Appellation Touraine Azay le Rideau – As stated on the bottom of the bottle. – Made entirely from the Grolleau grape variety; that is grown exclusively on the banks of the Loire, between Tours and Angers, for rosé wine in the Loire Valley.
In the glass: A brightish smoked salmon pink.
On the nose: As I stated before, don’t over chill a quality Rose wine, as you will dull the aromas that evolve as the wine warms. The first sniff, I got a slight whiff of a floral mineral, limestone thing going on. Then light raspberry fruit worked its way into the mix of cool peach with just a hint of red pepper?
In the mouth: Delicate red berries and chalky minerals, with hints of damp clay washing lightly through the palate as fresh red currant builds with citric notes coming through as the acid strolls across the tongue, it’s sharp on entry, however, not offending.
The result is a fruity, dry wine with good acidity. Just a light chill during warm weather I wouldn’t serve ice cold as you will lose the flavour of the wine.
PS. Chilling a bottle from room temperature to the perfect serving temperature for Quality rose wines is 2 ½ hours in a fridge, Cool not Ice Cold, is the way to enjoy white and rose wines. In fact, I even pop my good red wines in the fridge for 20 minutes just to give them a light chill.
I hadn’t planned on anything to eat with this wine, so I just went to the fridge and made up a charcuterie board of smoked salmon and tinned tuna in water, not oil, cream cheese & melba toasts and a hand full prawns. Everything worked with the light fruitiness and the dry wine’s acidity.
PS. How do you tell if it’s a quality Rose wine? Colour is no indication of quality or flavour.
However, for me its when the grapes are grown purely to make Rose wine and just not as an afterthought, this indicates the wine maker had a plan for the grapes.
This is my interpretation of what I found in the glass.
At the end of the day, it’s what you enjoy at the moment.
Michael Lillis
