Full-bodied rosés: proud to be pink

Roussillon négociant Jeff Carrel makes this wine at his own estate with a blend of local varieties – Carignan, Grenache, the white Macabeu, Syrah and the very local Pellut (Hairy Grenache). Presented in a dark bottle, the light red colour is hidden away. The wine is labelled ‘red’ although 80% is vinified as a rosé with 20% carbonic maceration. If you like Burgundy, this could be the rosé for you. Smooth, silky texture with intense wild red berry fruit, crunchy cranberries, blue flowers, a hint of tropical creamy peachiness and long, fresh almost saline acidity, the beautifully integrated weighty fruit slips down so beautifully. An absolute steal at the price. Stunning.

From old St Laurent vines planted in 1982, which produce good fruit even in poor vintages. Zillinger likes to stretch the potential of his rosé wines and this is no exception. Fermented in amphorae, this has a vibrancy and energy, showing sour cherry, rosehips, sage, thyme and floral notes. Crisp freshness on the palate, silky but slightly grainy texture. The wine exudes both ripeness and an angular, structured acidity and body which opens and develops in the glass. Biodynamic.

A combination of maceration and direct press are used to achieve a fresh wine with enough fruit to carry the oak, used for both fermentation and ageing, to create a serious wine. Old vines grown at altitude add in further intensity and freshness. Full-bodied wild cherry fruit (neighbouring Ventoux is famed for its cherry orchards), saline edge, long mouthwatering acidity, the whole is beautifully balanced. The toasty oak notes are evident, adding an umami twist to the saline finish. The intensity of weight and structure make this rosé a fitting companion to the red wines from this region.

From grapes grown on the hotter galet roulé soils, the use of Cinsault and white Grenache keeps this wine at the paler end of the Tavel spectrum, while fermentation and ageing in barrel gives added weight – Maby aims for flavour rather than colour. A deep golden amber colour with delicate smoky chestnut aromas, the wine opens up to rich white chocolate, bitter orange and honeyed red fruits. It is powerful, complex, atypical, and rather gorgeous. The tannins are delicately integrated and sweet.

I hate to say this, Port lovers, but the Douro makes some stunning rosé! Medium-dark copper-pink with buttery, leesy, slightly oxidative aromas, results in a delightful joyousness with opulent and intensely ripe juicy cherries with mouthwatering juicy freshness. But just as you think this is all, notes of sour cherries and salinity start to emerge with almost sharp pomelo freshness building up on the finish just when you least expect it. Intense structure and energy, this wine just continues to develop in the glass.

This Galician rosé from Spain’s northwest Atlantic coast is made with a blend of six local varieties Caiño Longo, Mencía, Carabuñeira, Merenzao, Brancellao and Treixadura. Initially restrained with cool-climate freshness and sour berries notes, the wine opens up to blackcurrants, rosehips and intense dark fruit. Long, fresh crunchy acidity with a saline bite, a chalky texture and a firm red fruit tannic grip give this wine structure but overall, it is charmingly delicate and supple rather than powerful and opulent, and very much a rosé for red wine drinkers

Guillaume Tari aims to give his two rosés maximum Mourvèdre expression, and while his estate wine has fresh youthful floral, fruity charm, L’Irréductible takes the complexity a notch higher. Both are among the darkest Bandol rosés. From aromas of red berries and forest floor, the wine opens out to an explosion of cherries, strawberries, tart cranberries and crunchy red apples. A slightly sour, pithy finish and crisp acidity give the wine a long, mouthwatering freshness with the power and structure one expects from a Bandol rosé, while hinting at its beautiful ageing potential. Organic.

Always a brave move to make a rosé with Alicante Bouschet: a defiant move against the sea of pale. The colour is a pale red, with aromas reminiscent of a red wine with red fruits, hints of coffee, cocoa and savoury notes. Lovely depth of structure with rich, almost jammy blackberry and mulberry fruit while still keeping all the instant freshness and gentle red fruit of a direct-press wine. Nine months in amphorae adds to the complexity with herbal notes and some evident structural tannins pointing this towards a light red wine style. Very much a gastronomic wine with freshness, fruit and body that will keep light red drinkers happy, rosé drinkers happy, and natural wine aficionados ecstatic.

