Wine with Leslie: Debunking three rosé myths ahead of summer's arrival
Summer time and Rosé wine!
The sun is shining so it must be time for a rosé column, and a chance to bust some rosé myths.
The first myth is colour. A dark coloured rosé is no more likely to be sweet than a pale one and vice versa. The colour of a rosé is purely determined by skin contact, it is the winemaker who decides how much residual sugar to leave in the bottle. Skin contact provides flavour and texture, not sweetness.
The second myth is that pale is always better, it isn’t. In fact, the trend towards paler and paler rosé has been bad for flavour; wine makers feel pressured to strip out colour and remove fruit flavours as a consequence. In addition, winemakers are picking earlier to ensure higher acidity and the combination of underripe grapes and low skin contact has led to “wines that are pale, acidic and not much else!” to quote Elizabeth Gabay MW Gabay has spent decades studying rosé and her excellent book on French Rosé can be found on Amazon.
I would go further than Gabay; some pale rosés are so thin they make Budweiser seem flavourful. One rosé that is not thin is the best-selling one, Whispering Angel, which is 20 years old this year. It’s not my favourite rosé; it is well crafted and made from riper grapes than is the norm, expect special editions to appear over the summer.
Another myth is that Provence is best, in fact great rosé is found everywhere, from the Rhône to Spain to Greece to Georgia. Provence perfected the pale crisp style we have come to love and is often delicious, but expect to pay extra for that curvy bottle and some producers at the lower end are chasing paleness over flavour. Finally, don’t forget rosé goes great with food, from garlicky sauces and strong fish flavours to spicy food.
I’ve mentioned Gaia before, one of Greece’s most reliable producers making fragrant dark reds, and crisp ageworthy whites. Made from 100% agiorgitiko (roughly pronounced ay-khior-itiko) with 4-6 hours skin contact.
A pretty pale pink but with ripe strawberry and pomegranate aromas, lively acidity, and a touch of texture and complexity. Part of O’Brien’s summer rosé promotion and proof that Provence is not always best.
- O’Briens
Château Minuty is in the Farnet family since 1936 and was one of the 23 original cru classé estates in the 1955 classification. LVMH took a majority stake in 2023 but it is still family-run.
The 2025 vintage has a glamourous design by illustrator Lucia Vinti and has citrus and raspberry sherbet aromas, a crisp flavour with a tangy saline kick on the finish.
- World Wide Wines; Bubble Bros; O’Briens; Avoca; Corkscrew; Jus de Vine; wineonline.ie
My favourite rosé and one of my favourite wines of any hue. Dom. Tempier’s legendary rosé drinks well young but will age gracefully for a decade, this is serious wine.
Onion skin pink, red fruits and garrigue herb aromas, focused and complex with taut red fruits, rose petals and structure (but low tannins).
Searingly dry with lingering dried berries and a touch of spice. Treat yourself.
- MacCurtain Wine Cellar; Sweeneys; Green Man; Independents
A complex and quite fascinating co-fermentation of Guinness Extra Stout (also called Antwerp Stout) and Timmermans Oude Kriek Lambic beer.
Pouring a dark purple-black with a fluffy head and aromas of roasted malt, mocha and sour cherry.
The palate is rounded and malty, but also crisp, bright and pleasingly sweet-sour with a distinct sour cherry note and wood influence on the finish.
- O’Briens; Bradleys; Martins; Independents
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