RICE & SEM BEKS TASTING SPARKLING ROSÉ
The hundredth WineLife including the hundredth Rice& tasting: of course, that too should be celebrated with a glamorous theme. We not only chose the most festive bubbly, but also invited a top sommelier. Sem Beks of De Librije*** came to Rotterdam with Magda to select the tastiest, nicest, most beautiful wines from the 77 entries.
Text: Magda van der Rijst | Image: Unsplash
Wine estate in the Steinberg Pierre Fine Rosé 2023 North Limburg - 3.5 stars
€25.50 / WIJNDOMEINDESTEINBERG.BE
Sem: ‘Slightly freaky it is, but in a pleasant way. Ripe strawberry, striking fruit, somewhat monotone, but also delicious. Simple. Who cares?’ From equal parts chardonnay and pinot noir from the Belgian part of northern Limburg. Dosage: max 3 g/l.
Domain Holset Rosé Brut 2022 Limburg - 3 stars
€ 32.50 / DOMAINHOLSET.CO.UK
Pale pink wine with teeny bubbles, soft red fruit on the palate, mild acidity. There are many lovers for this. From 75 per cent chardonnay and 25 per cent pinot noir. Dosage: 6 g/l.
Krier Frères Classic Cuvée Rosé Brut Luxembourg - 3.5 stars
€ 15.30 / HEISTERKAMPWIJNKOPERS.NL
Easy bubble with the taste of red apple and a sexy bitterness for that bit of excitement in the finish. For brunch, picnics and dance parties. From pinot noir.
Künstler Assmannshäuser Rosé Sekt Brut Nature 2022 Rheingau - 5 stars
€39.95 / ANFORS-IMPERIAL.COM
Sem: ‘Expressive. Apple blossom, white and red currant, white fruit, all very fresh and then a mild, creamy mousse. Really fine! What to go with it? I'm thinking of a Librije dish of marigold egg yolk with caviar and crème fraîche. The mild acid clears your palette for the saltiness of caviar and vice versa.’ From spätburgunder. Dosage: 3 g/l.
Reichsrat von Bühl Sekt Rosé Spätburgunder Brut - 5 stars
€ 24 / LESGÉNÉREUX.CO.UK
Sem: ‘Topper. The base is good, healthy fruit and it works all the way through. Red apple, ripe pear, also sweet brioche, some toast. Complex. Tight and creamy. Surprisingly apéro and good with sashimi.’ From spätburgunder. Dosage: 4.8 g/l.
Billecart-Salmon Rosé Champagne - 4 stars
€ 91.95 / WIJNKOPERIJ DE GOUDEN TON and DEGOUDENTON.NL
Sem: 'Crowd pleaser, likes everyone. It is soft with something salty on your palette. It balances each other exactly. Partly because of that balance, it is tasty on its own, but also does well at the table. With everything. Problem-free.’ From chardonnay, pinot noir and meunier. Dosage: 9 g/l.
De Sousa Rosé Champagne - 4.5 stars
€ 57.70 / LESGÉNÉREUX.CO.UK
Wonderful expression of pure fruit with interwoven acids. Light with many layers that undulate and roll over each other endlessly and quietly. Playful wine that bubbles away (too) easily. Blend of 92 per cent chardonnay and 8 per cent pinot noir aged in wooden barrel. Dosage: 7 g/l.
Deutz Rosé - 3.5 stars
€ 64.95 / FOURCROY.CO.UK
Sem: 'True on all sides. Vibrant red fruit, fresh and enough body to be called champagne. For many moments.’ Chardonnay with 8 per cent pinot noir. Dosage: around 8 g/l.
Pierre Gerbais Grains de Celles Rosé Champagne - 4.5 stars
€ 57 /BROUZJE.CO.UK
Sem: 'This is everything I want from a rosé champagne. Fresh, fruity and creamy, with rosehip, wild peach and something tea-like. Apéro and drink.’ This delicate, dry, pale pink champagne has a long, uplifting finish in which the fruit lingers well. It comes from Aube and is made from 25 per cent pinot blanc, 25 per cent chardonnay and 50 per cent pinot noir, with a small proportion added as red wine. Dosage: 3 g/l.
Charles Heidsieck Rosé Réserve Champagne - 4.5 stars
€81.55 / LESGÉNÉREUX.CO.UK
Sem: 'Eating champagne! Very full glass with red fruit, blood orange, toast, croissant, little ripe sweetness possibly coming from the reserve wine. This matches a steak and also clafoutis.’ From 35 per cent chardonnay, 25 per cent meunier and 40 per cent pinot noir, part of the latter is red wine. To the base blend, 25 per cent reserve wine (from previous years) is added, giving the champagne a riper layer. Dosage: 8 g/l.
La Reine de l’ Amaurigues “Subtlety” Rosé Champagne - 4 stars
€ 58.50 / GASTROVINO.CO.UK
Sem: 'Muscular. You can see that and those “muscles” are reflected in the powerful aroma and thick flavour. Besides muscular, it is also seductively graceful. It is a mouth-filling wine that can go with something “masculine” like steak tartare, but is also not afraid of ingredients like wasabi and ginger.’ The base wine matured mostly in wooden casks. Blend of 70 per cent pinot noir (part red wine) and 30 per cent chardonnay. Dosage: 6 g/l.
Lanson Le Rosé Création 67 Champagne - 4 stars
€ 64,95 / INFO@DEMONNIKDRANKEN.NL
Sem: ‘Complete and complex with good concentration. He stands his ground and puts the kitchen to work. You can try this one with vegetarian rendang of aubergine with spices and fried pumpkin seeds, a dish by Noah Wijnants, former sous chef at De Librije and now chef at Brass Boer Thuis.’ Blend of chardonnay, pinot noir and meunier. Dosage: 8 g/l.
Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé Champagne - 4.5 stars
€ 95 / KWASTWIJNKOPERS.CO.UK
Sem: 'A wine which fits every moment. As apero, drinks and at the table. It is made nicely on the fruit, from 100 per cent pinot noir. I love that. It owes its warm salmon-pink colour to the saignée technique and its creamy mousse to the long five-year ageing.’ Goes with everything from pâté and charcuterie to red fruit desserts. The shape of the bottle is not the most convenient for cooling, but it is beautiful; the design dates from the 17the century. Dosage: 10 g/l.
Bailly Lapierre Rosé Brut 2022 Crémant de Bourgogne - 3 stars
€19 / DYNAMICWINES.CO.UK
Think cherry pie: soft, creamy, sweet and also tart. Packed with aromas of all kinds of red fruits. For like this, with spicy snacks and with red-fruit pastries. From pinot noir and gamay. Dosage: about 8 g/l.
Marquis de Goulaine Tête de Cuvée Crémant de Loire Brut Rosé - 3 stars
€15.30 / HANOSSHOP.COM
Sometimes simple, nothing fancy, not complicated is exactly what you want, but with clean fruit and some length. Here you have it. Fresh with a gentle sweetness. Can be enjoyed like this and with cake and a dessert of vanilla ice cream with warm red fruit. From grolleau and cabernet franc. Dosage: 9 g/l.
Bellavista Alma Rosé Assemblage 2 Extra-Brut Franciacorta - 4 stars
€ 48.95 / PERFECTEWIJN.CO.UK
Sem: ‘The attractive and seductive thing about this wine is that it comes across as light on all sides, but also has body and bite. Handsome to achieve that balance. Then a wine like this always tastes good. On its own or with seafood, vitello tonnato, hard sausage, crudité, fish soup, minestrone, you name it.’ From pinot nero and chardonnay. Dosage: 3 g/l. Strikingly beautiful (gift) bottle.
Parusso Rosé Brut 2019 Piedmont - 3.5 stars
€ 42.40 / ANFORS-IMPERIAL.COM
Sem: ‘Look, this is not a pleaser, but it is original. It tastes tight and fruity, with pomelo, rosehip and pomegranate. Firm acidity and characterful bitterness too: quite complete. Distinct and something to experiment with. Just put some fat next to it. It works!’ From nebbiolo. Dosage: 10 g/l.
Filipa Pato & William Wouters 3B Rosé Brut Natur Bairrada - 3.5 stars
€16.95 / ANDREKERSTENS.CO.UK
If you're in for something completely different: do this. It is more of a light red wine with bubbles than a sparkling rosé. It is well-filled, savoury, spicy and thick. Goes with anything and everything. Of 87 per cent baga and the rest is bical. More autochthonous it can't be. Dosage: 5 g/l.
Elvia Cava Brut Rosé Utiel-Requena - 3.5 stars
€10.50 / LESGÉNÉREUX.CO.UK
Sem: 'Just nice. Price and style are in line. Quality is really good. You taste healthy ripe (!) red fruit, some toast and the savoury sweetness of molasses (= kind of syrup). Dry and round.’ A cava from near Valencia and they know what to do with it on the terraces there. From garnacha. Dosage: 9 g/l.
Anna de Codornìu Cava Rosé Brut - 3 stars
€13.70 / VOORDEELWIJNEN.NL
Sem: ‘Floral, rose, violet, lavender, apple, drinks easily, lacks some vibrancy. But then: who thinks up packaging like this?’ The transparent bottle comes in a white sleeve. Excellent for warding off UV light and therefore beneficial for shelf life, but pretty.... We didn't think so. From pinot noir.
Parés Baltà Pink Cava Brut Comtats de Barcelona - 4 stars
€15.40 / ANFORS-IMPERIAL.COM
Sem: ‘Terrace - sun - party - so on - fun!’ Full of cherry, berry, pink grapefruit and dried herbs. Can be enjoyed like this and with croquetas. From garnatxa, parellada and macabeu.
Raventós I Blanc de Nit 2023 Extra Brut Conca del Riu Anoia - 4 stars
€ 24.95 / LEGRANDCRU.CO.UK
With its subtle pink glow, delicate notes of small red fruits, ripe gooseberry, sweet rhubarb, pinch of dry sage, its precision and its purity, this is a unique cava. Light and refined with substance. It goes with trout eggs with crème fraîche and lobster, but without anything with it is also great.
Gusbourne Twenty Eighteen Rosé Kent/Sussex - 4 stars
€ 67.95 / LEGRANDCRU.CO.UK
Sem: ‘This is sparkling from the UK! This really has a face of its own. It differs from other bubbles in the chalky acids coming from Kimmeridgien, the same soil as in Chablis, and a kind of creaminess, also from the 10-gram dosage. Refined, delicate, tangy, tight and round, as an apero but also with a raw fatty fish alongside.’ From chardonnay, pinot noir and meunier. Dosage: 10 g/l.
Krone Rosé Brut 2024 - 3 stars
€ 9.99 / ALBERT HEIJN
Sem: ‘Totally okay in terms of concentration and fruitiness. Not complicated, just fine. Those wines are welcome at some parties.’ From pinot noir and chardonnay.
Simonsig Cape Vonkel Cap Classique Brut Rosé 2023 Stellenbosch - 4.5 stars
€ 18 / KWASTWIJNKOPERS.CO.UK
Sem: ‘This ticks all the boxes. Clean, complete, balanced, attractive. Present, but not showy. With blossom, red apple with peel, cranberries, citrus. Hard sausage to go with it: done.’ From pinot noir, pinotage and meunier. Dosage: 2 g/l.
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