Rathfinny Estate, Rosé

Alcohol percentage: 12%

Grape variety:
81% Pinot Noir, 12% Chardonnay, 7% Pinot Meunier. 8% of the total was red wine, added for colour. Matured for 2 years on lees in bottle. 5g of residual sugar – unusually dry for a sparkling rosé.

Producer:
Their UK agent, Liberty Wines, speaking about this “family-owned Sussex estate established in 2010 by Mark and Sarah Driver.
Rathfinny’s estate vineyard now extends to over 93 hectares in the South Downs, just three miles from the Channel. Lying on a gentle south-facing slope, the site is predominantly planted with Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier and benefits from a semi-continental maritime climate and free-draining chalky soils, providing the ideal conditions to ripen grapes for sparkling wine.
Rathfinny uses only estate-grown fruit for their four traditional-method Vintage Sussex sparkling wines. The hand-harvested and whole-bunch pressed grapes are vinified with as little intervention as possible, including 24-36 months’ ageing on lees and in bottle to develop rich autolytic notes, and a low dosage to preserve the purest expression of place and vintage.”

The Bottle Shop rating:
Pretty pink, very crisp and fresh but (despite its dryness) there is plenty of fruit and texture to avoid any harshness or austerity (which is often a problem with English fizz, particularly rosé).