£7 (on offer), Co-op
A pale, dry, easygoing rosé that should be a dream for anyone who loves both Provence rosé and Rioja. It's light on its feet, fresh and supple with a spice and rose-oil fragrance and delicate red apple, cherry and redcurrant fruit.
The producer is Ramón Bilbao, whose winemaker Rodolfo Bastida is an aficionado of Garnacha (aka Grenache), of pale dry rosados and of high-altitude vineyards: the grapes for this grow at 550–700m asl in the Alta Najerilla area of Rioja. They're macerated for four hours to extract colour and tannin, then drained by the saignée method and fermented in stainless steel (free-run juice only).
Especially suited to sunny weather (but keep the bottle out of damaging sunlight) and to summery, light food – salads, prawns, sushi, tempura – or to no food at all. 12.5%.
If you fancy a red to go with it, there's a red El Viaje Rioja Reserva in 50cl bottles (£7, selected Co-op).
Ramón Bilbao El Viaje de Ramón Garnacha Rosé 2019, Rioja, Spain
On offer at £7 (down from £8) until 2 June, selected Co-op
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