Drink Pink!
26 June 2019

Montrose Rosé has been a stalwart of the J&B list for years. No frills, easy drinking Rosé at a great price, from a family whose roots in Pezenas stretch back to 1701. Their wines have an honest quality to them that is mirrored in their recent commitment to carbon neutrality and the careful tending of their excellent vineyards. Tamlyn Currin, writing on jancisrobinson.com described the 2017 as “Perfectly lovely rosé with trim acidity, pretty strawberry fruit and a hint of meringue and a drizzle of lemon” and the 2018 is if anything even better. If you’re having a big gathering and need rosé on tap, look no further than the this exceptionally drinkable blend of Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah that comes in at just £7.68 inc vat.

And with that, we thought our Rosé needs were met. But a couple of years ago the team at Montrose decided to introduce a slightly more refined bottling, this time a saignée blend of 70% Grenache, 25% Rolle and Syrah. Sceptical as we were it turned out to be a bona fide betterment; paler in colour, a true Provençale lookalike but with better fruit and delicacy than so many of the mass market Provençale offerings out there today. It’s truly delicious and just the thing for drinking alfresco during the upcoming warm spell – a snip at £10.12 a bottle.

Finally, and with an eye clearly on the runaway success of wines like Whispering Angel, Olivier Coste and his team then released a high-end line called 1701. Produced from an old vine parcel called La Croix, composed of dark volcanic soils, this not only comes in a beautiful bottle, but drinks like a Grand Cru rose. Silky elegance and delicate minerality provide a very moreish combination. It is so good that the 2017 was rated 1st out of 400+ rosés tasted blind for Jancisrobinson.com, not bad given the price point of £17.69 all in. Tamlyn Currin, who carried out the tasting, went on to say “At the top end there was a good clutch of outstanding wines, but the real aristocrats of Languedoc rosé emerged as Château Puech-Haut and Domaine Montrose.” We’re not sure the 2018 isn’t even better…