Bourgogne Rosés for summer 2016 – Pinot vs Gamay

Update 28.7.2016(20.7.2016)billn

WP_20160608_15_33_39_Pro 1There were two tastings in 3 days – 06+08 June 2016 – the first in Beaune and the second in Villefranche (Beaujolais). Who would come out on top – northern Burgundy or southern Burgndy?

I looked at the current commercial vintage, which of-course largely means 2015 – though there are some 2014s included too – and I think I must be happy to have as many as 35 samples in Beaune – plus another 59 in Beaujolais – because with general low yields, focus has clearly not on this lower-priced label in the last few vintages…

These tastings brought up one interesting aspect for me – how to deal with wines made for the long-term? – ‘rosés-de-garde’ if you like. In the end, I tasted from the perspective that I was recommending wines for this summer, so my objective was simply to teaze-out delicious wines to drink in the next months. Those made for the long-haul were clearly at a disadvantage.

My methodology in this case was similar to other blind tastings – I have noted (highlighted) those wines that I found to be delicious – in the end there were 11 from 35 from the north and 19 from 59 in the south. In each case, I chose from each tasting a top 3. The top six were then compared in a ‘taste-off’ to bring the list that follows, only when all the tastings were complete were the identities of the wines revealed.

Summarising these two tastings:
My basic impression was that it seems a little easier to make a delicious rosé wine from pinot than from gamay. However, at least in the 2015 vintage, those pinots are largely fuller and almost clumsy in comparison to the gamays, sometimes tending towards stewed aromas – it was notable that a majority of the pinots that I chose blind, came from the far north; Chitry, Auxerre, Epineuil et-cetera.

It seemed to me that the gamays had a little harder time producing what I considered a delicious rosé; these gamays are certainly fresher, a little more saline and mineral than their pinot counterparts and more finely detailed too – but less floral – and the mineral/saline quite herby spine that the gamays show is very often too austere to be thought of as ‘delicious.’ But when a gamay has everything, it seems better than the pinot equivalent. At least this year – maybe the result will be different in a less ripe vintage than 2015(?)

The top 6 rosés for this summer:

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Left to right, positions 1 to 6 from 94 wines.

Rosé has not just the right, but I would say the obligation, to be delicious. If I’m going to drink rosé I’m not really looking to be intellectually challenged – okay maybe to discuss a glass or two with a bunch of friends – but what I really want, is delicious wine, and here they are:

Tasted in the following order:

2015 Domaine Gry-Sablon, Beaujolais Villages Rosé
Medium pink. Quite a pretty nose, delicate and fresh, faintly floral. Big, sweet, quite round but with a nice fresh lift and good florality – a lovely almost saline line in to the finish – lovely, delicious but never facile wine.
End Position #1 – The winner!

2015 Domaine des Remparts, Bourgogne Rosé
Deep colour for a rosé. This nose not that great – some pyrazine, but slowly growing with a red fruit and almost but never quite overtaking. Big round, some pyrazine flavour too. Wow – what a difference! Simply not a very tasty wine – what happened here – the previous bottle was fabulous.
End Position #6

2015 Château de la Chaize, Rosé
Pale pink. Bright, pretty, delicate and high toned. A little fat, some weight of flavour, some herb – but not bad balance. Really sustains the finish well. Very good, but behind wine number 1. Currently 1,3,2.
End Position #5

2015 Severine et Lionel Jacquet, Just Nin’s Bourgogne Chitry
Medium-plus pink colour. A deep nose, slightly more vegetal than the last, the last drops in the glass are much more floral. Round, silky, very good in the mouth, a hint of stewed fruit perhaps, but this is very tasty wine.
Currently 1,4,3,2
Position #4

2015 Pablo et Kaori Chevrot, Sakura
A pretty, medium pink. A deep nose, more complex, very inviting red fruit. Big, round, lots of energy, silky, a super wave of finishing flavour – delicious – this competing with wine number 1 – I’ll retaste together (1-5,4,3,2)
Position #2

2015 Domaine Foretal, Rosé
Medium-pale pink. A more saline and higher-toned nose. Some fat, some silk, a faint herb but all is very well balanced. The finish is very lovely – I need to taste 1, 4 and 5 together. 1 is a little more floral and mineral – I prefer that wine and number 5 to 6.
Position #3

Rosé tasting #1: the wines tasted in Beaune…

The wines were tasted in the order that you see, the number at the side of each note being the key to the name which was later added to the note.

