What could challenge Provence for rosé dominance?

It’s a perennial question for those in the wine trade: could anything challenge Provence for dominance in rosé? In a db podcast last month, one expert thinks they have the answer, and it’s not from France.

Actually, it’s the belief of the director for off-trade sales at Berkmann Wine Cellars, Alex Canetti, that Italy could be the source of the next Whispering Angel – the world’s best-selling pale, dry rosé that’s sourced from Provence.

Speaking to db in a discussion on the future potential for Italian wine in the UK market – which you can listen to below – he picked out rosé as an area where the Mediterranean nation could become a powerful force.

Initially commenting on how well Italy is doing in the UK, despite an overall decline in wine sales, he said that the country had retained its appeal when other wine-producing nations had suffered a fall-off in demand.

But he also said that the one area of continued growth throughout the difficult post-Covid trading period was Provençal rosé.

“Wine has been declining consistently… but there’s a very big exception, which is rosé,” he said, before referencing the driving force that has been one brand: the aforementioned Whispering Angel.

However, this single product, and the region it hails from, does not have to have a stranglehold on the rosé sector, said Canetti, and the challengers could come from Italy – a country with “really good rosés”.

Picking out Puglia as one area of Italy – “with really lovely rosé that looks pretty” – he said that listeners to the podcast should “watch this space” as Italy starts to export “more really good rosés that have the right shade of colour”, because, as he stressed, “it’s also about looking good”.

And while he said that “Provence outsells Italy five to one at the moment”, when speaking about pink wine, he added that the retail buyers in the UK “were receptive” to rosé from Italy, and other parts of the world, “as long as they fit the requirements, which is being pale and dry and looking good.”

He then stated, “The demand is there.” As for examples of Italian brand leaders that could be the first challengers to Whispering Angel, for Canetti, one potential source of major sales are the Puglian rosatos from Antinori, particularly the Calafuria brand made using Negroamaro.

As previously reported by db, this southerly part of Italy is well-suited to making fruity and refreshing pale dry rosé, while the indigenous Negroamaro grape is considered ideal due to its dark skin and naturally-high acidity.

Furthermore, this area has a longstanding experience making rosé, as the first region to produce pink wine in Italy, with a history stretching back to 1943, when the Five Roses brand was launched by Leone de Castris – a Puglian rosato still produced today.

Canetti also thinks that the 11 Minutes rosé from Pasqua is a challenger to Whispering Angel and other leading Provençal rosé brands. Such an Italian rosato uses a range of native varieties from the Veneto area of Italy, and takes its name from the brief length of time the red grape skins macerate for, allowing a delicate salmon pink colour to be achieved.

Meanwhile, also present on the podcast, and representing a view from the restaurant business – as opposed to the retail sector – was Davide Rinaldi, who is head sommelier at Sexy Fish in Manchester.

For him, it’s Pinot Grigio Blush that appears to be doing well in the on-trade, because it’s “easy to pronounce’, and people know the Pinot Grigio grape, which is practically synonymous with white wine from Italy.

Although he said that such a rosé, along with rosados from Spain, tend to be entry-points on the pink drinks section of a wine list, he did also comment that customers tend to skip such wines for a slightly pricier one if it’s from Provence.

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