Rescued by Rosé. By Stuart Lancaster, July 2015
From Sunderland to Côte d’Azur. Our Stu’s charm has no geographical boundaries.
Growing up in the mean streets of Sunderland, I was always taught that rosé is not a drink for the male of our species. I now find myself in the uncomfortable position of being peer-pressured into ordering the stuff by the carafe. How on earth did I get to this point?
Back in 2014, I re-located to unfamiliar surroundings in the heart of France’s Côte d’Azur. During my time here I have had my vinous world turned upside down and it began, like all things French, with a game of pétanque. The sight of me attempting this most français of past-times in the local square, pint of lager in hand and hurling my boules with startling inaccuracy, caused quite the stir in my little village… “Who was this small, porcelain skinned, flame haired boy with such flagrant disregard for the etiquette of boules??”
On the verge of becoming a social pariah, I was saved by the most unlikely of heroes… rosé! Re-entering the sandy arena, this time accompanied by a fresh carafe of super-chilled rosé, my errant boules became a charming quirk rather than a source of ire. With a simple switch of beverage, I had become a local!
Brangelina have done much to support the recent boom in rosé with their acquisition of the Miraval Estate in Provence, but its popularity is down to much more than just Celebrity endorsement. There is a delightful simplicity to rosé; you needn’t worry so much about good years and whether or not your bottle comes from a certain cru, i.e. there is no snob factor here. This is an approachable wine style designed for everyone, and for pure pleasure!
The local speciality on the South Coast is a very delicate, salmon-pink style of rosé. Here rosé is subtle, it is delicately fragranced, refreshing and perhaps most importantly, bone dry.
Without going into too much detail, these rosé wines are pale in colour, sometimes incredibly so. They have a delicate nose (smell) typically of fresh and tart summer berries (redcurrant, raspberries, strawberries). They also have wonderfully refreshing acidity (that’s what literally makes your mouth water!) with a short finish ensuring that you always come back for a second glass – and when you live in a place where the rosé is quite often cheaper than water, it would be rude of me not to take full advantage!