Really not a bad hit rate in this first (Beaune) tasting, with plenty that I’d drink and almost a third of the wines I’d buy without hesitation. What I found very interesting was the number of wines that I chose that hailed from ‘northern’ Burgundy – Auxerois, Chitry et-cetera. One wine stood out for being made in a ‘vin-de-garde’ way with plenty of oak evident; potentially it could have been the best wine of the tasting – despite being the most expensive by a large margin – but it’s really not for drinking now, so I didn’t include it in my wines for summer drinking.

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The 11 highly recommended wines from this tasting.

The prices noted are ex-cellars, including tax, very occasionally with a minimum purchase of 6 bottles.

2015 Domaine des Remparts, Bourgogne Rosé €5.80
33. Medium-plus (for rosé) colour. Quite a deep nose, supple and inviting red-shaded fruit – yum. Round, delicious, intense, just a little fat – maybe I’d like a hint more freshness, but this is very serious, floral inflected in the finish. This is really more like a red than a rosé but it tastes absolutely delicious!

2015 Caves Vignerons de Mancey, Bourgogne Rosé €9.50
7. Pale colour – looks pretty in the glass. Open, wide, some fresh high tones. A fresher and brighter wine than the last, more overt mid-palate intensity too. The last wine is the tastier, this the more effervescent. Super!

2014 Domaine Verret, Côteaux Bourguignons Rosé Croix €5.80
19. Pale colour. A little more savoury nose, backed by some freshness. Ouf – here is some acidity and of-course freshness. There is a very slowly leaching sweetness of fruit to temper the effect. Chilled on a hot day this would be okay – indeed the finish is very tasty – but it is behind the first two wines…

2015 Domaine de Rotisson, Côteaux Bourguignons Rosé €6.40
6. Pale colour. A pretty and very floral nose – I like this very much. Fresh, wide, a nice texture, some good weight of mid-palate flavour too. Nicely finishing. A really fine and complete wine – super.

2015 Maison Louis Jadot, Marsannay Rosé €11.40
15. Medium-pale colour. A deeper, fatter nose, yet clean and interesting. A hint of mineral harshness, but waves of flavour here, good complexity too. Almost a rosé-de –garde. Impressive stuff, but for the cellar, not what I’d be looking for to drink over the coming couple of months.

2015 Domaine Marsoif, Bourgogne Epineuil Rosé €7.50
20. Medium-pale colour. A hint of fat, plus more than a suggestion of flowers – not the most overt nose but a very attractive one. Bright, fresh, mouth-watering wine – I could maybe ask for a little more initial sweetness, but the finish is concentrated and beautifully tasty – super wine!

2015 Domaine Bonnardot, Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits Rosé €6.50
35. Medium-pale colour. A rather tighter nose – faint straw perhaps. Good texture – silky wine – a point of acidity through the fat and a rather concentrated finishing flavour. A considered wine, but delivering neither gorgeous flavour nor appealing freshness.

2014 Fougeray de Beauclair, Marsannay Rosé €11.50
10. Medium-pale. A nose of subtle freshness but little more to start with – eventually a little faint strawberry. Bright acidity, a slightly rustic flavour, but finished quite well.

2014 Domaine Felix, Bourgogne Côtes d’Auxerre Rosé €7.00
18. Medium pale. A certain floral sweetness to the aromas. This is fresh and lithe over the tongue – almost a little minerality and a lot of violet flowers. Certainly the most pronounced florality so far. Super wine.

