It seems that everyone is writing about rosé wine these days, which I suppose comes as no surprise considering how popular the style has become in such a short space of time. Quite how this came about isn’t entirely clear, but it seems to be mainly due to a younger audience wanting something sexy and fresh to drink, ideally something that looks good on an Instagram account. Rosé has certainly got them covered there, with various shades of pink ranging from barely-tinged all the way up to a deep, dark pink colour, with the former being the most replicated and fashionable. Not only that, but producers have been quick to catch on and have started marketing rosé as a lifestyle product as much as a wine, with eye-catching bottle shapes, flashy labels and promotional placements in nightclubs and festivals. I hear it’s even possible to have a custom-built wine rack installed in your super-yacht, specifically for magnums of Whispering Angel.
Needless to say, most of what I’ve described above isn’t really all that relevant to Spain, partly because we’re usually years behind the rest of the world in terms of consumer fashions and trends, and partly because we’re usually the ones exporting the rosé in the first place. Spain is the 2nd largest producer of rosé (rosado) wine in the world, just after France, and accounts for 1/5th of all rosé wine produced in the world. However, like a lot of our statistics, a closer look is needed. Over 50% of all that rosado wine goes straight to France, mostly to be blended, bottled and sold on for more profit by our business-savvy neighbours, and partly to be drank locally. As an aside, it’s worth mentioning France is remarkable in that it’s both the worlds largest producer, consumer and importer of rosé wine! Comparatively in Spain, our overall wine consumption continues to decrease, and rosado wine consumption has diminished almost by half in barely 12 years! Worrying times indeed.
Yet, despite this, there seems to be more quality rosado on the market than ever before. You often hear that the overall global trend over the past two decades is for people to drink less but better. It certainly seems to be that way in Spain, and I’ve enjoyed delicious rosado wine from almost every corner of the country. Probably the biggest, positive changes I’ve encountered have been locally, in the Catalan wine industry. At the most recent Fira del Vi event for producers from DO Montsant and DOQ Priorat, it seemed that every producer had a new rosado (Rosat in Catalan) bottling to show off, and I caught Catalan wine expert Miguel Figini attending purposefully just to taste these wines! Whilst the majority of rosado wine is exported from Spain, the growing trend in Catalunya is for people to become more engaged with local producers, and the often small productions make exporting unnecessary for the better wines. Add to that the potential quality of the Garnacha grown here, a grape that when phenolically ripe can make delicious, distinguished rosé wine, and you have the beginnings of a real quality boom for the category.
The danger of course is that this is a short term move to capitalise on a short-lived fashion, but judging from the encouraging average quality of these wines, that shouldn’t be an issue. Rosado currently accounts for 10% of all Spanish wine consumption, although I’d expect this to rise and hopefully, encourage more consumers to explore more of the countries quality red and white wines as well. God knows we need more people drinking wine locally! If you’re interested to dig deeper into rosé wine, Elizabeth Gabay MW has recently released the most comprehensive book on the subject to date. Mine is already ordered and I can’t wait to get my hands on it!
Scala Dei Pla des Angels Rosado 2016
100 % Garnacha from their own estate vineyards, at around 600m above sea level. A light crushing and separation of the pips from the pulp before fermentation in stainless steel, with only 3 hours of skin contact before saignee. Rested on its lee for 4 months before bottling. 14.5% ABV
A lovely vibrant pink colour in the glass; not as dark as some Spanish rosado, but not exactly the very popular salmon-pink of Provence either! Moderately aromatic but with real depth; ripe strawberries, raspberries, fennel, licorice and a hint of white pepper. It really opens up on the palate with powerful, peppery flavours and a mouthcoating texture; very much a full bodied rosado but light on its feet for such a big wine. This is full throttle stuff and remarkably Garnacha-like. Top quality rosado. 92Pts
Purchased from Bodega Maestrazgo for €21
Celler Alimara Llumi Rosat 2016
100% Garnacha from their estate vineyards 400m above sea level, from 20 year old bush vines. Fermented in stainless steel for 4 hours before saignee. 14.5% ABV
This looks more traditionally Spanish, with a deeper shade of pink in the glass. Again, moderately aromatic but there’s a lot going on at a low-hum; ripe strawberry and cherry fruit, blood orange, fennel and a touch of cream. Weighty and dense on the palate, with just a touch of heat on the finish but certainly no lack of balancing acidity. A well made, appealing Rosado that is very well priced indeed! 88Pts
Free sample (Typically retails at around €7) sent directly from Celler Alimara