Ridgeview Wine Estate launches new rosé to celebrate English Wine Week
15th June 2024
Ridgeview Wine Estate is launching a new still rosé to celebrate English Wine Week, which starts today.
The winery owners said that the Ridgeview English rosé marks a new chapter in their winemaking legacy.
The new rosé is a limited-edition sibling to the estate’s sparkling wine collection.
“Inspired by our vineyard restaurant, The Rows & Vine, it has been crafted to complement the vibrant dishes from the season-led menu served by our Chardonnay vines.
“A wine for pure pleasure and food pairing delights, it is reserved exclusively for visitors to the Ridgeview estate,” they added.
Testament to quality of Pinot grapes
Ridgeview’s head winemaker, Simon Roberts, said that the release of a still English rosé might come as a surprise; however, pioneers push boundaries, and that is exactly what the winery will continue to do.
He added: “We noticed an appetite for a still wine on the menu to offer a different kind of pairing experience outside of sparkling wine.
“Rosé lends itself to food so well because it’s so fruit-driven, with a versatile profile to match. So, it got us thinking – why don’t we create a still rosé exclusively for our visitors, to make their time spent with us extra special?”
Mr Roberts said that the new rosé is the company’s “testament to the quality of Pinot grapes received in recent years”, particularly from a partner vineyard in Suffolk.
“The acidity, sugar levels and whole flavour profile of the grapes from Suffolk were screaming for a still wine.
“So, when conversations around an estate-only still wine came about, it felt like a natural progression to do something new and exciting with these grapes,” he added.
Creativity and nuance
The estate’s head winemaker explained that a hand-crafted rosé is like a “canvas for a winemaker’s personal expression, inviting creativity and nuance”.
“We chose to leave the grapes to ripen on the vine for as long as possible, for that balance of acidity and sweetness.
“Extended ripening allows sugar levels to rise, enhancing aromatics and encouraging a deeper flavour profile to develop.”
Once handpicked, a small portion of Pinot fruit was then destemmed and left to sit on skin overnight.
This process brings the developed berry fruit flavours and a velvety texture to the wine.
The rest of the blend comes from whole bunch of Pinot grapes, delicately pressed to extract the perfect colour, adding subtle floral notes and refreshing acidity.
Visual wine
Mr Roberts said that each component contributes its own unique qualities, together creating a more complex wine.
“Rosé is such a visual wine – you experience so much of it through your eyes. Achieving the perfect colour extraction is crucial, and timing is everything, but you only ever really know when it comes through the filter.
“It’s a tense moment in winemaking, but it couldn’t have been more perfect,” he concluded.
English Wine Week 2024 takes place between 15th and 23rd June. The celebration will include a range of events at vineyards around the country, as well as festivals and other activites.
Check out the events calendar on WineGB website.
Read more vine news.
