Elégance du Clos Cantenac Rosé, Bordeaux, 2019 – ROSÉ SALE

Any rosé commanding a £40 price tag has got some serious work to do, after all the quality of white wine available at that price means it is competing with Premier Cru Chablis, for example, so it needs to be more than pink and inoffensive.

Luckily this is no slouch… a divine perfume of apricot and peach, orange peel, lanolin, a touch of kerosene and smouldering cedar somehow reminiscent of top white Rioja. The palate is voluptuous, waxy and sumptuous, viscous enough to pair with food and redolent in its offering of yellow plum, cumquat peel, grated Parma violets and roasted macadamia nut.