Rose wine guide Rose wines from Spain

The rose wines of Spain are probably the least well known, and deserve a much wider audience. Unlike many of their more pallid cousins, produced in regions such as the Loire Valley in France, these elegant examples of pink tend to have a good colour and an appealing depth of flavour, thanks to the charm and panache of the classic Tempranillo grape, which is at the heart of red Rioja and also mainly used to produce its pink version.

All the major houses of Rioja produce their own rose, and the same care is used in its production as in making the finest red wines. Pink wines are the result of just a short contact with the skins of the grape, giving a delicacy of colour and of taste but still offering their own version of that distinctive flavour we know and love in Rioja.

Some rose wines are even oak-aged in American barrels to give additional depth and keeping quality. Others are simple, fresh and fruity, to charm the modern palate, accustomed to what wine merchants call ‘fruit-driven’ wines from the New World.

You will be Impressed by the amount of flavour and dry finish on rose wines, making them superb with all styles of Spanish tapas.