Grenache, 33% 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.

9. Garrus Château d’Esclans 2016

The style: Dry, barrel-aged rosé
The medal: Master
The score: 97
The price: Approx £50+
The sugar content: 1.1 g/l
The ABV: 14%
The closure: Cork
The producer: Château d’Esclans – Domaines Sacha Lichine
The source: Côtes de Provence, France
The grape varieties: 54% Grenache, 44% Vermentino, 2% Cinsault
The taste: As we’ve said before, it should be stated at the outset 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.