Ten of the best rosé wines money can buy

From the The Drinks Business: Rosé is a becoming an increasingly fashionable drink, particularly when it’s pale and dry – and the weather’s hot – but some pink wines are much better than others.

To separate the good from the ordinary, and the outstanding from the great, we held a tasting of more than 160 rosés in London on 14 June.

All the wines were served “blind” to a selection of experienced judges (listed below), who assessed the rosés without prejudice to source country, although they were aware of the approximate price of each sample.

The entries were scored out of 100, discussed, and then awarded medals from Bronze to Gold, or, indeed, the ultimate accolade of Master, which is given only to those wines deemed exceptional by the judges.

Over the following pages we have listed the top 10 best performing rosé wines in the tasting – those wines that gained a Gold medal or above.

All of them are still and dry, and hail from a range of countries, from Italy to Spain, although the majority are from France, and mainly from the excellent 2015 vintage.

The Global Rosé Masters is a competition for pink wines from around the world held by the drinks business. The wines for this year’s competition were tasted over the course of one day at Les 110 de Taillevent in London on 14 June. Click here to see the results from last year’s competition and click here to see the 10 best wines from 2016’s Global Rosé Masters.

The judges:

  • Hugo Rose MW, director, fine wine asset management company Vinsignia
  • Patrick Schmitt MW, editor-in-chief, the drinks business
  • Roberto Della Pietra, sommelier and brand ambassador, French Bubbles
  • Elizabeth Gabay MW, wine writer and Provençal rosé specialist
  • Sebastian Payne MW, wine buyer, The Wine Society
  • Patricia Stefanowicz MW, wine consultant
  • Beverly Tabbron MW, head of training and education, Hallgarten Druitt
  • Adrian Garforth MW, wine consultant
  • Jonathan Pedley MW, wine lecturer and consultant
  • Clément Robert MS, group head sommelier and wine buyer, 28º-50º

Producer: Maison Mirabeau
Region: Provence
Country: France
Vintage: 2015
Sugar content: bone dry (0.29 g/l)
Abv: 13%
Grape varieties: 60% Grenache / 40% Syrah
Closure: cork
Price: £13
Rosé Masters medal: Gold

A pretty wine to match the pretty packaging, with alluring red berry flavours along with a touch of ripe peach to fill out the palate of this bone dry rosé. Finishing with an appealing cranberry freshness, you’ll be shortly reaching for a second sip, and then a third. The Drinks Business