2015 Domaine Alain Vignot, Bourgogne Côte St.Jacques Rosé €6.30
26. Pale colour – there may be some whites with less colour! Wide fresh and faintly sweetened – a nice nose. Lots of flavour – plenty of volume in the mouth too – plenty of concentration here and a not bad freshness too. Good finishing. A very good wine. (It turned out that this was actually 100% Pinot Gris!)
2015 Domaine Digioia-Royer, Bourgogne Rosé €6.50
2. Pale. A bigger aromatic – pretty and faintly padded with crushed, fresh red fruits. Direct, incisive, good intensity of flavour, and a growing width of finishing flavour. Certainly not the tastiest wine here, but one with a very fine shape and an attractive freshness. I like this.

2014 Domaine Bruno Clair, Marsannay Rosé €9.70
14. Medium-pale colour. A deep nose, a little herby. Bright and fresh, almost a suggestion of reduction in the flavours. Really lots of mouth-watering complexity and intensity – so many great parts – but the flavour is a little rustic and/or reduced…

2015 Michel Sarrazin, Bourgogne Rosé €7.50
12. Pale colour. A deep nose – a little pink melon perhaps. Bright, fresh, aided by some CO2 I think. But really a very fine breadth of pretty flavour. Lovely width and finishing interest. Super!

2015 Cave des Vignerons de Buxy, Bourgogne Rosé Buissonère €6.10
5. Medium-pale colour. Quite a large-scaled nose – faintly red fruited and with a modest, inviting, freshness. Here there’s even more CO2 which widens the sensations on the palate but here with less intensity and complexity of flavour. A good wine, still…

2014 Domaine d’Eduard, Bourgogne Rosé €8.00
31. Medium-pale colour. Some width of aroma with a little interesting depth too. Bright and fresh, quite a mineral impression, good intensity in the finish, even a faint salinity – yet this wine lacks a little deliciousness today.

2015 Domaine Boussard, Bourgogne Rosé €6.00
21. Pale colour. A modest but clean and open nose, slowly augmenting with a little attractive fruit-salad. In the mouth a direct line of reasonably fresh flavour. Serious and with some tasty waves of finishing flavour. Quite a serious but very good wine.

2015 Domaine Alain Mathias, Bourgogne Epineuil Rosé €6.50
30. Pale colour. Modestly aromatic but clean and interesting all the same. A direct line of acidity, one that will need some cooling to tame, but essentially very nice flavours here – a good wine.

2015 Patrick, Elodie et Christine Chalmea, Bourgogne Chitry Rosé €6.50
23. Pale colour. A modest but very pretty nose. Fresh, nice silky texture, the flavour growing over the palate. Those flavours really widening over the palate and into the finish. There are tastier wines here, but none that are better put together. Super!

2015 Clotilde Davenne, Bourgogne Côtes d’Auxerre Rosé €6.80
17. Medium-pale. Fresh and pretty nose of faint red fruits – lovely. A little extra sweetness but still with good freshness. This has a really impressive mid-palate and finishing flavour. Another super wine.

2014 Domaine Lionel et Severine Jacquet, Bourgogne Chitry Rosé Just Nin’s €6.00
24. Medium-pale. A modest nose but clean and attractive. Bright, fresh, surely quite a bit of gas too. Saline, intense flavour – layers of flavour. Really a very impressive wine which is far from simple and tasty. But is it what people are looking for in a rosé for summer? Super wine none-the-less.

2015 Celine et Antoine Angst, Bourgogne Rosé €6.50
32. Medium-pale. A pretty nose with some depth of attractive faint-red fruit. Round, full-flavoured, slowly growing in intensity. Quite some mid-palate density that contributes to the length. Big wine, lacking a little cheeriness…

2015 Château de Messey, Mâcon-Curzille Rosé €8.00
16. Pale. Open and fresh nose, if rather guarded in aromas… Lithe, fresh, feels good in the mouth with a growing intensity of flavour. Lots of flavour. A good wine.

