2024 YAYOI WINES ROSE OF TWO THORNS

This I call chenin rouge“, offers winemaker Steffi Snook, ‘pineau d’aunis, often jokingly called chenin rouge, can be made into rosé in Loire so I wanted to emulate those deeper style rosé wines of Anjou”. After initial chenin and cabernet franc ferments kick off, the wine finishes by co-fermenting – the sum of parts, hence, of Loire’s fabled white and red variety. So Cabernet Chenin Blanc Franc, perhaps. A vibrant, garnet coloured wine. Lush texture, a little shimmy of rich glossiness, staining the palate gently, a finish that corkscrews with blood orange and pink grapefruit juice piquancy and pleasing bitterness. Cranberry and pomegranate juice for red berries, a bit of pith and skin of citrus, a touch of green almond too. Room temperature and it is a very delicate red wine, chilled down we’re in complex rosé territory. Delicious, is the overall message. MIKE BENNIE - The Wine Front