Rosé New Releases: All Over the Map

BY VINOUS | MAY 21, 2024

As the popularity of Rosé continues its meteoric rise on the world stage, consumers have a seemingly endless array of choices at their disposal. It’s no secret that wine lovers purchase and drink Rosé at a faster-than-ever clip. While Rosé remains an accessible entry point to the world of wine for newer, younger wine drinkers, it also encompasses serious offerings that will delight even the most discerning connoisseurs.

That said, these widely loved pink wines are not immune to the whims of Mother Nature. The vast majority of the wines tasted for this report are from the 2023 vintage, a year marked, unsurprisingly, by record-setting heat spanning Europe, persistent drought conditions across many wine-growing regions and torrential rains in others that created significant disease pressure. The 2023 Rosés are all over the map, literally and figuratively. These are a few takeaways:

Provence is still the place. Classically styled Provençal Rosés—for many, the benchmark for the entire category—fared well in 2023 despite some truly wild weather. There was a bit of everything: extreme drought, hail, flooding rains and thunderstorms during harvest that threatened the entire crop. But fear not. For the most part, these wines are their typical fresh, round and sea-breeze-salty selves in 2023. Seek out the Château La Mascaronne Rosé, Château Gassier’s 946 and the Bandol Rosé from La Bastide Blanche, all three deeply refined, mineral-driven and finessed.

More Nebbiolo Rosatos, per favore. Nebbiolo-based Rosatos from Piedmont remain some of the most distinctive and expressive offerings available in the Rosé realm. They clearly reflect their varietal characteristics and possess considerably more structure and phenolic texture than other varieties typically provide in this context. These wines are floral, brightly red-fruited and elegant, much like their red counterparts. G.D. Vajra’s Rosato Rosabella and Ioppa’s Rosato Nebbiolo Rusin are compelling, not to mention the charming Rosato Al Posto dei Fiori from Le Pianelle.

Oak is a tricky business. Aging in oak across the Rosé spectrum is a tightrope walk—some producers handle it with the deftest hand, while some miss the mark completely. Of the 2023s tasted for this report that spent time in some form of wood, most are notably imbalanced. With the occasional exception. Barrel-inflected notes dull and drown out the bright, lively, juicy characteristics many consumers seek, while precarious growing conditions in many regions left these wines with less concentration and substance to be able to stand up to aging in barrel.

Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo is a mixed bag. This category, much heralded for how it straddles the line between red wine and Rosé to seriously complex ends, is a proper hodgepodge in the 2023 vintage. Maybe that can be attributed to the variable success of continued experimentation and exploration in the winery (aging in various vessels, whole-cluster fermentation, etc.), and to Mother Nature. In Abruzzo, an onslaught of rain in the summer led to an absolutely catastrophic outbreak of downy mildew, with corresponding yields down by anywhere from 70-90%. There is a fair number compromised wines, but also a few overachievers, namely Masciarelli’s Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo Superiore Villa Gemma, La Valentina’s Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo Spelt and Francesco Cirelli’s amphora-fermented-and-aged Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo.

Rosé-all-day still won’t break the bank. Although there are some exceptions (at times egregious), the lion’s share of these wines, irrespective of quality, retail at under $30. Quite simply, readers will find any number of values across countries and styles. Released at $19, the bright, cherry-red Truentum Rosato Milare is an absolute barnburner that punches far above its weight.

In short, careful selection is required in 2023. This report will hopefully steer readers toward some of the more engaging, successful offerings in the market. We believe the movement toward lighter-bodied, higher-acid Rosés that Josh Raynolds noted years ago is still intact. As usual, we wish you a happy summer and happy hunting!

Readers should note that many of the top Rosés are not released until later in the year, and some were simply delayed in shipping. We will update this report as important releases are received and tasted. We tasted the wines for this report in our New York City offices in May 2024.

© 2024, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or re-distributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright, but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.

You Might Also Enjoy

A Kaleidoscope of Colors: New Rosé Releases, Vinous, May 2023

2022 Rosé – New Releases, Vinous, May 2022

2021 Rosé – New Releases, Vinous, June 2021