2015 Le Bout du Monde, Côteaux Bourguignons Rosé €5.00
4. Medium-pale colour. A nicely attractive nose that’s round and full of interest. A little dissolved gas – so more fresh, but with very good mid-palate and finishing flavour. A tasty and a good wine. Yum!

2015 Edmond Chalmeau, Bourgogne Chitry Rosé €6.70
29. Pale colour. An open and attractive nose where the flowers outweigh the fruit. Again some gas on the palate. Lots of flavour here, a round impression. Also very tasty – yum!

2015 Domaine Chevrot, Bourgogne Rosé cuvée Sakura €10.00
3. Pale colour – and really pink! A modest but attractive nose, subtly edged with the flesh of red fruits. Round, layered delivery of flavour – it lacks the gassy brightness of the last wines – but chilled this will be really super – indeed excellent, tasty wine!
2014 Alain Jeanniard, Côteaux Bourguignons Rosé €9.00
11. Medium-pale. An open nose with freshness and a little herb. Bright and fresh, lots of energy here, lots of complexity too. Very tasty finishing notes. Almost too fresh – but can a wine be too fresh on a 30°C day? – I think not.

2015 Cave des Vignerons de Mancey, Mâcon Rosé €8.50
9. Pale colour. Freshness if modesty for this pretty nose. Good freshness, a slightly savoury aspect to the fruit flavours – almost biscuity – but the length is good. A tasty wine.

2014 Domaine Thevenot Le Brun, Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune Rosé €8.00
13. The only wine of this tasting not in a clear-glass bottle. Medium-pale colour. The aromas are like many here, rather modest, yet this wine shows plenty of depth. A little too much gas prickling my tongue, but as it fades, the flavours start to melt over the palate. And they are very lovely flavours to finish with. A little anonymous to start, lovely to finish…

2014 Celine Robergeot-Cienki, Mâcon-Milly-Lamartine Rosé €7.00
34. Pale colour. A fresh and pretty nose suffused with modesty. A hint of gas and plenty of freshness. There’s plenty of flavour intensity here, a slightly mineral flavour but the finish has lovely mouth-watering flavour elements. Tasty!

2015 Lionel at Severine Jacquet, Bourgogne Chitry Rosé Just Nin’s €6.00
25. Medium colour for rosé – very pink! A vibrant nose – red fruit – super-attractive. Round but with fine freshness. A little mineral on the palate but never in an austere way. Very attractive finishing complexity – different (gamay?) but ever-so tasty.

2015 Jean-François et Pierre-Louis Bersan, Bourgogne Côtes d’Auxerre Rosé €7.50
22. Medium colour. A wide nose, but still quite tight. Quite large in the mouth, lots of concentration, slightly austere mid-palate flavours with just a nice delicacy to the flavours in the finish. Impressive but not moreish…

2015 Cave des Vignerons de Mancey, Bourgogne Rosé cuvée Jean Tourot €10.00
8. Pale colour. A round, quite pretty nose of faint red fruit. A little gas here, but also plenty of ever-widening flavour complexity. The mid-palate is not the most attractive, but like the last wine, the flavours becoming ever-more interesting as you head into the finish. Good wine.

2015 Jean Fournier, Marsannay Rosé €17.50
1. Pale colour. A deeper nose, perhaps with some almond. Bright, fresh, a little sweet and certainly quite concentrated. Really quite a big wine and with some obvious oak too – everything but the kitchen sink! Another rosé-de-garde(!) impressive by any measure, but it wouldn’t be my choice for this summer (rather better for the cellar), because that oaky component currently takes away the moreishness I would be looking for…

2015 Ferrari/St.Germain, Bourgogne Rosé €7.00
27. Medium-pale colour. Quite the most overt and open nose – fresh and with a mix of violet flowers and fruit. A little too much CO2 but really a fine and wide flavour on the palate – one that melts over the tongue in the finish. This is a super wine for this summer.

