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Rose Wine for Spring

BY Andrew Barrow

1st Jan 2015 Drinks

Rose Wine for Spring

It's spring, and that means it's time for rose!

Goes well with...

You know its spring when you can feel it in the air. There might be a bit of a chill, but damn-it, the suns out in full glory—so lets open the windows! It’s spring, so its time for rose.

Now don’t argue, marketing people try their hardest to get construction workers and dustmen to sip on a glass of rose in the middle of November but, bless them, they know it is spring when we reach for a bottle of pink. (Or salmon coloured, onion-skin, blush or any other similar hue you can think of.)

The lighter styled, and often lightly coloured rose goes so well with spring and summery foods—cold meats, salads, simple shell-fish dishes, picnics and so on and not the more fortifying, robust foods of November.

Lindauer Rose

Lindauer Rose

With the Lindauer Rose (widely available, including Co-Op £9.99)—a delicate but full rose—it is recommended to have with seafood, Asian dishes (well that’s narrowing it down) and game. Personally, I like it on its own. Those with a rougher workman-like edge might find the packaging a tad too feminine.

 

Marquesa de la Cruz 2013

Marquesa de la Cruz 2013

I am a fan of Spanish rose. Into your Ocado basket you could slip a bottle of the Marquesa de la Cruz 2013, Garnacha Rose (Ocado £7.99) This dry styled rose has plenty of raspberry and strawberry notes to get right into a spring-like mood. You can pretty much drink it with anything, but seafood packed paella would be my choice. Any sort of light tapas or chicken dish would also be great!

 

Torres Vina Sol Rose 2013

TORRES VINA SOL ROSÉ 2013

Also from Spain, from Ocado (£6.99), is equally as versatile. Again made from Garnacha (aka Grenache) with the addition of a little Carignan. It’s subtly different from the Marquesa de la Cruz but equally at home with fish/seafood tapas, charcuterie and so on. Both the Torres and the Marquesa come from Spain as a paella seems a natural bed-fellow.

 

Richard's Rose

Richard's Wine

Naked Wines list South Africa’s only winemaking Master of Wine to make Richard’s Rose. It comes in at £7.99 if you are a subscriber (£10.99 if not – and there is a 6000 plus waiting list to be one apparently). They describe this cheeky little number as “bursting with vibrant, fresh and juicy fruit, and a beautiful nose that'll cast your mind back to those much longed for lazy days of summer. It's a gentle giant that'll never hold back on flavour.” I’ll be attempting something exciting with squid tomorrow night to give this one a try.

 

Sainbury's Bordeaux Rose 2013

Sainsbury's Bordeaux Rosé, Taste the Difference

If you happen to be in Sainsbury’s, stocking up on your prawns and Bomba rice perhaps, then the Sainsbury’s own label rose – imaginatively labelled as Bordeaux Rose 2013 (Sainsbury’s £8) should also find a place in the basket. It’s dry, crisp, refreshing and made from Merlot, plus it has a lovely, delicate onion-skin colour. It comes with a recommendation to accompany grilled chicken. Time for those workman’s hands to get the barbeque fired up do you think? After all it is spring.

 

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