CellarHand Festive Season Rosé Round-Up

Summer’s here, and it’s time to sink pink! (In moderation, naturally.)
We’ve got a lovely selection of rosé right here ready for you, in fizzy and still styles to suit every shade of the season.
You’ll find notes and reviews beneath the table:

 SPARKLING                               

2021 Chalmers Col Fondo Aglianico RRP $36
The Chalmers family imported the first Aglianico vines into Australia back in 2001, and produced a first Col Fondo wine in 2019. This is a sparkling wine, undisgorged after a second fermentation in bottle – meaning it’s creamy, chalky lees are still present in the cloudy, dry wine. It is bright, creamy and chalky with a delicate fizz and notes of pollen, cassia and ruby grapefruit.

2015 Stefano Lubiana Brut Rosé RRP $55
A pale blush of a rosé with a delicate and sumptuous nose, I was swept away at first sniff! Flavours of strawberries and cream, redcurrants, raspberries and red cherries all warm from the summer sun, combine with hints of vanilla yoghurt and a hint of cherry danish pastries dancing in the background.
Some wines inspire a bit of poetic licence and I got very carried away with this one, the complexity of flavours, delicacy of mousse, the elegance of structure and long, lingering length made me go all Lizzy Bennet, writing letters to Jane back at Longbourne.
Seriously stylish, this is one to watch as it develops over the next decade or so, with those soft and fruity flavours making way for more savoury flavours, much as you would expect from a Pinot Noir. 96 points. Curly Haslam-Coates, The Wine Front

2014 Hattingley Valley Rosé RRP $91
Very pale pink in glass, the bouquet is likewise ‘pale’ with soft strawberry, raspberry scents, overlay of talc, a whiff of red apple and some faint citrus. The palate is assertive in its chalky, sherbetty acidity, a belt that runs through lightly juicy red berry fruit flavours and zings the wine long and refreshing, to an almost pin-point-mouth-watering conclusion. It’s a very precise feeling wine, barely showing fruitiness, all about the elemental, mineral-esque charm. Very good wine here, bound up and full of energy and freshness. Yep, worth the visit. 93 points. Mike Bennie, The Wine Front

NV JmSélèque Champagne Solessence Rosé RRP $120
JmSélèque Champagne ‘Rosé’ Solessence is 45% Chardonnay, 40% Meunier (of which 10% skin-contact Meunier Infusion from Les Charmiers, Pierry 1er Cru) and 15% Pinot Noir of which 5% is Coteaux Champenois from Les Gayères, Pierry 1er Cru). Fruit from seven crus on mostly flinty clay on chalky subsoil: Pierry, Moussy, Épernay, Mardeuil, Dizy, Boursault, Vertus. Base vintage 2018, with 40% of the blend from wines in perpetual reserve. 70% stainless steel tank and 30% oak barrels. No fining or filtration. Two years ageing under crown seal. Dosage 2g/L.
“The fruity flavour of the Meunier, the pedigree of Pinot Noir, the freshness of our Solessence blend. The harmony of flavours.” – Jean-Marc & Oriane Sélèque            

STILL                                           

2020 Shadowfax ‘Minnow’ Rosé RRP $25
Squishy strawberry, nutty, toffee apple, a bit of spice. Slippery style, soft acidity, good amount of flavour, slight blood orange tang, almost a thick peel marmalade character, but not really sweet as such, though it is what you might call a comely rosé. A little pith and pepper on the finish, and plenty of interest throughout. 91 points. Gary Walsh, The Wine Front

2019 Pierre Amadieu ‘Roulepierre’ Rosé RRP $25
This dry French rosé is vinified in stainless steel tanks at low temperature to preserve the freshness and fruit of the Grenache and Cinsault grapes. Raspberry and redcurrant flavours with floral notes are followed by a pleasantly full-bodied mouthfeel.

2020 Chalmers Rosato RRP $28
Chalmers Rosato is handpicked from the Chalmers Heathcote vineyard on soils of ironstone, colerite, green basalt and quartz, at an altitude of 210-225m. This 2020 is a blend of 86% Aglianico, 7% Sagrantino and 7% Nero d’Avola is whole bunch-pressed and wild fermented in stainless steel. The Aglianico is aged in old barrique and the Nero d’Avola and Sagrantino in stainless steel. Six months on lees. No acid adds. Vegan friendly. Creamy soft raspberries, rose petals and pink grapefruit are the calling card of this chalky, dry and textural Rosato. Vines imported by Chalmers in 2000 & 2001. First Rosato produced by Chalmers in 2009.