2015 Céline et Frédèric Gueguen, Bourgogne Rosé €8.00
28. Pale coloured. Another modest nose, but a pretty one. Wide, good intensity, a little sherbet, long too. Tasty wine!

Rosé tasting #2: the wines tasted in Villefranche…

39x Beaujolais Rosé

2015 Georges Duboeuf €7.20
1. An interesting tall bottle. Pale salmon colour. A vibrant if slightly herby nose – quite interesting. Quite some fat here, faintly saline too. Silky, but I think I’d be looking for a little more freshness – my only criticism – but there’s fine density of finishing favour.

2015 Domaine de Foretal €5.50
2. Pale colour. A clean fresh nose. A little more freshness, again a little saline, lot’s of intensity here. Length too. I’d like to say also delicious but I don’t find that.

2015 Jean Loron, Beau Beaujolais €5.50
3. A pretty, pale pink. Depth plus high tones – an inviting nose. The delivery of flavour here is a little more layered, and added succulence too as there’s just a little more comforting sweetness to the fruit. Good finishing. I like this very much.

2015 Philippe Deschamps €5.50
4. Medium-pale colour. The nose is clean yet modest – it’s a subtle invitation to drink. Lithe, silky, still plenty of concentration – salinity too. This is a good wine, indeed a mineral, rather than a sweetly fruited, wine. Tasty!

2015 Domaine Girin €5.70
5. Medium colour for rosé. Another clean nose – most here are like this – so-far – faintly soapy almost. Good energy and dimension. The flavour is again saline-inflected but with a little sweetness of fruit too. Complex and interesting. Yum – a great finish too!

Domaine de la Revol, Délice Rosé €4.80
6. Medium-pale colour. Another squeaky-clean nose – almost a suggestion of petrol behind. Lithe, feels good over the palate, and with a good weight of finishing flavour.

2015 Château de Buffavent €6.00
7. A straight bottle and pale pink. A much subtler nose, but here there seems to be a little floral note too. Rolls very well over the palate, but the flavour is not the most delicious as there’s a heavy perfumed element that really doesn’t bring deliciousness.

2015 Domaine Joncy, l’Instant Rosé €5.80
8. Another straight bottle, medium-pale pink. Here is a different aromatic register – a little more vibrancy. Still silky, a little herby/stalky impression, but also some good fruit too. The less good elements dominate the good elements in the finish. Some great parts here.

2015 Domaine des Arbins, Des Grandes Vignes €5.00
9. Medium-pale colour. Back to the ‘clean’ nose. Here is a little more succulence, still some structure evident in the mid-palate. Lots of perfumed finishing flavour. I quite like this wine…

2015 Domaine de la Croix Tröchens, Le Jardin des Enfants …
10. Medium-plae and very pink! Pretty and fresh aromas – nice! Fresh in the mouth too, some salinity. Not really very much fruit, but this is tasty wine and gets even better in the finish. Yum!

2015 Domaine Jean Pierre Riviere, Rosé d’un Nuit €4.60
11. A straight bottle – pale pink in the glass. Clean and fresh nose. Wide, supple, silky, quite some mid-palate density of flavour. The finish is the nicest part of the flavour – where it’s very nice. Good wine.

2015 Domaine de la Roche St.Martin €4.55
12. Another pale pink wine. Just a little added fruit and flowers here – makes the wine much more attractive. Fresh, lithe, not so much fat. There’s a little salinity and subtle but pretty floral inflections. A fine and large finish – long too. Not the most concentrated wine but really the best ‘rosé’ for my palate so-far.

13. Pale colour. The nose is really rather tight. In the mouth, it has volume, and a slowly leaching sweetness. A little minerality and really quite a good finish. A wine that just keeps opening out. Good!

2015 Domaine Terres Dorées, Rosé d’Folie €8.50
14. Medium pink colour. A deep nose, perhaps with some straw. Less sweet, more direct, actually I like very much some of the background flavours, accented with salinity. A lovely finish. Very good.