This wine, normally known as By Any Other Name, was given the name Fingers Crossed due to the strangeness of the year and the extra-long barrel ageing due to Covid. The resulting wine is still a success and one of the few dark Mourvèdre rosés in southern France. Pale red pink. Abundant cherries, with intense cooked red fruit, black tea, a gentle yeastiness and a touch of oak – a perfect balance of crunchy berries, summer-ripe red fruit and the sweet vanilla spice of the oak. Vibrant fresh acidity, lively, moreish and with some saline minerality on the finish.

With a name like Cerasuolo, meaning cherry, it comes as no surprise that this wine is a bright cherry-pink colour and that cherries are a typical fruit profile of the wine. Aromas of fresh red cherries and the bittersweet notes of almond kernels lead onto rich, ripe sour cherry fruit, almost intense and jammy, with restrained fine mineral structure, a hint of chalky texture, delicate tannins on the finish and lifted by a vibrant, fresh leafy acidity. Beautiful and unapologetically intense ripe fruit with mouthwatering freshness.

This wine is distinctly non-Provençal with its wonderfully bold Roussillon character. Copper pink. Delicately peach floral notes on the nose, the palate continues with an amazing intensity of yellow stone fruits, bitter oranges, candied citrus peel. Concentrated and rich with a weighty, firm structure and lifted by youthful sherbet acidity. More in keeping with a skin-contact white wine with its sour phenolics than a traditional rosé. Big, bold, unapologetic, and delightfully gastronomic, this wine opens up even more if you allow it to breathe in the glass.

Proof, if needed, that colour does not always determine whether a rosé is fuller-bodied. This delicately pale Pinot Noir rosé has the fuller fruit you'd expect from an Australian wine. It has lovely, vibrant dark cherries and blackcurrants with pretty cherry blossom and summer garden freshness and crisp, cool-climate (Adelaide Hills) acidity. Such a pretty wine with the depth and weight of ripe black fruit, even a hint of wine gums, giving serious structure. Punches way above its price point.

A prime example of how some of these more full-bodied rosés shine if served at 12°C rather than straight from the fridge, and are even better if decanted. A pretty copper-pink colour, this Grenache rosé was initially very closed, but opened up on decanting to reveal intense ripe rosehips, pomegranates and sour cherry fruit balancing the acidity, saline minerality and hint of tannins. Grippy and structural, this is a distinctly gastronomic rosé with its intriguing blend of minerality and ripeness.

Harking back to the days when luncheon claret was the perfect wine for lunch, this clairet comes from deep-rooted traditional winemaking. A dark pink, it looks like a pale red. The Merlot-expressive nose of black cherries and violets leads into ripe cherry, raspberry and redcurrant fruit with a sour, wild berry saline finish and vibrant leafy acidity. A hint of tannin gives a firm, gravel-like grip; this wine knows where it is going and says it firmly, but without shouting and screaming. A style that needs love before it disappears. Organic.

Despite a rather eccentric blend of Romanian variety Feteasca Neagra with classic varieties Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir plus Alicante Bouschet, this wine works really well. A darker pink with blue tints, which leads to the typical Feteasca Neagra aromas of blue flowers and red fruits. On the palate, juicy, ripe red fruit with almost jammy richness stops short of overly ripe softness, with mouthwateringly crunchy red berry acidity, a fine powdery texture and well-integrated, delicate tannins on the finish. A lovely, joyous wine.

