Expert’s choice: Spanish rosé

The good news is that wherever you look in Spain you will find well-made, well-priced, drink-me-now rosados, perfect for a summer’s day. Consistent, clean and fruity.

Of the 110 wines I tasted, only one was corked and there were no other faults. Reliability isn’t in doubt here, which is why I found it extremely difficult to pick out my favourites from the cluster of wines scoring 90 points.

The sheer variety of origins was highly impressive. While almost half of the wines I tasted came from Rioja, in the end they made up only about a quarter of my choices.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for Sarah Jane Evans’ top Spanish rosé

Navarra, once the traditional home of rosado, provided 10 samples, but only one wine made it through. Instead, you will find Méntrida, Condado de Huelva and Priorat and its neighbour Montsant in my top 18, along with two wines whose origin is merely ‘Spain’, as they don’t conform with the rules in their local region.

You will see that I am a Garnacha lover. Its juicy strawberry fruits with notes of orange are a great basis for a rosado. But I’m open to persuasion.

Two of the most interesting entries in this selection are made with 70% white grapes: Viura and Palomino. There’s no single-variety Tempranillo here. But there is a 100% Monastrell, which is usually too bold, too red to make a good rosado.

A new entrant is XF, a Rioja with no less than 30% Sauvignon Blanc. It’s delicious, but may not be popular with those who think Rioja has enough traditional varieties not to need an intruder like Sauvignon Blanc. The Riojan winery Marqués de Riscal working in Castilla y León has introduced Sauvignon subtly by ageing its Garnacha-Tempranillo blend on Sauvignon Blanc lees. These are cleverly made and blended wines.

The variety that is missing from my top 18 is Mazuelo (Carignan) with its wonderful blue tinge and its crunchy blueberry fruit. Seek out the Marqués de Murrieta Rosado for a fine example (my review of the 2019 vintage is avaialble here).

Two others I did not taste but must mention in the line-up of Spain’s top rosados are R López de Heredia’s Viña Tondonia Rosado Rioja, with its lengthy oak ageing, and Antídoto’s Le Rosé de Antídoto, from Ribera del Duero, the ultimate in refinement. One that I would have included, but is sadly already sold out in the UK, comes from Alta Alella, next-door to Barcelona in Alella DO: Celler de Les Aus Rosé Pét-Nat.

Finally, a brief note on colour. Producers who want to export their rosados from Spain nowadays are making Provençal-pink wines with screwcaps. There are far fewer of the deep red rosados around now – once the signature of Navarra.

Will this pale pink fashion prevail? I pity the winemakers trying to predict the market.

Sarah Jane Evans MW’s top Spanish rosé

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