2019 Rathfinny Rose Brut

Snappy, aloof, pithy. Blood orange and iodine minerality. Bubbles like a thousand, tiny, glittering scalpels. Quite severe and pared back – it tastes as if the dosage is low. It would be easy, if you weren't looking at the colour, to mistake this for a Blanc de Blancs. A wine that probably needs dishes with intense lemon and salt to coax it from its rigid austerity. (TC)

Full bottle 1,671 g. 100% estate-grown, hand-picked grapes. 36 months sur lattes. Disgorged 26 July 2023. Very pale pink. Smells like red apples and raspberries, but tastes more austere. Dry with baritone depth and elegance. Serious and sophisticated – a sparkling wine for the dinner table rather than aperitif sipping. (TC)

The 2019 Brut Rosé, a blend of 60% Pinot Noir, 22% Chardonnay and 18% Pinot Meunier grown near the sea in Sussex, spent 36 months on the lees. A superbly subtle fragrance holds blood orange peel, distant conifer and white peach, all bathed in creaminess. The fluid palate is full of energy and juiciness. A certain mildness and ease sweeps in, breeze-like, carried by fine mousse. While juicy and fruity, it is the opposite of facile, offering lovely depth and elegance. Disgorged: June 2024.