While most modern rosé producers chase the pale pink wines made by direct press, those of Navarra (like Tavel) rely on maceration to extract weighty and full-bodied wines. This old vine Garnacha is a pale cherry red and strikingly fruity and well-extracted. The trick with these wines is to balance the heftier fruit with freshness and acidity and this wine strikes the balance perfectly. Smooth, round, rich strawberries and raspberries, gentle pippy tannic structure and delicately leafy acidity with a touch of juicy, crunchy redcurrants and a hint of blood orange.

This could be a rosé that divides opinions, but love it or hate it, it has some intriguing character which I loved. Not as full-bodied as many others, it has a range of complex notes that make it different from so many other more neutral styles. Pale salmon pink, this classic-toned rosé surprises with notes of orange blossom and Lapsang Souchong tea on the nose. On the palate it has creamy weight with notes of jasmine, violets, lemongrass and lime acidity with some saline notes, dark fruit and firm minerality giving structure. Plus the added curiosity of using the red variety Montepulciano (with 'a splash' of Vermentino), which is also used in the very different Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo in Italy.

Copper red-pink. This rosé is all about juicy dark cherries and silky-smooth velvet acidity. Soft and supple with almost jammy weightiness, the acidity, while not as vibrant as some, has a mouthwatering minerality. An intensity of rich fruit with some weighty tannins and extraction, this rosé is grippy and structural in a traditional bold, tannic, somewhat old-fashioned style but it does exactly what I would ask from a dark rosé.

Made with the classic Bardolino grapes, this is one of the rare Chiarettos that has not followed the very pale pink path. A pure expression of Corvina’s fresh, juicy cherry fruit (often similar to Gamay) has extra depth with intense blackcurrant notes, crunchy cranberry acidity and a lean, saline minerality which gives a mouthwatering length and finish, ending with a slight natural apple and savoury twang. Delicate, fresh and youthful, this is a wine that’s showing elegant potential for further ageing. Biodynamic.

Made by Englishman Simon Coulshaw, this wine is either old fashioned or avant garde. Made using the thoroughly unfashionable saignée method, bleeding the juice off the red wine. Dark pink with intense cherry fruit and floral aromas, the wine has weighty strawberry jam and kirsch fruit with herbal notes on the finish. Elegant structure and ageing well, although like many rosés made using this method, the acidity lacks the vibrancy of more modern methods. One for those who reminisce about past summers and enjoy rosé with a charming touch of maturity. Organic.

Charles Melton is well known for his flamboyant wine styles, and this is no exception. Confidently dark pink, almost a red, this wine is opulently full of ripe cherry and raspberry jam, suggesting a touch of residual sugar with ripe redcurrant fruit leading to some vibrant and crunchy acidity (could do with a touch more) and finishing with a hint of salt and pepper on the finish. Very much in the league of the fuller-bodied rosés of Tavel and Navarra.

There are not many rosés made from Petit Verdot (85%, with Syrah), which unfashionably gives more colour than is fashionable, but it is a variety that gives attractive full-bodied fruity pinks in a style made popular a few years ago by fellow South African producer Rustenberg. Pale red in colour and shouting out varietal character with notes of strawberry sorbet and a hint of ripe raspberries. This version is quite delicate and charming with some crunchy acidity and a lovely note of pepper and herbs on the finish.

One of the joys of this style of wine is that it is exactly that – joyous. What it may lack in sophisticated elegance, this dark-ruby pink shouts out cherry fruit on the nose opening up to classic concentrated raspberry-Grenache fruit on the palate. Full-bodied dark fruit, easy-drinking, no-nonsense for a relaxed evening drinks with friends or around the barbecue.

It is easy to forget that many of the vin doux naturel wines of Rasteau are actually at their base made as a rosé wine before being fortified – so a good excuse here to include this amazing tawny Rasteau. Age in oak has turned it a tawny brown-orange. On the nose, notes of desiccated coconut and toasted nuts open up to the smooth, mellow fruit of bitter oranges, red cherries and raspberry jam before diving into complex notes of digestive biscuits and sun-kissed garrigue herbs. Stunning acidity, structure, perfect fruit with gentle tannins keeping things up. Beautifully balanced.