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Showing posts with label rosé. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rosé. Show all posts

13 December 2023

Languedoc: Limoux.

Château de Flandry, Limoux.

Perhaps not that famous outside of France (although many of the wines recommended here are well distributed in Europe and North America), the Limoux region stretches mostly to the south, west and north of the visit-worthy town of Limoux in southwestern Languedoc, about half an hour south of Carcassonne. The vineyards are often planted on hillsides enhancing the slightly cooler climate this area enjoys, which is home to some classy sparkling wines, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Pinot Noir among others.

31 August 2023

Rosé: Languedoc vs Roussillon.


Is there a big difference in rosé from the Languedoc and Roussillon? Winemakers in both regions tend to have the same red grape varieties - mainly Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Cinsault (less so in the Roussillon) and Mourvèdre - and production techniques don't vary much from one place to another. Except for the particular style of rosé intended in terms of colour (deeper redder or paler pink), flavour and 'seriousness' (richer fruitier fuller or more aromatic zestier lighter).

19 January 2022

A dozen more winter wines of the mo

Muga Reserva Rioja 2016 (14% abv) is a splendid oak-aged blend of 75% Tempranillo with Garnacha, Mazuelo (= Carignan) and Graciano. Smoky spicy oak aromas in that traditional Rioja fashion but with lots of rich dark berry fruit and beginning to show enticing balsamic maturing notes, quite dense powerful and structured with concentrated savoury fruit, a little firmness still on the finish but with lovely silky tannins too. Good with lamb shank; should benefit from another few years' bottle age. Half-bottle £9.25 (image = the Wine Society).

09 July 2021

South of France, Pays d'Oc part three: Rosé.

These five rosés are all IGP Pays d'Oc from the Languedoc.
Marselan 2020 Les Caves Richemer (13.5% abv) - As I said in two previous posts about IGP Pays d'Oc (part 1 and part 2), Marselan is a crossing of Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache that's been around for a few decades and has adapted well to the Languedoc. Well-made easy-going tasty rosé combining juicy red fruits and white peach with creamier food-leaning mouth-weight and fresh zingy finish. Not bad match with a kinda 'surf & turf' pasta dish: spicy sausage tortelloni topped with bolognese and sardine sauce with courgettes, garlic, ginger and smoked paprika! France cellar door €4.30, Netherlands €8.95, US €9.99.

20 May 2021

Miscellaneous wines of the moment

An enticing half-a-dozen of whites, red and rosés sourced from big supermarkets and one-store independents priced £7 to £10 in the UK.

Vara Rosé 2020 Cramele Recas Estate, Romania (12% abv) - Good-value dry and zingy rosé made from 65% Merlot and 35% Feteasca Neagra, which develops creamy straw-raspberry flavours followed by crisper cranberry type crunchiness. £7 Marks & Spencer (image from their site). Versatile with food.

13 August 2013

Pink Port and Amarone: a couple of "headbangers of the moment"

