Wine of the Week – a fresh, lively and easy drinking rosé

I like rosé and never really understand why some people claim that they do not. Rosé can – and probably should – be easy to drink, bright and direct and deliver lots of pleasure to your senses.

Vines at the Errazuriz Estate in Chile – photo courtesy of the estate.

Although there are some more serious exceptions – for instance here and here, one of the good things about Rosé wines is that they go with almost any kind of food, or none, and any occasion, so they are very user friendly and informal. The other day I tasted such a lovely rosé that I made it my Wine of the Week.

2014 Errazuriz Estate Series Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé
Viña Errazuriz
DO Valle Central
Chile

I have been involved with Errazuriz on and off for nearly 30 years now and they have never failed to make wines that I could enjoy and many that are very impressive indeed. Errazuriz was founded by Don Maximiano Errazuriz in 1870 is still family owned and run.  Their range is very large with several quality levels from the more everyday Estate Series to their finer Max Reservas, Single Vineyard, Wild Ferment Range and their Founder’s Reserve red, which must be one of the very best wines of Chile.

Most rosés nowadays fall into one of two styles. Firstly big, bold, darkly coloured, very fruity and a little sweet – a lot of new world rosés are like this. The other main style is paler, lighter, fresher and drier and historically French rosés, most famously those from Provence, are made in this style. Once upon a time the Errazuriz Rosé was quite richly fruity and a little sweet, but in recent vintages the colour has become lighter and the wines fresher and more lively to drink, like the classic rosés of France.

The Errazuriz Estate in Chile – photo courtesy of the estate.

The colour is pale and attractive with a touch of coral and strawberry. The nose is light, fresh and floral with some redcurrant, raspberry and strawberry notes. The palate is lively and fresh again with some lovely, appetising, cleansing acidity and there is a core of lovely ripe, bright red fruit that gives an attractive weight in the mouth, but it is also nicely balanced by that freshness and acidity.

This is a lovely wine, happy and easy to drink. It is perfect on its own – perhaps with a picnic as the weather improves – or with salads, light meat dishes, poultry, fish and is also very good with spicy Asian food too – 87/100 points.

Available in the UK for around £9 per bottle from The Pip Stop – more stockist information is available from Hatch Mansfield Agencies who import Errazuriz wines into the country.

In the interests of full exposure, I must mention that I do some presenting and teaching work for Hatch Mansfield and Errazuriz, but this is my honest unsolicited opinion.

Chile – experimenting and perfecting

As readers of these pages will know, I have long been a fan of Chilean wine and although it has been too long since I visited Chile I love the country too. It is a very beautiful place with wonderful sights to see and the people are a delight.

At Luis Felipe Edwards in the Colchagua Valley 2003

If I have had any problems at all with Chilean wine it was that they have for too long relied upon a narrow a range of grape varieties. I am sure that is not a commercial problem for them as consumers usually drink from a very, very narrow range of grape varieties. However for someone like me it can get dull if everyone only makes their own versions of the same old thing. There is only so much Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay I want to drink – however good they are.

Which is why I am really delighted to find that of late Chile seems to be pushing the boundaries further than ever before, finding new grapes, new styles, new blends and new grape growing areas. As a consequence I have recently been able to taste some wonderful new wine styles from Chile, so if you are getting bored with the same old, same old and want to drink something exciting you should give Chile a go.