2015 Domaine de Tante Alice €5.00
15. A straight bottle – medium coloured. A modestly sweet nose, clean but with a suggestion of melon below. Direct, a little herby, concentrated flavour – but really I’m looking for ‘delicious’ and I don’t find it. The finish is a strong one, but again more about stemmy/herby elements.

2015 Domaine du Vissoux, Les Griottes €7.00
16. Medium-pale colour. A subtle and inviting fruitiness to this nose – and that’s a rarity – so-far. Like many of the others there’s a slightly harsh herby element here. On the positive side there’s a good mouth-perfume in the mid-palate and finish. A wine of good parts.

2015 Château de Pizay, Rosé de Soirée €6.50
17. Medium-pale colour. Nice in the mouth – wide, fresh, some fruit, there’s that herb component, but it’s on a low level. Pretty mid-palate flavours and a nice finish. One of the better wines for sure.

2015 Domaine de Baluce, Tradition €5.00
18. Medium colour. A clean nose that’s fresh too . Quite nice in the mouth – there’s good intensity and weight of flavour – a faintly melon fruit in the mid-palate. A tiny lift of sweetness in the finish too. Pretty good!

2015 Château de Corcelles, Rosé d’un Nuit €6.60
19. A rather individually-shaped bottle – and quite pale coloured. Bright, fresh, faintly biscuity. Fresh, direct, perhaps a faint extra CO2 too. Good finishing flavour without an over herby character. Also pretty good.

2015 Château de Pertonnières €5.40
20. Medium pink colour. A deeper nose, even a suggestion of red melon fruit. Supple, quite tasty wine, certainly an extra ‘redness’ of fruit character than most. A perfumed and tasty finish, still with a modest herb. Good wine.

2015 Domaine du Bois du Jour €4.70
21. Relatively pale pink in colour. A savoury style to the fruit, only very slowly adding a little sweetness. The finish is easily the best part with a perfumed element that largely masks the herby part. Good wine.

2015 Charveron €4.80
22. A straight bottle. Medium colour. A little savoury character to the nose. Wide, sweet and silky – quite some weight of flavour here. Good but lacks a little freshness.

2015 Domaine de la Simonde €4.40
23. Medium-pale pink. A round if slightly mute nose. Lovely freshness and nice sweet melon component. Long finishing with good weight of flavour too. Very attractive.

2015 Oedoria, Instant Bon’Oeur €4.70
24. Medium-pale colour. The nose hints at depth, plus a little freshness, but it’s rather tight. Good freshness of flavour, and a nice line of flavour too. This could be my favourite so far!

2015 Domaine de Champ-Fleury €5.20
25. A straight bottle. Medium-pale colour. Wide and fresh, with decent intensity of flavour. Here is a little salinity, and a strong line of flavour into the finish with a little herby character. Good wine.

2015 Château de Grandmont €5.90
26. Medium-pale colour. A very modest nose. Freshness, indeed brightness in the mouth, some herby flavour but a good finish – yum!

2015 Cellier St.Etienne, Une Fois une Beaujolais Rosé €5.20
27. Medium, medium-pale colour. A tight nose. Good freshness, and some nice detail to the faintly saline, faintly mineral nose. I like the added layer of floral perfume in the finish. This is very good.

2015 Domaine les Crêtes €5.80
28. A straight bottle and a pale pink wine. Another quite tight nose but with faint floral and melon-fruit hints. Supple, nicely textured and intense, borderline okay/good freshness. Plenty of savoury complexity in the finish. Good.

2015 Vignerons Pierres Doröes, Terra Iconia €4.60
29. Medium-pale colour. Some nice top notes on this nose. Wide and with decent freshness. A slowly growing sweetness. I’d like more energy, and there’s almost a ‘plastic’ character to the aromas and flavours – maybe extra sulphite here. But good finishing flavour if rather heavy.

2015 Domaine Monternot Les Jumeaux €5.50
30. Medium-pale colour. Fresh nose, still a little too modest to be classed as ‘attractive.’ In the mouth a little herbal and saline but based in decently sweet fruit. A good long finish. I quite like this wine.

