How often does one age a rosé? We'd say almost none at all. The only winery we know that consistently age their still rosé for a long period of time before release is Lopez de Heredia, whose delicious but quirky rosato is usually bottled ten years after its vintage. By and large, most still rosés are typically drained within a couple of years of its production with little aging potential, and a large quantity of it came from South of France (especially Provence) though we are seeing some strong contenders from various parts of the world, notably English ones, with a growing demand in this category thanks to the rise of Gen Z and millennials.
We tried one of the few remaining bottles of Saladin's 2009 Tralala! yesterday but unfortunately one was fully oxidised, which is not that surprising at this age if you factor in the bottle variation. The second one we opened was brilliant with a deep vermillion-orange core redolent of ripe macerated raspberry, dried mandarin peel, pink grapefruit peel and lightly oxidative aromas. Bright citrus on the palate with tangerines and mandarin mainly, some bitter notes of grapefruit pith and a touch of sherry infused whipped cream. This paired beautifully with a platter of piquillo peppers, black olive tapenade, Nuri sardines, rabbit rillette & toasted sourdough.
Compared to the 2018 & 2010 sampled a few days ago in a vertical tasting session with some friends, this 2009 actually showed better. But yes, we reckon these should be drunk sooner rather than later - perhaps now we have a solid reason to order a whole crispy suckling pig to go with a vertical flight of Tralala! (2018-2016-2013-2010-2009), and possibly some Champagne rosé too? Interested wine lovers please text MT directly - limited to groups of 5pax only!
