Clos du Temple

2019 Rosé Languedoc, Cabrières, France

Rose is a victim of its own success. Embraced as the quaffable summer sip of choice in the South of France, and then the US, rose claimed the title as a wine for fun.

Gérard Bertrand, though, takes it entirely seriously – as seriously as he takes his native Languedoc-Roussillon, where, since retiring from his rugby career, he has been raising the bar on growing and making wine in the large region known more for quantity over quality, embedding organic and biodynamic practices at the core of excellence.

With his 2019 Clos du Temple Languedoc Cabrières Rosé, the former French national player and recent author (Nature at Heart: For a Better

World ) lifts pink into the company of serious wine. And why not? With meticulous (sustainable) farming of 80-year-old vines, careful choice of fermentation vessels and judicious use of oak ageing, the wine has complexities and thought-provoking appeal. Perfumed with florals and earth, the nose hints of wild strawberry, stone fruit, melon and minerals, with white peach and pink grapefruit following on the palate and a kiss of salinity on the finish.