2015 Saint Pré Coquard, Coeur de Rosé
31. A straight bottle, relatively pale coloured. A good aromatic width and freshness, with an attractive accent of fruit. Sweetness of fruit, some weight of flavour too. Long and delicious (YES!!!) – I’d love a little twist more freshness, but this is super!
2015 Domaine Romy €5.00
32. Medium-pale pink. An open nose and one with a more overt, sweet, melon-style fruit, slightly floral-inflected too. A little herb but this is nice in the mouth, with a growing fruit that is also rather tasty. Almost as delicious as the last wine, but with slightly better freshness. Bravo!

2015 Paul André Brossette et Fils, Empeinte €4.70
33. A straight bottle, medium-pale pink coloured. Another more open nose – slightly sweet fruit in the background. Lithe, decent, if not the best, energy. Good finishing too. This is very good.

2015 Domaine Romy, Imperial Rose €8.00
34. Medium coloured. The nose is reasonably open with an accent pink fruit. A direct wine, with a sherbet acid style, this accentuates a certain metallic impression in the mid-palate. The finish is good. I quite like this wine.

2015 Domaine des Marrans €6.50
35. Medium colour. A tighter nose. Wide and fresh with plenty of energy and some sweetness too. There is complexity of fruit and a very modest herby component. The finish is very tasty too. Super.
P.Ferraud et Fils €7.05
36. Pale pink. A very tight nose – there’s only a suggestion of sweetness in the glass. In the mouth this has fine freshness and a good note of sweetness. There’s a small herby note but generally this tasted very well. Yum.

2015 Vignerons de Bel Air, Le Rosé de Bel Air
37. Medium pink colour. A subtly floral if quite tight nose. The palate is intense and quite mineral – lots of energy and interest, yet hardly a ‘delicious’ wine. Still, very good and with a fine finish…

All the above were 2015 – the last two are 2014:

2014 Domaine Chasselay €7.00
1. Pale colour. Modest yet rather saline nose with good freshness. More direct acidity than any of the preceding wines – this will need some above-average cooling to tame. The flavour is not bad and is quite long.

2014 Pardon et Fils …
2. Medium colour. A different style of nose – a little acid-red fruit and a little rubber too (sulfur). Much nicer in the mouth than the last wine; fresh, good energy and still a high-ish acidity, but really this is more balanced and has just a little floral lift to the flavour too. Nice finishing. I think this very good.

The Beaujolais Villages Rosés

2015 Domaine des Nugues €7.00
1. Medium salmon-pink. A deeper, more vibrant nose – plenty of background herb. More weight, more energy, a little more sweetness – but also more herby/mineral character too. Intense finishing. Good wine.

2015 Domaine Coteaux Des Oliviers €4.80
2. Medium-pale pink. More herb and a little rubber (sulphur). Fresh and direct – I like the shap and the mouth-watering intensity, but this is far from yum…

2015 Domaine Croifolie – Gerard Crozet €4.60
3. Pale colour. A very modest but fresh nose. Wide, intense, fresh and energetic. Lots of sweet melon-fruit flavour here. Long with layers of fine finishing flavour. This is very good.
2015 Château de Vaux, Signature €5.90
4. A straight bottle. Medium colour. Some width but quite a modest nose. Wide and intense a rather mineral fruit with super waves of finishing flavour. Super wine, yet not quite delicious enough as there’s some austerity attached to the minerality. But, none-the-less super!

2015 Domaine Beroujon €4.00
5. Medium-pale colour. A fresh and slightly saline nose. Just a little more fat, yet still fine and fresh. The flavours here are good but rather modest after the last wine. Good tasty finish.

2015 Cave de Clochemerle €6.40
6. Medium pink colour. Another rather anonymous nose. Fine freshness and very good energy. A little herb character to the backbone. The finish is a lovely mouth-watering one with an added salinity – it’s the nicest part of this wine. Quite tasty.

