The best pink crémant for spring
When Darren Ball, group head of wine for Caprice Holdings, was putting together the wine list for the Manchester branch of the restaurant Sexy Fish, which opened in autumn 2023, he had an important conundrum to solve: what sparkling wine would he put in the entry-level 'by the glass' slot?
He contemplated prosecco. 'But to champion a prosecco we feel is good-quality, worth selling by the glass… [it would go on the list at about] £60 a bottle… A small percentage [of customers] will appreciate you've found them a great prosecco, the majority will think you're ripping them off.' Going 'super-cheap' but low quality would have been an option, but that's not Ball's vibe. So he decided to go with crémant. But not just any crémant – a high-quality rosé crémant. This pink fizz has been wildly popular, even among those customers who haven't been following the crémant trend. 'You tick two boxes: [customers think] 'Great, I get to drink rosé and it's got bubbles.' And there's no price expectation,' says Ball.
Quite so. If you're a long-time reader of this column then you will have known about crémant for years. The gloss, for anyone who has missed it: crémant is sparkling wine made in France using the same method as they do in Champagne. Sales have been climbing for ages but two things made me realise we had reached a tipping point. First, crémant has moved beyond the realm of 'good-value alternative to cheap Champagne'. The word now has cachet and luxe associations of its own. Second, my mum called to ask about 'something called crémant' that someone in her West Yorkshire Pilates group really likes, and was annoyed not to find on the drinks list when she went out recently.
Rosé crémant is not as widely available as the white version we have come to know and love, but it is made in the same places, which include Limoux (in the foothills of the Pyrenees in southern France), Alsace, Loire and Bordeaux. And, similarly, it varies a lot in style, not just because different grapes are permitted in different regions; as ever with rosé, it also comes in a range of shades and flavour intensities. Some rosé crémant is so pale and similar to its white counterpart that I am not sure I'd call it for a rosé if I were tasting with my eyes shut. Others are quite intensely fruity or floral with flavours of wild strawberries or redcurrants overlying a biscuity richness.
The quality range of the wines I tasted to make these recommendations made things a little tricky. On tasting the first (and largest) batch, I wasn't sure I wanted to recommend any of the cheaper or mid-priced supermarket bottles because one from The Wine Society (at £15.50) and one from Yapp Brothers (at £18.75) were so vastly better than those priced at a similar level and a few pounds below. Then, fortunately, I opened a second tranche of wines and found a couple of value supermarket options.
Of those higher-end bottles, my mum's favourite was the Antech Crémant de Limoux Rosé Emotion from The Wine Society (see Wines of the Week). I agree it is delicious, but for me the winner of the entire tasting was Domaine Collin Cuvée Prestige Rosé Brut NV, France (12.5%, Yapp Brothers, £18.75), which is sophisticated, dry and delicate with a gentle fragrance of red berries with subtle florals. I really loved it and felt it more than delivered for the extra cost. Either way, with these rosé sparkling wines all we need is a little spring sunshine.
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The best pink crémant for spring
When Darren Ball, group head of wine for Caprice Holdings, was putting together the wine list for the Manchester branch of the restaurant Sexy Fish, which opened in autumn 2023, he had an important conundrum to solve: what sparkling wine would he put in the entry-level 'by the glass' slot? He contemplated prosecco. 'But to champion a prosecco we feel is good-quality, worth selling by the glass… [it would go on the list at about] £60 a bottle… A small percentage [of customers] will appreciate you've found them a great prosecco, the majority will think you're ripping them off.' Going 'super-cheap' but low quality would have been an option, but that's not Ball's vibe. So he decided to go with crémant. But not just any crémant – a high-quality rosé crémant. This pink fizz has been wildly popular, even among those customers who haven't been following the crémant trend. 'You tick two boxes: [customers think] 'Great, I get to drink rosé and it's got bubbles.' And there's no price expectation,' says Ball. Quite so. If you're a long-time reader of this column then you will have known about crémant for years. The gloss, for anyone who has missed it: crémant is sparkling wine made in France using the same method as they do in Champagne. Sales have been climbing for ages but two things made me realise we had reached a tipping point. First, crémant has moved beyond the realm of 'good-value alternative to cheap Champagne'. The word now has cachet and luxe associations of its own. Second, my mum called to ask about 'something called crémant' that someone in her West Yorkshire Pilates group really likes, and was annoyed not to find on the drinks list when she went out recently. Rosé crémant is not as widely available as the white version we have come to know and love, but it is made in the same places, which include Limoux (in the foothills of the Pyrenees in southern France), Alsace, Loire and Bordeaux. And, similarly, it varies a lot in style, not just because different grapes are permitted in different regions; as ever with rosé, it also comes in a range of shades and flavour intensities. Some rosé crémant is so pale and similar to its white counterpart that I am not sure I'd call it for a rosé if I were tasting with my eyes shut. Others are quite intensely fruity or floral with flavours of wild strawberries or redcurrants overlying a biscuity richness. The quality range of the wines I tasted to make these recommendations made things a little tricky. On tasting the first (and largest) batch, I wasn't sure I wanted to recommend any of the cheaper or mid-priced supermarket bottles because one from The Wine Society (at £15.50) and one from Yapp Brothers (at £18.75) were so vastly better than those priced at a similar level and a few pounds below. Then, fortunately, I opened a second tranche of wines and found a couple of value supermarket options. Of those higher-end bottles, my mum's favourite was the Antech Crémant de Limoux Rosé Emotion from The Wine Society (see Wines of the Week). I agree it is delicious, but for me the winner of the entire tasting was Domaine Collin Cuvée Prestige Rosé Brut NV, France (12.5%, Yapp Brothers, £18.75), which is sophisticated, dry and delicate with a gentle fragrance of red berries with subtle florals. I really loved it and felt it more than delivered for the extra cost. Either way, with these rosé sparkling wines all we need is a little spring sunshine. Wines of the week
