Rosé above £6.00
2019 GOLD: 9 SILVER: 7 BRONZE: 6 COMMENDED: 31
2018 GOLD: 6 SILVER: 11 BRONZE: 8 COMMENDED: 16
Wow. I mean, just… wow. We all know that rosé is a popular category with the punters, and that every venue in the country bar none now has at least one bottle of the pink stuff on its list. But that quality has rarely translated into hatfuls of Gold medals at the Sommelier Wine Awards.
Last year we thought we saw a suggestion of better things around the corner – and this year our tentative optimism was fully justified. It’s not long ago that we struggled to get more than a couple of Golds on to our list, and four was considered a result. So to have eight (plus one Spanish orange wine) was proof that, above House Rosé level, at least, winemakers are starting to really get the hang of the style.
We had wines here from all corners of the globe (India, Morocco, Australia, Provence, of course), in all styles and at all prices. It made for a super-strong section of our wine list, with wines laddered from £5 to £40 and from ‘light and quaffable’ to ‘serious and foodie’.
The wines at SWA are tasted blind, so our tasters wouldn’t have known what they were trying. But we reckon that our judges would be staggered to discover that some of them have tried (and given a Gold medal to) an Indian Sangiovese rosé…
FROM THE TASTING TEAMS
‘Rosé is something we take not so seriously, but once you find a good one for the right price it’s such an important staple of your list. It was nice to see a lot of screwcaps as well.’ Joshua Castle, Noble Rot
‘For me, there’s two types, the easy-drinking type and the more serious food-wine type of rosé.’ Guillaume Mahaut, ETM Group
‘There was some oak ageing on the more expensive Provence ones. It gives a nice creamy sensation to the wines and makes them more food friendly.’ Tanguy Martin, New Street Warehouse
‘The rest of the world needs to make rosé in its own style, within the parameters of sweetness and dryness that are acceptable. It’s perfectly OK to make a rosé without the same pantone colour as Provence.’ Martin Lam, team leader
‘You always want a bit of pepper spice on Provence rosé.’ Timothy Connor, Heddon Street Kitchen
‘There was a good range, and consistency here. Even for £6 or £7 you could find balance and good value, and there wasn’t a big difference between those and £15.’ Valentin Radosav, Gymkhana Restaurant
‘I would love to see a bit more variation, but rosés just get sent back if they’re not the “right” colour – pale.’ James Fryer, Woodhead 17