This post is also available in: Español (Spanish)
In one of the video tastings that we’ve been sharing with you during this lockdown, we presented something very special: our Rosae Arzuaga 2019. And why do we say it’s special? Because this vintage just came out on the market and it’s one of the first tastings we did with this wine, if not the first. This time, the person leading the video tasting was a familiar face for those of you who follow Bodegas Arzuaga’s #IStayHome videos: Adolfo González, our winemaker.
Rosae, our winery’s rosé, has several characteristics that set it apart and make it special, as González explained. First of all, this wine ‘is 100% Tempranillo. Rosés usually have some other varieties, but here, thanks to our winery philosophy, we only make it using this variety’. Moreover, we don’t only focus on it being a single-variety Tempranillo, unquestionably the queen variety of Ribera del Duero. To make Rosae, we use the first grapes harvested in each vintage. Why? ‘We need grapes that have a sugar content that’s not very high since we look for alcohol content around 12.5%, 13% maximum’. Also, as the Bodegas Arzuaga winemaker explains, this early harvest ‘also benefits us in the acidity points’, yielding fresh, easy-to-drink wines.
In terms of its production, after a very light pressing, slow fermentation takes place at low temperatures. It’s also important to note that ‘this wine is the only one we make at Bodegas Arzuaga that doesn’t spend any time in oak,’ says González.
Starting with the tasting stages, at appearance level, González points out that ‘we already see a weak colour intensity, which is what we look for: for that pink to be pale, with very little intensity’. In the glass, you also see ‘very little colour depth, a very light salmon colour with nude glints’. In terms of the nose, without swirling the glass you can already sense ‘very high aromatic intensity, with loads of aromas’. After swirling the glass, there’s a ‘variety of red fruits: strawberry, raspberry, very acid fruit, tropical fruit, some notes of passion fruit’. Finally, on the palate, ‘we find the sensations of acidity we were looking for, with a silkiness that is very pronounced’.
We hope that our online tastings can teach you more about the Bodegas Arzuaga wines, even at home. Cheers!