Whispering Angel 2015
The colour is the sexy palest coral pink. Textured, it is filled with tangy, citrus pink grapefruit notes. Great structure and minerality(we recall ocean and the breezes). Rightly put by J Robinson, Whispering Angel 2015 is even more palate grabbing by far from the Provencal Pink norm. Stylistically it is elegant and exceeded in our view by miles with the New World type of Rose.
Through the generosity of Sasa Lichine, and when he was in Hong Kong years back, we had the opportunity to taste all the roses he produced namely, Rock Angel, Le Clan, Garrau, Whispering Angel as an entry level rose from Sasa Lichine stands out in being the most quenching rose with no loss of serious intent. This wine is awarded JS 91.
The elegance of Whispering angel 2015 in our view is very much related to:
Harvesting taking place from sunrise to noon to avoid the heat of the day, hence the structure and nice acidities;
Grapes that are selected and picked are put in small (10 kilo) crates which are deliberately that size in order to prevent grapes placed at the bottom of the crates from getting crushed, hence the fruit quality
Once grapes arrive to the cellars, they are sorted manually and then go through optical sorting for the right quality, hence the fruit tastes and nose ripe despite the structure.
All grapes which go into vinification are perfectly de-stemmed and resemble each of the correct physical characteristics dictated by the wine maker including shape, size, color and general condition, hence quality of different vintages are very consistent.
The grapes (Grenache, Cinsault, and Syrah). are then sent through the heat exchange system which reduce their temperature from what can be as high as 29 degrees c down to 7-8 degrees c followed by a soft press which produces 3 grades of what is primarily free run juice, hence the cool and elegance style.
A very enjoyable and stylist rose wine on its own as aperitif and with fruits.
