2022 Wine Judging - deliberations from our judges #2

Our second day of wine judging was also the first day dedicated entirely to rosé. With rosé entries into the IWSC growing year-on-year, this year we assembled a panels of expert judges, led by Wine Judging Committee member, Dirceu Vianna Junior MW. We caught up with Junior to discuss the day and the overall impressions of the state of the rosé market.

“What has been really positive from the onset, since we announced we were holding a worldwide rosé tasting is the number of entries. It's been great to see how the producers have got on board with this focussed category.  Another highlight has been the overall consistency of the wines across the board. As an overall category, rosé is very sound, this can be comforting for consumers to know that when reaching for a bottle of rose, they will be picking up something reliable.  We awarded a good number of bronze and silver medals. What is concerning for the overall market is while many wines in the market are receiving these marks of quality, today we saw very few top-notch examples.”

“Another flag is the variety of rosé seems to be converging into one particular style. Pale, and attempting to be Provençal. Is that right? Is it wrong? We all know, rosé consumption is dictated by the market and if the consumer wants Provence, then this is what the producers are making. So as a business case it’s pretty straight forward but for the wine category in general, it’s a bit worrying because we lose the diversity… Chiaretto from Italy or Claret from Bordeaux, Tavel from southern Rhône, they all have their own style and should be rich and opulent and characteristic of their region, but they all seem to be converging to paler and fresher.”

Thank you, Junior. Very helpful overview.

One final question. What direction would you like to see rosé going in?

“Most people think of rosé as something fun, informal to drink by a swimming pool on a sunny day and yes, it is for that, but it’s also a wine for many different occasions. It’s great with different types of food. It would be great for restaurants to have not just to limit their menus to a token two or three rosé their lists. They should have a serious list of rosés, different colours, different textures, different aromas, different styles in general. So, to answer your question, what I like to see is a really rich list of rosé, wines with a sense of place and food pairing options, however as I said, I don't see that happening because everything is converging to one style.”