Wine in Focus: Pinot Rosé 2022

Wine In Focus: Pinot Rosé 2022

For our first vintage release of our 2022 harvest, we have chosen a rosé to complement England’s recent sunlit skies. This perfect warm weather rosé has an initial aroma of raspberries and fresh cut roses with a hint of lemon zest. Its pale salmon colour complements the subtle strawberry notes. While it is reminiscent of a Provence-style rosé on the nose; on the palate, there is so much more to offer. There are copious amounts of lush strawberries and fresh picked raspberries to accompany those beautiful floral aromas. This rosé also offers us a well-balanced and refreshing acidity, that leaves you wanting more. It is bone dry with less than 1g/L residual sugar on the palate, and the medium finish is the perfect length as the flavours linger longer than a typical light rosé. Overall, this is a very fresh and attractive rosé that is so easy drinking, you won’t notice when you’ve finished the bottle. It reminds me of an English cottage garden on a sunny day, and would pair well with lemon-herb olives or some thinly sliced Manchego cheese and jamon serrano. Add in a few cream crackers and you’ve got yourself the perfect afternoon tapas companion.

Our Pinot Rosé 2022 represents our first pick of the 2022 Harvest; and, while we refer to it as “pinot noir,” the grape is actually called “pinot précoce.” Pinot Précoce is a grape clone which naturally occurred in the wild in Germany. It represents a spontaneous mutation of Pinot Noir and happens to be early ripening as well. Known colloquially as “Pinot Noir Précoce,” it is well-suited to a cooler climate for wine production and has been known to be grown in as far north as Estonia. It is similar in style to a Burgundian Pinot Noir varietal and at times is indistinguishable from its parent clone.

Here at Woodchester Valley, our Pinot Rosé is sourced mainly from our Folly Field at our Stonehouse site. Stonehouse was referenced back in the Domesday book for producing wines on par with French wines at the time and Stonehouse represents some of the steepest slopes in England for producing wine. For 2022, these vines ripened particularly well and gave us an alcohol percentage of 12% this year, instead of our usual 11.5%. These vines in general give us small bunches and are low-yielding vines, both of which help to concentrate the flavours and aromas in our wines. When these delicious berries reach our winery, we make sure to do a very light and delicate pressing as we want just a hint of colour to complement its fresh and fragrant aromas. This English style rosé is one of our most popular wines year to year. We tend to run out of our supplies usually by summer’s end, so I recommend you stock up now. The weather this summer should be bright and warm; and our Pinot Rosé 2022 will call your name each brilliant afternoon.

Pinot Rosé