I think the forty-quid mark is make or break for elite sparkling wines during the festive season, and I have found three spectacular candidates for your perusal and enjoyment this year. 

It’s worth spending five minutes searching the internet for prices of familiar rosé Champagnes to see that most famous brands now reside around the £60-mark. This makes £40 a failsafe target, giving our best wines a rock-solid chance to nudge French wines aside and step up to the plate (literally) this Christmas. 

For me, sparkling rosé is the go-to Christmas and New Year celebrations category. Aside from the visual appeal, this style of wine is the most adept at pairing with virtually every single style of cuisine imaginable, from complex canapés all the way up to turkey and all the trimmings. It is the one wine that cannot put a foot wrong. 

I have never met someone who does not enjoy a glass of sparkling rosé thrust into their hand the moment they cross your threshold. But thinking even more strategically, I would venture that smoked salmon appears in virtually every single gastronomically astute household’s festive menu at some stage or other, and this style of fizz is the world champion with this indulgent ingredient. 

In the UK, we have become laser-focused on this style of wine over the last decade. I have written extensively about rosés on this page and how they should and could be improved so that our home-grown creations can compete on a world stage. 

Hammering home of the importance of sparkling rosé, coupled with winemakers’ love for these wines and rapidly growing consumer demand, has fast-tracked the rise in quality of English and Welsh sparkling rosé wines. Is this the most improved category of wine in our land? 

As we all know, you cannot make genuinely delicious rosé without great red wine, and the advent of a couple of warm vintages plus decent and growing stocks of reserves have meant we can pull together pink-hued, perfumed and harmonious wines with more frequency and consistency than ever before. 

I have chosen three wines for this festive spread that cover the three main rosé sub-categories, bringing me to an important point. There is no one recipe for this style of sparkling wine. Like every wine in a portfolio, sparkling rosé should be made in a style that your vineyards and grapes dictate, and Tinkerbell-light rosés are as valid as meatier, more full-bodied wines. They all have their place in our wine diet, and one ought to introduce variety to your life if you are stuck in a singular rosé groove. 

One final and vitally important point, which was taught to me nearly 40 years ago, is that if you were blindfolded and handed two glasses of sparkling wine to taste, one white and one pink, it should be patently obvious from the perfume, let alone the flavour which is the rosé. There is no point in drinking a sparkling rosé wine that looks pink yet smells and tastes like a white! Rosés must tick three boxes to succeed: colour, aroma and palate. If the flavour enchants your senses, too, that is all one could ask for.

NV The Grange, Pink, Hampshire

Made from 57% Pinot Meunier, 38% Pinot Noir and 5% reserve wines, this seamless and effortlessly balanced wine hits the spot with glorious accuracy. 

The Grange Pink is my ‘lightweight’ recommendation, with its pale coral hue, spine-tinglingly pure cherry stone perfume and sleek, gossamer-smooth palate. While the flavours skate across the palate with silent delicacy and momentum, the adroit finish carves a beautiful arc of tension on your taste buds thanks to the pristine acidity found here. 

Demure and wistful, this hauntingly pretty wine ought to find its place in everyone’s ice bucket for elite aperitif duties. Hats off to The Grange; this estate’s patience has paid off. 

This portfolio is now complete, with ‘Pink’ rightly blazing a trail, which must surely be rewarded with bumper sales. Of course, the keen pricing policy will help, so please spread the word as I venture this wine will become a mainstay at parties and celebrations up and down the land this December.

2018 Roebuck Estate, Rosé de Noirs

My ‘textural’ rosé pick comes from the ever-reliable Roebuck Estate, with its extraordinarily indulgent 2018 vintage red-grape-symphony! 

The glorious weather conditions in 2018 helped to ripen the 78% Pinot Noir, 17% Pinot Meunier and 5% Pinot Précoce (red wine addition) to perfection, and with a mighty 53 months of slumber under its belt, this wine is ready to deliver its stunning message. 

The creamy palate is nothing short of magical, and this pliable raft of flavour allows the wilder raspberry and strawberry notes to perform. The finish is cool, crisp and teasing but not overly raw, and this helps to give 2018 Roebuck Rosé de Noirs a generous and welcoming air that allows you to drop your shoulders, immediately relax and enjoy the atmosphere around you. 

In short, this is one of the most soothing and subtle rosé wines in the UK, and its crowd-pleasing attributes are undeniable. Head to this wine for experts and amateurs alike because they are all guaranteed to fall under its spell.

NIKON Z 7_2 · f/13 · 1/200s · 105mm · ISO100

2019 Artelium, Makers Rosé

My ‘structured’ rosé of the year is this utterly amazing and incredibly commanding wine. 

Made from 66% Pinot Noir, 29% Chardonnay and 5% Meunier, there was no oak used here to soften any edges, and the red wine addition was cold-soaked for a couple of days to bring more gravitas and impact to the final wine. And what a beauty this is! 

It is like a sparkling red in terms of its intensity and luxuriousness, and unlike the other two wines, the bubbles are not urgent and prickly but gently cascading and even-tempoed. Under the seductive dark red berry notes, you will find spicier hints, making this a foody creation that could not only tackle a turkey but step up to venison and even roast beef. 

Don’t get me wrong – this is not a heavy wine. It has the same intrinsic weight as my other two stunners but has more intensity and boldness on the palate. I love that Artelium makes wines with strong characters and decisive flavours. This is one of the finest rosé wines I have tasted this year, and the value for money is exceptional.

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