I don't usually recommend wines based purely on alcohol content - and I'm not really going to this time either - yet the alcohol is an intrinsic part of these two totally different wines (but 'still only' 19.5% and 16% abv respectively, so we're not talking schnapps/eau de vie here). Besides, a Sun-style headline doesn't do any harm every now and then, and helps bring a 'little theme' nicely together...
So, over to Croft Pink Port then: I first tried it over five years ago when just launched, in Barcelona of all places (links to feature on the 2008 Wine & Climate Change conference; not sure what this wine has to do with that, but maybe Croft was a sponsor...); and again in 2010 in the line-up of a special Douro Valley 'masterclass' tasting (links to post about this). If you can be bothered clicking on that, you'll see that I was trying to like it but was "... struggling... too techno... boiled sweets and bubble gum in that ester-y chemistry lab kinda way..." Well, I've sampled it again a few times recently, on its own and with different things; and I think I was being a bit mean before. I doubt the wine's changed much, if at all, winemaking or style-wise, so I must have. It was still a touch ester-y and 'nouveau' at first, but got more interesting in an ultra-fruity sweet rosé way with intriguing earthy kirsch aromas/flavours, nice zing and kick too (without being overpowering) to counteract the quite high residual sugar. Serve well chilled as a summer dessert or milk chocolate wine, or with/on fresh red berry fruits. Or a few sips with salty crisps or peanuts is also strangely quite nice... And Croft is keen on promoting it in trendy bars as a cocktail base: check out croftpink.com for some ideas, there are quite a few. I like the look of simply mixing it with Champagne, especially their 'Decadent' recipe including Pink Port, Champers, tea, lemon juice and "Absinthe soaked sugar lump." Mind you, I'd dispense with the sugar though! Anyway, in the UK, it's £11.99 for 75cl at the Co-Op, selected branches of Majestic and Selfridges, which might sound a tad dear, but this would do you for a week or so kept in the fridge and poured half a glass a go.
Back to the Amarone red finally, obviously no similarity whatsoever as a wine; though, as I said, with 16% (natural rather than added like Port) abv, it certainly 'packs a punch'. This one's full title is Tenuta Pule 2008 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico and is new to Lidl's 'wine cellar' range (£19.99 UK). The raised alcohol content comes from the grapes being dried out before fermentation, which concentrates the sugar in them while water evaporates; then they make it like a regular dry red wine (with cask ageing in this case). So, you get plenty of rich earthy cherry and damson flavours with balsamic and toasted almond (!) touches, big powerful and rounded mouth-feel with lush dark berry and spice fruit vs attractive meaty leather edges; turns gamier and more savoury after opening for a day or two, yet still retains that nice wild kirsch fruit. Went well with South African style chunky sausage (a version of Boerewors made by my local butcher with beef pork and coriander) and a slightly wacky spiced red cabbage risotto I made up as I went along!

18 January 2013

Chile: no way rosé, part 4!

This latest post carries on the spirit of my slightly obsessive rosé-tinted-spectacles theme started in back 2011 (click there), exploring the perhaps contentious argument that Chile is making some of the best rosés coming out of the 'New World' or South and North America even. These two 'serious' food-demanding rosados tasting-noted below came my way recently, one bought from Marks & Spencer and the other a probably widely distributed brand from Torres.

07 June 2012

France: Centre-Loire, Pinot rosé and red

sancerre-roblin.com 
The next in this nail-biting mini-series - see my Centre-Loire "silex" tasting - brings about a seasonal change of colour and grape variety, and highlights a handful of lesser-known wines from this part of central-northern France. Rosés from Sancerre, Menetou-Salon et al seem to have made headway in recent years gaining listings in some supermarkets even; but the reds are still fairly rare outside of France or specialist independent wine shops. The main variety behind these wines, that dear old friend Pinot Noir, only comes to about 20% of what's planted in the region; plus there's a tiny bit of Pinot Gris too in Reuilly used for rosé (thanks to the pinkish hue on its skin). I've included a lot less of the reds than I actually tasted (in London a few weeks ago), as disappointingly too many of them were a little lean on flavour and lacked charm or excitement. Which does make you question whether Pinot Noir for reds has a great future here, if it only really produces high-standard wines in particular vintages or sites? Then again, I guess they can always make nice rosé out of it every year! I've added names of UK importers or ex-cellar prices where available.

Rosé

Domaine Claude Lafond 2011 Reuilly - juicy and zesty with light yeast-lees undertones, hints of rose petal aromas although this basically tastes like a good white wine. Charles Sydney.
Domaine Cordaillat 2011 Reuilly - similar pale style, perhaps more intense on the palate with attractive lively finish. Theatre of Wines.
Domaine Cirotte 2011 Sancerre - crisp juicy leesy mouth-feel layered with subtle red fruits, long and zingy with fair extract too. Quite classy rosé. €5.60
Domaine Bernard Reverdy et Fils 2011 Sancerre - a tad redder in colour vs green fruit edges, lively juicy finish. Nice style. Goedhuis & Co.

