With Valentine’s Day approaching, you will need to get that special someone a bottle of rosé sparkling wine worthy of their love. James Lawrence picks out some of his favourites.
In light of that upcoming sham of a commercial holiday known as Valentine’s Day – sorry, I am single and bitter – now seems the ideal time to discuss the merits of rosé-coloured fizz.
Once derided as a girly drink’, rosé and, indeed, rosé sparkling wine has enjoyed a massive resurgence in recent years, with the wine increasingly being adopted by metrosexual males – even my dad will give it a go, occasionally.
For this resurgence, we should partially thank Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. They, in a partnership with Château Miraval in Provence, released a ‘Brangelina’ Château Miraval Rosé in June last year at £18.95 a bottle. Over 6,000 bottles were purchased in the UK, all sold within five hours of release.
Rosé sparkling wine is an excellent alternative to the traditional style and has, over the years, supplanted white fizz as my favourite pre-dinner tipple. The reason is that pink fizz never tends to be lean or acidic; it should display more upfront, red berry fruit and often have bags of flavour compared to white sparkling wines.
It is often made by simply adding a little red wine to the existing wine blend to add colour, although some producers only use red grapes to make pink fizz, like Laurent Perrier’s rosé Champagne. They are never cheap, but pink fizz is an incomparable choice for a Valentine’s Day gift.
So, in place of the forthcoming deluge of cloying romance, I have listed my top five rosé sparkling wines for Valentine’s Day.
Moet & Chandon Rosé Imperial NV Champagne
A delicious and relatively good value rosé Champagne, this beauty has a lovely nose of red cherry, straw and orange; the palate is simply gorgeous, rich, and full-bodied but refreshing. A great choice!
RRP: £39
Where to buy: tesco.com
Veuve Clicquot Vintage 2004/2008 Rosé
Veuve Cliquot is a highly respected Champagne house; its rosé Champagne sets the standard for others to follow with its lively, luxurious palate, remarkable freshness and intense red fruit aromas.
Its rosé is one of the most complex I have ever tasted, displaying red berries, citrus, spice, watermelon and plum all at once — fabulous.
RRP: £69
Where to buy: Amazon.co.uk
Taittinger Brut Prestige Rosé
It is hard to imagine a more perfect aperitif than this elegant, salmon-pink-coloured rosé from Taittinger. A lighter rosé which seduces you with its soft-scented strawberry, raspberry and citrus aromas and flavours. Exquisite.
RRP: £49
Where to buy: Amazon.co.uk
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