Pinot Noir Rosé

Tasting notes

Bright aromatics of ripe strawberry and red cherry, with hints of redcurrant and blossom. Refreshing and crunchy on the palate, with the pale salmon colour that comes from a few hours on the skins before pressing.

Food pairing

Charcuterie and soft goat's cheese, grilled sea bass or salmon, or a summer salad with strawberries and feta. Chill it well and it also handles lightly spiced food.

The story

West Ilsley sits high on the Berkshire Downs, on chalk that runs in the same seam as Champagne’s. It is not an obvious place to grow red grapes. Rowles plants German clones of Pinot Noir for exactly that reason: they are loose-bunched and thick-skinned, which makes them more resistant to disease pressure in a damp English autumn, and lets the fruit hang later into the season without rotting.

That extra hang time is the whole argument for this wine. Rosé made from underripe fruit tastes thin and green; rosé made from fruit picked at the right moment tastes like this one — strawberry and red cherry with a savoury edge underneath.

How it is made

The fruit is hand-harvested and left on its skins for several hours before a gentle pressing. That short contact is what gives the wine its pale salmon colour — long enough to draw out a little pigment and aroma, not so long that it turns into a light red. Fermentation happens in stainless steel, which keeps the fruit clean and primary, with occasional lees stirring to build a bit of weight and texture so the wine is not simply sharp.

The result is dry, low in alcohol at 11.5%, and built for drinking rather than keeping. It is vegan, and carries the Wine of England designation.

Why we picked it

English rosé is often an afterthought — a way to use fruit that did not make the sparkling cut. This is not that. It is a deliberate wine from a vineyard that chose its clones with the English climate in mind, and at £19 it is priced like something you would actually open on a Tuesday.

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