Prescient Rosé Report 2024: Top 10
By Christian Eedes, 4 December 2024
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Introduction
This year’s Rosé Report convened by Winemag.co.za and sponsored by global financial services company Prescient is now out. There were 44 entries from 39 producers and these were tasted blind (labels out of sight) by a three-person panel, scoring done according to the 100-point quality scale.
Top 10
The 10 best wines overall are as follows:
92
Quoin Rock 2024
Price: R165
Wine of Origin: Simonsberg-Stellenbosch
Abv: 13.13%
92
Vriesenhof 2023
Price: R125
Wine of Origin: Stellenbosch
Abv: 12.17%
92
Warwick The First Lady Dry 2024
Price: R115
Wine of Origin: Western Cape
Abv: 11.5%
91
Durbanville Hills Merlot 2024
Price: R90
Wine of Origin: Durbanville, Cape Town
Abv: 13.63%
91
Meraki Grenache 2024
Price: R95
Wine of Origin: 12.88%
Abv: Coastal Region
91 – Best Buy
Van Loveren Daydream Chardonnay Pinot Noir 2024
Price: R69
Wine of Origin: 12.15%
Abv: 12.15%
91
Vinevenom Shining No. 3 NV
Price: R190
Wine of Origin: Swartland
Abv: 13.4%
91
Vriesenhof 2024
Price: R125
Wine of Origin: Stellenbosch
Abv: 12.25%
91
Zorgvliet Cabernet Franc 2024
Price: R130
Wine of Origin: Banghoek
Abv: 13.75%
90
Tokara 2024
Price: R115
Wine of Origin: Western Cape
Abv: 12.5%
About Rosé
Rosé refers to wines coloured any shade of pink from hardly perceptible to pale red. There are many ways to make rosé wines but the most common technique is a short maceration of the juice with the skins of dark coloured grapes just after crushing for a period just long enough to extract the required amount of colour.
In France, rosés are particularly common in warmer, southern regions where there is local demand for a dry wine refreshing enough to drink on a hot summer’s day but still bears some relation to red wine. Provence in the far southeast of the country is the region most famous for its rosé, Bandol the most prestigious appellation.
What does top Rosé go for?
The average price of the 18 wines to rate 90-plus is R115 a bottle and of the Top 10 is R122.
In-depth analysis
To read the report in full, including key findings, tasting notes for the top wines, buying guide (wines ranked by quality relative to price) and scores on the 100-point quality scale for all wines entered, download the following: Prescient Rosé Report 2024
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Donald Griffiths | 16 January 2025
Bartho Eksteen’s Blom is an exceptional wine. If you are a Rose sceptic (as I am) try it, it’ll give you something to think about.
Andrew Woolgar | 8 December 2024
Hi Christian, thanks for your reply. Yes, it did look like only a small number of wines were submitted, but perhaps, if South Africa became the first region to rate Rosé wines on their own merit, on a true 100 point scale, we would have a precident for the rest. Why not do that? I think then you would get way more entries if the category was taken more seriously and maybe other wine regions would sit up and take notice.. I might be wrong and way off with my thoughts but I think it deserves as much credit as any other. Some people swear by just drinking Rosé wines and myself as an import and distributor, I take them very seriously indeed, believing that we have some of the best in the world in the Western Cape.
Just thoughts really but I think they carry some weight.
Cheers
Andrew Woolgar | 7 December 2024
Nothing scored higher than 92? That’s rather surprising..do we not, in the judges opinion, make any rosé that’s worthy of a high 90’s rating? Or is it simply that those we not entered?
I can vouch fully for Normsndie’s Karen Merlot rosé.. an absolute stunner of a rosé and easily a 95+ in my opinion..
Cheers
Christian Eedes | 7 December 2024
Hi Andrew, The last time Winemag undertook a rosé category tasting prior to last year was for the January 2008 issue. Back then, there wasn’t much to enthuse about. There were just over 100 wines in the line-up, only five wines managing to rate Three Stars (+/-87pts) and nothing higher than that while there were rather too many in One Star territory. The category has come a long way. That said, does any region in the world make pink wine above 92 points? I confess I only recently discovered Domaine Tempier from Bandol and that’s pretty decent… On a point of order, Normandie do not submit to Winemag, blind or sighted.
Gareth | 9 December 2024
A pink wine above 92 – Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Gran Reserva Rosado comes to mind. Although hardly a conventional rose and, truth be told, one I’ve still yet to try myself…
James Mark | 10 December 2024
Andrew, 100% agree on your comment about the Normandie Karen – an exceptional Rosé – very serious wine rather than a quaffing wine…..