2020 Pittnauer Rosé RRP $29
Making the most of its native varieties, this Zweigelt, Saint Laurent and (mostly) Blaufränkisch blend is pressed as whole bunches, then left to age for months in stainless steel. With a bright and cherry aroma of wild strawberries and a hint of rose, it has a crunchy and lively palate, mingled with peaches and lychees rather than soft red fruits. 92 points. Jane Parkinson, Halliday Magazine

2021 S.C. Pannell ‘Arido’ Rosé RRP $29
This is 100% Grenache Noir from Blewitt Springs. The fruit was harvested by hand at 12 baumé and immediately pressed. No extended skin contact, no adjustments – a true Vin Gris! Bottled late June 2021.
The wine is lightly perfumed with aromas of sherbet, pink grapefruit zest, strawberry, jasmine and galangal. The palate is awash with blood orange and finishes with amaro. This is a pink white rather than a light red. Soft and generous with steely edges and a rapier finish. – Stephen Pannell

2020 Groiss Hasenhaide Rosé RRP $30
A very attractive, light and crisp dry rosé with so much delicate cherry fruit and spot-on balance. So clean and subtle at the finish you’ve gotta go on! From organically grown grapes. Drink now. Screw cap.
90 points. Stuart Pigott, jamessuckling.com

2021 Scorpo Rosé RRP $30
Well, this is very good. This is how you do it. Red cherry, earthy, spicy, blood orange and fennel. It has flesh, and chew, and texture, and freshness and tang, and stony chalky grip on a long and zesty finish. Wonderful. Charismatic. 94 points. Gary Walsh, The Wine Front 

2021 Nocturne Sangiovese/Nebbiolo Rosé RRP $32
Spicy, peppery, dried herb and floral perfume, white cherry and pink grapefruit. It’s dry with a grainy and chalky grip, subtle but engaging flavour profile, a coolness to acidity, and a dusty finish of crunch and excellent length, a little amaro tang in the aftertaste. Texture is a highlight in this high cheekboned style of rosato. 93 points. Gary Walsh, The Wine Front

2020 Frédéric Mabileau ‘Jose’ Rosé RRP $40
Frédéric Mabileau Jose Rosé is dry Cabernet Franc from Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil in the Loire Valley. The freshness of this rosé is accompanied by charming aromas of small red fruits. Its tender, mouthwatering side makes it even more sublime.

2020 Pittnauer ‘Dogma’ Rosé RRP $47
From the creative genius that is Gerhard Pittnauer comes this 100% biodynamic-certified Blaufränkisch from the loamy soils of the Ungerberg vineyard. Wild fermented and matured in stainless steel and amphora. No additions, including sulphur. Unfined and unfiltered.

SKIN-CONTACT WHITE                                   

2021 Airlie Bank Gris on Skins RRP $24
Such good value wines these Airlie Bank wines. Gris here fermented on skins to make a pretty wine, with depth. Cherry, smoky spice notes, brambles and nashi pear. Supple to taste, pear and strawberry notes, a touch of gummy tannins and a general sense of prettiness and simplicity. A great L Plate skin fermented wine, you could say, or a slightly more complex, textural rosé. Anyways, good drink and great price. 90 points. Mike Bennie, The Wine Front 

2021 Onannon ‘The Level’ RRP $32
‘The Level’ is a skin-contact Pinot Gris grown at Onannon’s home base in Red Hill. This 2021 is very aromatic, with strawberry, guava, plenty of whole-bunch spice and fresh green herbs. The palate is dry with some nuttiness.

2020 Scorpo ‘Bestia’ Pinot Grigio Tradizionale RRP $43
When Pinot Gris gets some love, attention and a makeover, it can morph into something more interesting. How? 25% whole bunches, 4 days’ cold soak, 11 days on skins, wild fermentation, then pressed to used old oak for about 10 months. It’s like a rosé on steroids: plush, skinsy and phenolic yet so well handled. Complex aromas and flavours of potpourri, cranberry, dried orange rind, bitter herbs and wood smoke. The palate is all about texture, mostly savoury and finishes very dry. Moreish and incredibly satisfying; even better with antipasti, especially lardo. 93 points. Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion