pratsch organic rose 2022 750ml

Review by Jancis Robinson:
I'd not come across Stefan Pratsch before, but when this free-run-juice Zweigelt rosé landed on my desk, it piqued my interest in more ways than one. For some reason I'd expected something simple. Maybe it was the clear-glass bottle, maybe the visible spritz. Maybe the smell of rhubarb candy on the nose. But it was remarkably complex. It had surprising substance and depth for a low-temperature-/stainless-steel-fermented pink wine. There was nothing candied about how it tasted. The fruit had crunch, confidence, distinct shape. There was the caraway-scented herbaceousness of perilla leaf, a touch of violet and the tartness of white strawberries. I could taste red-apple skin and the perfumed sweetness of Pink Lady apples. And that distinct but very delicate fizz gave it a sherbet-dab buzz that was inexplicably irresistible.

All the wines are made by spontaneous fermentation with no other additions bar the very minimum of sulphites. I see he also makes a couple of skin-contact wines, one from Gewurz and one from Grüner, which would be very interesting to try! That this entry-level rosé is this good bodes well for his other wines. The fruitiness of the Zweigelt is braced by 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and lifted by 5% Pinot Noir. It ended up on the table at the same time I was doing this week's food-pairing article, and was the clear runner-up to Black Chalk's Dancer rosé. In fact, it turned out to be an excellent all-round food wine. The next night we made our own sesame-prawn toast and it went just as well with that as it did with harissa lamb chops and a lemon-chill-basil grilled courgette salad. I wasn't surprised to see that it has 4.8 g/l of residual sugar - what was I saying about the little magic that happens when rosé with smartly judged residual sugar and bold acidity (here, around 6 g/l) meets food? And it's just 11.5%. Perfect for a light supper or weekend garden lunch. 

750ml Bottle