By Gillian Sciaretta, Jun 10, 2021
Tasting Highlights’ wine reviews are fresh out of the tasting room, offering a sneak peek of our editors’ most recent scores and notes to WineSpectator.com members.
Spanish rosé (aka rosado) is an exciting wine category with versions made from a plethora of grapes in a variety of styles, from the light and spritzy to the dense and structured. Below are eight recently reviewed rosados with scores up to 90 points, all priced at $20 or less. These wines could be excellent additions to your warm-weather lineup, and each would be delicious alongside dishes like fresh seafood or grilled vegetables.
Located in northern Spain’s Basque region, Etxaniz Txakolina has made this week’s top-scorer from the local Hondarrabi Beltza grape, grown on sandy and chalky soils along the Bay of Biscay coastline. The wine is influenced by the Basque region’s maritime climate, and aged for six months in stainless steel with bâtonnage. It shows textbook spritz with lively flavors of cherry, grapefruit and sea salt. For a denser and darker rosado, check out Cune’s Tempranillo-based version from Rioja. It underwent 36 hours of maceration to provide more structure and color with concentrated flavors of blood orange, juicy cherry and anise.
Rosado makes up much of the wine production in Castilla y León’s Cigales subregion, located on the banks of the River Pisuerga. Tempranillo and Garnacha are the primary grapes here. Two noteworthy examples of Cigales rosado include the muscular 2020 from Bodega Valdelosfrailes and the concentrated Granza bottling from Bodega Matarromera, both terrific values.
DOMINIO DE EGUREN
Viño de la Tierra de Castilla Rosado Protocolo 2020
Score: 86 | $9
WS review: Delicately layered flavors of melon rind and peach shows hints of spice, wet stone and herb in this zesty rosado. Drink now. 20,000 cases made, 8,000 cases imported.—G.S.
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