Home Winners > Winners 2017 > HOUSE WINES: Rosé

Winner Details

House Wines: Rosé

2017 Gold: 3 Silver: 2 Bronze: 3 Commended: 2
2016 Gold: 2 Silver: 2 Bronze: 4 Commended: 6

Quaffability… that’s the word; that delicate balance between softness on the palate and being refreshing. Too much sugar, and a wine was out. Too much leanness, ditto.

It’s a tricky line to walk – particularly once price limits are added into the mix – and the reason why medals here are so rare. This year’s three Golds was the most we’ve ever seen in this category. So, well done to Grands Chais de France for snaffling two of them.

FROM THE TASTING TEAMS

‘There were some really good value wines in this flight. A proper house rosé needs to be very versatile – so we can just neck it on its own – but also we shouldn’t be afraid to match it with food.’ Charlie Young, Vinoteca

‘It’s always a bit of a tough category, house rosé. They can easily go overboard, with overly sweet fruit and confected aromas. You look for freshness, crisp character and minerality. And we found a good amount of wines in this flight that had those characteristics.’ Andrea Bricarello, team leader

‘We saw a wide range of styles. Some were not necessarily faulty, just not right for this market.’ Jacopo Mazzeo, The Pig Hotel (Brockenhurst)

‘It’s a sad fact that sometimes we sell rosé on colour – people ask for “your palest rosé”.’ Annette Scarfe MW, team leader

‘A house rosé needs to be something that can work with food, but it can’t be too complex – it needs to be fresh, fruit forward. A lot of people just take it as an aperitif.’ Julien Sahut, Sexy Fish

 

FOOTNOTE: The price limit for House Wine is £6 ex-VAT.

Award winners

Found 10 wines

House Wine: Rosé - <£6 ex-VAT

GCF Exclusif, Les Vignerons, Grenache/Merlot Rosé 2015, Vin de France, France

Gold medal winner Pub & Bar

‘Light and fresh nose, perfect fruit intensity on the palate, and the acidity gives good drive for a long finish,’ began Marek Rakowski of Harbour Heights Hotel of this Gold-winning rosé, with Arnaud Fiol of The Don Restaurant finding the ‘nose full and discreet, rich in the mouth and good value’. Team leader Annette Scarfe MW was impressed by its ‘well-defined structure, with white flowers and redcurrants, leading to a crisp, clean finish’.

£5.15 Carlsberg UK

Cavit, Mastri Vernacoli, Pinot Grigio Rosato, Vigneti delle Dolomiti 2016, Trentino, Italy

Gold medal winner

Team leader Lionel Periner praised Cavit’s second House Wine Gold for its ‘pale colour, but with berries and nice tomato leaf character on the nose – a dry and well-balanced palate showing nice, elegant acidity and a good bunch of fresh red fruit salad flavours on the finish’. ‘Quite intense aromas of cherry and strawberry, with a good mineral core on the palate and fresh acidity. Lean and crisp,’ added team leader Andrea Briccarello. ‘Ideal either as an apéritif or with monkfish,’ concluded team leader Annette Scarfe MW.

£5.90 Boutinot

GCF Exclusif, Parlez-Vous La Loire, Cabernet Franc Rosé 2015, Vin de France, France

Gold medal winner

Taking a second Gold for GCF Exclusif in the category, this showed ‘nice cranberry and berry fruit on the nose’, according to Vinoteca’s Charlie Young, who found ‘plenty of punchy redcurrant and rhubarb character on the palate, all really well knitted together’, with team leader Jade Koch highlighting ‘warm ripe peach notes, tart acidity and an apple crunch on the finish, juicy with some elegance’. ‘Duck or rabbit stew would match well,’ concluded Buddha Bar’s Piotr Artur Tomaszewski.

£5.40 HT White & Co

Badet Clément, La Cour des Dames, Grenache Rosé 2016, Languedoc, France

Silver medal winner

‘Red fruit, plenty of strawberry on the nose with hints of floral aromatics, dry with nice acidity on the palate, well balanced and light on the alcohol,’ said team leader Lionel Periner, while Corin Ireland of Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms found ‘crunchy cranberries and raspberries with a dry, elegant finish’.

£4.66 Molson Coors

Félix Solís Avantis, Casa Albali, Garnacha Rosé 2016, Valdepeñas, Spain

Silver medal winner

Noting its dark pink colour, team leader Lionel Periner picked out its ‘red fruit, candied touches and floral aromas, dry, medium body with a nice balance, finishing fresh and spicy’, while Corin Ireland of Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms found it ‘much drier than expected, with good character of melon and strawberry fruit’.

£5.83 Matthew Clark

Pasquiers, Grenache/Cinsault Rosé, Pays d'Oc 2016, Languedoc, France

Bronze medal winner

A very pale salmon pink colour, with ‘an elegant and fresh nose offering floral notes, too, nice acidity on the palate and a refreshing dry finish’, said Jacopo Mazzeo of The Pig Hotel (Brockenhurst), with team leader Andrea Briccarello also finding ‘roses and lilies, followed by raspberry and cherry freshness, nicely balanced’.

£5.15 Boutinot

Boutinot, Cuvée Jean-Paul, Gascogne Rosé, Pays des Côtes de Gascogne 2015, South West France, France

Bronze medal winner

‘Attractive orange and nectarine character on nose and palate, mid-weight style with a clean, mineral and drying finish,’ said team leader Jade Koch, with Michael Moore of The London Cookhouse noting ‘nice nose that hints of spring, clean taste that will match well with green veg’.

£4.90 Boutinot

Boutinot-Adria Vini, Ancora Chiaretto, Monferrato 2015, Piedmont, Italy

Bronze medal winner

Vinoteca’s Charlie Young enjoyed its ‘melon fruit on a fresh nose, great balance and good fruit intensity on the palate and pleasant red berry fruit character’, while Arnaud Fiol of The Don Restaurant found ‘good minerality on the nose and balance in the mouth’.

£4.85 Boutinot

Boutinot, Winston Hill, Zinfandel Rosé 2015, California, USA

Commended medal winner

£5.48 Boutinot

Compass Point, White Zinfandel 2015, California, USA

Commended medal winner