£9.95, The Wine Society
In the second of my two summer rosé roundups, I applauded the more interesting textures making rosés ever more versatile wines at the table. This Portuguese star is exactly the kind of wine I was talking about.
It draws you in with lightly floral cherry and raspberry aromas, then delivers the same breezy fruit on the palate with almost chewable, textured roundness and dry, salty, mineral length. Really delicious.
It's made from Tinta Roriz (aka Tempranillo) growing in granite and schist soils veined with quartz at a soaring 700m asl in Beira Alta in north-east Portugal, south of the Douro. The vines get plenty of sunshine, but temperatures are cooler than in much of Portugal, especially at night, which slows the ripening and keeps the flavours fresh.
Enjoy it as an aperitif and then continue with anything from a salade niçoise to barbecued lamb cutlets, vegetable kebabs, prawns, blackened salmon or seared tuna steak. 13%
Rui Madeira Beyra Rosé 2020, Beira Interior, Portugal
£9.95, The Wine Society