2015 Domaine Jean Pierre Mortet €4.80
7. A straight bottle. Medium pink colour. Here is a more open nose; pink fruited and a little perfumed too. Bright, fresh, direct, some herb but it blends very well with the rest of the wine. A nicely lingering and quite prettily-flavoured finish. Very good!
2015 Domaine de Colette, Gamay Therapy €7.10
8. Very pale pink. Some depth of herby aroma. Supple, lithe, energetic – a very nice wine with lots of good flavour. The finish is very fine- Super. The best yet in this group!
2015 Château de la Chaize €8.00
9. Medium-pale colour. Some fresh aromas, very faintly fruited. Lovely in the mouth – weight and moth-watering interest. There’s some fat here but fine balance too. A very good finish – maybe better than the last wine, but not by much!
2015 Château de Javernand €7.70
10. Medium-pale pink. Nice! The first overtly inviting, floral and fruit-forward nose! In the mouth this is complex, fresh and quite tasty. Super finishing flavour almost siszzlingly metallic but very attractively so. Perhaps not the most delicious – but super all the same.
2015 Domaine Longere €6.50
11. A straight bottle. Medium-pale pink colour. Back to a more modest aromatic. An impression of gas on the palate, nicely fresh, good with of pretty flavour. I find this a lovely wine. Super!

2015 Domaine de Rochemure €6.70
12. Very pale pink. A fresh nose, complex too, with salinity and some herbal notes. Rather gassy. Some bubblegum flavours and maybe even a hint of reduction. Long though…

2015 Guy Plougonven, Cuvée Briezh
13. Almost medium pink colour. Bright, good acidity, nothing harsh and blended with a nice range of flavours. Really very nice in the finish. In the finish, there’s a slight mineral austerity to this wine but it’s very good!
2015 Domaine de Fontalognier €5.70
14. A straight bottle and medium-pale pink coloured wine. Quite a nice nose that’s both vibrant and mineral – no austerity showing here. Lots of volume in the mouth – filling every space. There’s good freshness and attractive flavours. Very nice finishing flavour too. Yum!

2015 Domaine Valfantine €5.00
15. Medium pink colour. A modest but inviting nose, faintly sweetened fruit. Plenty of flavour intensity but here it’s just a little herby and despite fine intensity, it’s less delicious today. Good wine though.

2015 Domaine Pardon, Confidence de Lisa €6.00
16. Medium-pale pink coloured. Bright and fresh, maybe a suggestion of sulfur in the biscuit impression. Wide, layered and mouth-watering flavour – saline and a little mineral. Both interesting and tasty – with a good, indeed very long, finish too – but, not obviously delicious.

2015 Domaine du Tane €5.00
17. Medium-pale colour. Open wide nose, though I have to say not particularly attractive – almost some bruised apple here. Sweet and full in the mouth. Again a bruised fruit impression without any suggestion of oxidation though. Particular in style, and certainly not what I’m looking for, yet I could easily drink a glass or two of this if only for it’s fine finish.

2015 Laurent Gauthier, Rosé Vintage €5.00
18. Medium-pale pink. A fresh, if modest, nose. Fresh, good intensity and energy. A little melon-style fruit. Super finishing flavour that’s just a little accented by a mineral austerity. But very tasty wine.
2015 Domaine de Gry-Sablon €6.60
19. Attractively medium-pale pink coloured. Fresh melon. A hint too much gas, but there’s freshness, sucrosity and alround delicious flavour here. The finish is a hint more serious, but never loses ’drinkablity.’ Excellent.

2014 Château Grand Grange €4.50
1. Here is the only 2014 of this tasting. Pale straw colour – it could almost be a white. Freshness of aroma – but like most of the 2015s, it’s quite a tight/modest aroma. Good acidity, a certain apple-style and acid-led fruit. Long and interesting. I think I slightly prefer the best 2015s, but this is certainly better than the ‘average 15s’ that I’ve tasted. Good wine.

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