Rosé New Releases: All
Over the Map

BY VINOUS |&nbsp;MAY 21, 2024As
the popularity of Rosé continues its meteoric rise on the world stage, consumers
have a seemingly endless array of choices at their disposal. It’s no secret
that wine lovers purchase and drink Rosé at a faster-than-ever clip. While Rosé
remains an accessible entry point to the world of wine for newer, younger wine
drinkers, it also encompasses serious offerings that will delight even the most
discerning connoisseurs.

That
said, these widely loved pink wines are not immune to the whims of Mother
Nature. The vast majority of the wines tasted for this report are from the 2023
vintage, a year marked, unsurprisingly, by record-setting heat spanning Europe,
persistent drought conditions across many wine-growing regions and torrential
rains in others that created significant disease pressure. The 2023 Rosés are
all over the map, literally and figuratively. These are a few takeaways:

Provence
is still the place.
Classically styled Provençal Rosés—for many, the benchmark for the entire category—fared
well in 2023 despite some truly wild weather. There was a bit of everything:
extreme drought, hail, flooding rains and thunderstorms during harvest that threatened
the entire crop. But fear not. For the most part, these wines are their typical
fresh, round and sea-breeze-salty selves in 2023. Seek out the Château
La Mascaronne Rosé, Château Gassier’s 946 and the Bandol Rosé from La Bastide
Blanche, all three deeply refined, mineral-driven and finessed.

More Nebbiolo Rosatos, per favore. Nebbiolo-based
Rosatos from Piedmont remain some of the most distinctive and expressive
offerings available in the Rosé realm. They clearly reflect their varietal
characteristics and possess considerably more structure and phenolic texture
than other varieties typically provide in this context. These wines are floral,
brightly red-fruited and elegant, much like their red counterparts. G.D. Vajra’s Rosato Rosabella and Ioppa’s Rosato Nebbiolo Rusin are compelling, not to mention the charming Rosato Al Posto dei Fiori from
Le Pianelle.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1716305518311-Rose+May2024.jpg">Oak
is a tricky business.
Aging in oak across the Rosé spectrum is a tightrope walk—some producers handle
it with the deftest hand, while some miss the mark completely. Of the 2023s
tasted for this report that spent time in some form of wood, most are notably
imbalanced. With the occasional exception. Barrel-inflected notes dull and
drown out the bright, lively, juicy characteristics many consumers seek, while
precarious growing conditions in many regions left these wines with less
concentration and substance to be able to stand up to aging in barrel. 

Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo is a mixed bag.
This category, much heralded for how it straddles the line between red wine and
Rosé to seriously complex ends, is a proper hodgepodge in the 2023 vintage.
Maybe that can be attributed to the variable success of continued
experimentation and exploration in the winery (aging in various vessels, whole-cluster
fermentation, etc.), and to Mother Nature. In Abruzzo, an onslaught of rain in
the summer led to an absolutely catastrophic outbreak of downy mildew, with
corresponding yields down by anywhere from 70-90%. There is a fair number
compromised wines, but also a few overachievers, namely Masciarelli’s Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo Superiore Villa Gemma, La Valentina’s
Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo Spelt and Francesco Cirelli’s amphora-fermented-and-aged
Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo.

Rosé-all-day still won’t
break the bank. Although there are some exceptions (at times egregious),
the lion’s share of these wines, irrespective of quality, retail at under $30. Quite
simply, readers will find any number of values across countries and styles. Released
at $19, the bright, cherry-red Truentum Rosato Milare is an absolute barnburner
that punches far above its weight.

In short, careful selection is required in 2023. This
report will hopefully steer readers toward some of the more engaging,
successful offerings in the market. We believe the movement toward
lighter-bodied, higher-acid Rosés that Josh Raynolds noted years ago is still
intact. As usual, we wish you a happy summer and happy hunting!

Readers should note that many of the top Rosés are not
released until later in the year, and some were simply delayed in shipping. We
will update this report as important releases are received and tasted. We
tasted the wines for this report in our New York City offices in May 2024. © 2024, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or re-distributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright, but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.<hr> You Might Also Enjoy<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/a-kaleidoscope-of-colors-new-rose-releases-may-2023">A Kaleidoscope of Colors: New Rosé Releases</a>, Vinous, May 2023 <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/2022-rose-new-releases-may-2022">2022 Rosé – New Releases</a>, Vinous, May 2022 <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/2021-rose-new-releases-jun-2021">2021 Rosé – New Releases</a>, Vinous, June 2021

Content

Engage

Vinous

Social