The wines we drink: Sutherland Rosé 2014

Following on from our Grenache post of last week, here’s the first of our Grenache reviews.  A rosé nogal. I know most of you will wonder why we bother. Rosé isn’t sexy. Rosé is a kugel drink. I hear it is best consumed at 11 o clock in the morning after a heavy session with your personal trainer whilst your husband is swindling some elderly person out of money. Money that he uses to pay for your botox and bleach (hair and teeth) habit. The truth is we don’t drink enough rosé. It is refreshing, it is easy to consume and it often beats the myriad one dimensional entry level Sauvignon Blancs on the market that we drink to have something refreshing. Cheap Sauvignon Blanc isn’t just beaten in the flavour stakes. Also on value and interest.

Today’s Grenache rosé beauty is from top Stellenbosch producer Thelema. In particular from their Elgin property known as the Sutherland label.  This 100% Grenache Noir was made from vines planted in 2006 – getting back to why we are punting Grenache – giving the vines the opportunity to grow old (by consuming the products produced from them when the vines are still young) will hopefully one day give us the opportunity to make wine from old vine Grenache.Hopefully your kids (currently stealing your beer from the fridge to drink in the park) will one day buy old vine Grenache Noir from Thelema Sutherland.
The Sutherland Rosé 2014 shows great red fruit purity – think strawberries and cream. You don’t drink rosé because you are hunting for complexity, but this gives you a full spectrum of red fruits and freshness. Cranberries, cherries, strawberries, pomegranates. All in one sip. It beats the hell out of drinking cheap Sauvignon Blanc which often tastes of heartburn, plastic and unfulfilled wine making talent. A hugely pleasant drink, you can expect this dry Rosé (3.5 grams of residual sugar per litre) to hit the market around January 2015. It’ll be immediately ready for consumption, so no need to build a wine cellar onto your house to keep it at 15 degrees Celcius to age it. It’s yours for around R60. No need to cancel the personal trainer at that price. Get it.


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