Gérard Bertrand Côte des Roses Rosé Review – A Rosé That Genuinely Surprised Me

I’ll start this one by saying I’m not a massive rosé drinker. Neither is Liv. It’s not that I dislike it, there are just normally plenty of other wines I’d reach for first.

Tonight though, we were having a pretty clean dinner of steamed salmon and vegetables and I wanted something light and fresh to go alongside it. I came across this Gérard Bertrand Côte des Roses and thought it looked perfect for the job.

Before even getting to the wine, I have to mention the bottle because it is beautiful. The base is shaped like a rose and it comes with this brilliant little glass cork that just makes the whole thing feel a bit more special. It’s clever packaging, definitely, but I absolutely fell for it.

Thankfully, what was inside was considerably more interesting than I expected too.

Almost New Zealand Sauvignon on the Nose

I served this pretty cold, actually colder than I would normally serve a white wine, and the first thing that surprised me was just how aromatic it was.

There was loads of crushed strawberry, but alongside that I was getting passion fruit and this massive Sauvignon Blanc energy.

It genuinely reminded me of one of those fruit bomb New Zealand Sauvignons. Blind, particularly at that temperature, I think that is probably where my head would have gone initially.

That sounds slightly ridiculous when you’re looking at a glass of pale pink wine, but take the colour away and those first aromatics were really pointing me in that direction.

Then I tasted it.

Crushed Strawberries in a Pastry Case

The palate continued that Sauvignon like impression initially. Fresh, bright, loads of acidity and plenty of fruit.

Then the wine started to show what it actually was.

There were these really soft tannins that seemed to slide down the sides of my tongue before giving way to crushed strawberries. The strawberry character wasn’t completely fresh either. There was something slightly cooked about it that made me think of crushed strawberries in a pastry case.

That was probably my favourite note of the wine.

What surprised me most though was the length. I wasn’t expecting loads from this bottle, but the finish just kept going. It had considerably more structure and persistence than I’d expected from a relatively delicate looking rosé.

This had suddenly become quite interesting.

Rosé and Salmon Absolutely Works

The real reason I bought it was the food though, and with the steamed salmon and vegetables it was a hit.

It worked beautifully.

The acidity cut through the natural richness of the salmon without overpowering what was quite a simple plate of food. Equally, the salmon didn’t kill the wine. Everything just sat alongside each other really nicely.

It was one of those pairings where I wasn’t necessarily discovering loads of completely new flavours, it just made sense. The freshness of the wine kept everything light while there was enough fruit and texture to cope with the salmon.

For a clean, simple dinner, I don’t think I could have asked for much more from it.

Then It Started to Change

I’d deliberately left the bottle out of the fridge because I wanted to see what happened as it warmed up.

This was probably the most interesting part of the evening.

Those lovely strawberry flavours started disappearing and were replaced by something I’ve actually picked up in red wines before.

Thai basil.

It’s a very particular note and one I seem to recognise quite quickly now. It’s herbal but not in that green bell pepper way that I don’t particularly enjoy. There’s something more aromatic and slightly exotic about it.

It was fascinating seeing it emerge from such a pale rosé.

The acidity remained even as the temperature came up, although I actually thought the wine became slightly harsher as it warmed. It lost some of that lovely balance it had straight from the fridge and became a little more angular.

For me, this was definitely better cold.

Maybe I Need to Give Rosé More Credit

I went into this expecting a pleasant, refreshing wine to drink with salmon.

Instead I ended up with passion fruit, crushed strawberries, pastry, soft tannins, Thai basil and a wine that noticeably changed as its temperature increased.

Not bad for something I don’t normally get particularly excited about.

I still don’t think rosé is suddenly going to become the section I head straight towards when I’m buying wine. Give me a good Rioja, Bordeaux or Pinot Noir and I’m probably still walking in that direction.

But this reminded me that good rosé can be far more interesting than simply being cold, pink and refreshing.

The salmon pairing was excellent, the length genuinely surprised me and those changes as the wine warmed gave me something to think about long after dinner had finished.

Maybe Liv and I aren’t rosé people.

Or maybe we just haven’t been drinking enough good rosé.