£10.95, Great Western Wine
It hasn’t been feeling much like classic rosé-drinking weather where I’ve been recently (London and southwest France), but it’ll pass. And who said rosé was only a fair-weather wine anyway? This is, though, the kind of refreshing rosé that’s irresistible on a proper summer’s day: a Rioja-meets-Provence style rosado – pale, dry, elegant, medium-bodied and soft-textured but crisp, with redcurrant, orange zest, a touch of apricot and spice. It’s mainly Garnacha, aka Grenache – hence the pinch of spice – from vineyards 500–700 metres up in the Alta Najerilla, one of the coolest parts of Rioja, and it’s made by the saignée method.
A perfect aperitif for sure, but it also works with light food such as blinis with onuga (caviar if you have it to hand, but I had onuga), vegetable or seafood tempura, sashimi and delicate prosciutto such as Dan Daniele. If you feel like splashing out, Ramón Bilbao also makes a more complex, more textural rosado, a serious delight fermented in concrete eggs and called Lalomba (£23.50). Either way, believe me, the sunshine is on its way. 12.5%.
Ramón Bilbao Rosado 2018, Rioja, Spain
£10.95, Great Western Wine