Spanish Rosado

Sales of rosé are up in UK shops by 27% against this time last year, and 71% against 2005. It’s no longer naff, or just for summer. 52% of rosé we drink is American and is known collectively as “blush”. It’s often labelled as a white version of the variety it’s made from, such as White Zinfandel or White Grenache. Also, it’s very, very sweet and is targeted at girls in their 20s, or people who have moved on from Alcopops. If you like something a little drier, with more backbone, and perhaps because you’re in a higher age bracket, France or Spain are your best bets, and I’ll be tasting French rosé in a couple of weeks.

With quite a few rosés, the colour makes me think of strawberries or cherries and I’m never quite sure if I can smell them, or just think I can. Spanish rosado is much more butch and would probably be embarrassed to be associated with such a girly fruit.

Our favourite wine was Vina Decana Rosado 2006, which is a very satisfying £2.79 from Aldi. It was redder in colour than some, and smelt of bubble gum. It tasted of dry cranberry juice, which we thought was perfect. In fact, rosé doesn’t fare well in concentrated tastings. It’s very much a location wine, rather than anything worth mulling over, but this one was very pleasant.

El Prado Tempranillo 2005 is £3.99 from Somerfield and Tesco. It smelt of redcurrant and cranberry and had more sweetness in the mouth, with a bitter cranberry finish, which was a positive addition, rather than being nastily bitter. El Quintanal is from Ribera del Duero via Oddbins, both of which make it more expensive. I’m not sure that many of us are prepared to pay £7.49 for rosé. It looks quite classy, with a smart black label. There was very little smell and a drier, more tannic taste, which we felt was a lot more grown up than the rest. I don’t think rosé is about being grown up, but if you do, this may be the wine for you.

Torres Decasta Rosado 2005 is £5.49 from Sainsbury’s and doesn’t have a great smell. It has a fruity, slightly bitter, taste and is absolutely fine. Pirineos Mesache 2005 is, for most of us, unpronounceable which is rather silly of someone selling to a market of people who are intimidated by foreign languages. It costs £5.99 at Oddbins and is strikingly pink with an interesting smell, rather like tropical fruit. It had a full, sweet taste, with some bitterness, and it lasted pretty well.

Co-op Organically Grown Tempranillo Rosé is £3.99 and is prettily perfumed but with an underlying smell of cement. Terramar 2005 is £4.49 from Morrisons and smelt of cranberry and tasted bitter and nasty. Gran Familia Rioja Rosado 2006 is £4.99 at Tesco. It smelt of sulphur and was slightly fizzy. Apart from that, it had some structure and was just one step lighter in flavour than Beaujolais. Torresoto from M&S smelt of cream soda and its 13.5% alcohol seemed warm. Cune Rioja Rosado from Majestic surprised us by being astringent and very acidic.

Spanish Rosado

© Copyright 2007 Mel Jones