Chateau Miraval, Rose, AC Coteaux d’Aix En Provence 2014, €29.99
Available from Terroirs in Donnybrook and online at terroirs.ie and Jus de Vine, Portmarnock, Thomas’s of Foxrock, Miller & Cook, Mullingar, Mitchell and Son, Dublin, James Redmond and Sons Ranelagh, Green Man Wines, Terenure and The Corkscrew and selected independents nationwide.
Yes, this is Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s rosé wine. Naturally its from one of the most gorgeous spots on earth, Provence’s capital Aix-en-Provence, drenched in sun and perfumed with lavender, and that just the general countryside.
Right now, on many wine shelves you will start to see 2014 wines and ones from the Southern Hemisphere nations. It's also the time when 2015 rosé wines appear. This is how they like them in Provence, Australia, Italy and Spain, but for me those are the exact wines that cause rosé a problem in cooler climates like our own.
Piercing acidity, a prominent floral bouquet and a short, clean finish works well in those contexts, and can be fine here. The way to deal with this is move back a couple of vintages, or go for the fine wine rosé market as here.
It's fabulous, all light toasty elements, a hint of poached apricot amongst the strawberry. Not cheap, it is an ambitious wine that is actually a fine wine, not merely a good rosé.
Chateau La Coste Bellugue Rose, Aix-en-Provence 2014
Now at €15.95 down from €18.95 from Terroirs in Donnybrook and online at terroirs.ie
A more modern part of the Irish Wine story is this simply stunning winery. The estate is one of the most beautiful in France, not in the architecture of the chateau itself, which is a fine Provençal country estate, exuding the glamour of well-settled estate in the hinterland of Aix-en-Provence, but rather in the physical estate grounds. The warm, sun baked soils, the lavender fields, the vistas over biodynamic vineyards, stretching off in every direction like a living Cezanne.
It is owned by the Irish financier, hotel owner and art lover Paddy McKillen. No expense has been spared in the estate and its art park, nor in the wines.
The vines are biodynamic, hand picked, organically certified. The estate makes five rosé wines, this is the second from top. A luscious, muscular rosé assembled from 80 percent Grenache, 10 percent Syrah and 10 percent Cinsault, producing a spicy, white pepper-like note, fine tannic structure and a crisp complex finish. A complex delight and a very fair price.
Domaine Bouvet, Cremant de Loire Rose NV, €23.95
Available from: Whelehans Wines, Silver Tassie, Loughlinstown, Co. Dublin 01 901 1144
This is a leftfield delight, a sparkling rosé made in the traditional champagne method but in the Loire. In this case in a Maison that was owned for years and lavished upon by Champagne Taittinger, and it still shows through.
Made from 100 percent Cabernet Franc, this is a warm, fully complex sparkling wine that begs for salmon, for sushi, for salads with balsamic cores and for a warm sunny afternoon in the back garden.