Red

Domaine de Chatenoy 2010 Menetou-Salon - shows attractive Pinot character, quite delicate and mouth-watering with light grip and freshness vs subtle underlying red fruit. Good. Enotria Cellars.
Domaine Pellé Morogues 2010, Menetou-Salon - a touch 'reduced' on the nose, moving on to a fairly concentrated palate with subtle savoury cherry fruit, refreshing bite on the finish; lacks a little charm maybe but nice enough.
Domaine Teiller 2010, Menetou-Salon - juicy delicate red with light 'sweet/savoury' profile, not bad Pinot style although perhaps too subtle for its own good!? Yapp Brothers.
Gérard Millet 2011, Sancerre - a bit fuller in the mouth vs tangy 'sweet/savoury' flavours, lively finish with elegant fruit too. Good.
Domaine Matthias et Emile Roblin 2010, Sancerre - aromatic floral cherry with truffle notes even, quite concentrated yet refreshing, juicy and elegant length. Easily my favourite in this line-up: very good. €6.70 ex-cellar.
Daniel Chotard 2010, Sancerre - hints of 'sweet/savoury' Pinot character, shows fair concentration vs tight and delicate; finishes a touch lean perhaps although still quite good. Richards Walford.
Domaine André Vatan 2010, Sancerre - understated 'sweet/savoury' vs violet notes, attractive dry texture vs ripe red fruits vs fresh bite too. Pretty good. Yapp Brothers.
Domaine Philippe Raimbault 2009, Sancerre - hints of maturing 'sweet/savoury' style, it's a little over-extracted but has enticing perfumed fruit finish too. MH Wines, Bijou Bottles, Griffinwell.


There's a Sancerre vertical tasting HERE (2005 to 1996)...

26 May 2011

Chile: rosé / rosado

Loica Pinot Noir Rosé
from leyda.cl
You’d be right in thinking the latter term should be the one on the bottle, coming from a Spanish speaking country, but virtually all of the 15 pink wines below are labelled as rosé. The message from Chilean winemakers, whose rosados I tried at the London International Wine Fair last week, was the same though. Outside of Chile, people don’t really get the Spanish word for rosé (until they see the wine’s colour, presumably!).

19 May 2011

Black cats and black grapes

Black grapes refers to a lively little Italian rosé - sorry, Sicilian (oops, there go the kneecaps...): 2010 Nero d'Avola made by Cantine Settesoli. Weighing in at 12.5% alc. and £4.99 a bottle at Tesco, this zingy vs creamy fruity rosé delivers plenty of redcurrant and raspberry with crisp finish; and is fairly versatile as a foodie wine (venison & red onion burgers from M&S, fish & chips, prawn Balti...).
From http://snickrt.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/gato-negro1.jpg
As for black cats, the Gato Negro range from Vina San Pedro in Chile's Central Valley is an all-round crowd-pleaser with attractive, well-made and easy-drinking wines; especially at  Wine Mark / Russell's Cellars in Belfast where you get a '2 for £9' deal. On the red front, try the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon (13.5%) or the quirkier purple-black 2010 Carmenere (13.5%); and for whites, there's a zesty dry grapefruity 2010 Sauvignon Blanc (12%) or peachy citrus-edged 2010 Chardy. And not forgetting their almost delicious creamy red fruity vs crisp 2010 Cab Sauv rosé. Mini-feature on Chilean rosés / rosados here.
More @ gatonegro.cl

23 March 2010

Madchester rosé

Nothing much to do with wine, apart from the corresponding rosé tip below (although they might occasionally indulge too), but I just had an old-fart nostalgic listen to "the best of" CD by this band, which re-confirmed there really only was one truly mad 80s/90s Manchester band: the Inspiral Carpets (their very name speaks volumes). Lots of great poppy / punky tunes and interestingly enigmatic lyrics, bordering on plain and wonderfully strange in certain songs (e.g. "...today I stole the sun from the sky... the food from the hand of a starving child..." or something like that, hmm). And who could forget that inspired idea to do a even livelier version of "Nobody said it was gonna be easy" featuring Manchester icon Mark E Smith (remember the Fall?) mumbling majestically across the song. All slightly enhanced by a refreshing glass of 2009 Les Hauts de Llaro, Cotes du Roussillon rosé: quite chunky style with crisp twist (€4).

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Header image: Château de Flandry, Limoux, Languedoc. Background: Vineyard near Terrats in Les Aspres, Roussillon.