Tom Cannavan’s Wine of the Week on wine-pages.com is the Whispering Angel 2017, a rose wine from Provence. Is this the UK’s most loved rosé wine? It’s not the cheapest, and not the biggest selling, but if my postbag is anything to go by it’s the one an awful lot of wine lovers have at #1. Why? Well it’s a Provence rosé made from local varieties Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Rolle and Tibouren in the most delicate and pure style. Extremely careful selection of grapes and super-gentle handling gives a wine that is full of fruit on the nose, crushed redcurrants and raspberries, but a glimpse of sherbet lemons and ozone freshness too. In the mouth the texture is silky and slippery, but the sheer concentration of tangy pink grapefruit, tart red berries and zesty acidity streaks across the palate, a long, elegantly tapering finish giving terrific definition and drawing the wine to a lovely diminuendo finish. Note that this is being offered en primeur by From Vineyards Direct until end February 2018, at £10.50 per bottle. Duty and VAT will be payable once the wine has shipped in March, and it will go on sale at around £17.95 per bottle.
