a’Becketts Rams Cliff Rosé 2019

a’Becketts Rams Cliff Rosé has a light blush colour and attractive strawberry aromas. Don’t be put off by a 2019 vintage as often cool climate English wines benefit from time in the bottle to develop and improve their subtle flavours. We are impressed with the freshness and flavours in this latest vintage of a’Becketts Rams Cliff Rosé.

It has aromas of strawberries and herbs, which follow through to strawberry and raspberry fruit flavours with a nice balancing acidity coupled with excellent length. This is an elegant and well balanced wine which makes a perfect aperitif at just 11% abv. If you are looking for a light in alcohol wine, this delicate, and limited production,  a’Becketts Rams Cliff Rosé is definitely worth discovering.

Paul and Lynn Langham were amongst the early group of vine growers, and proudly proclaim themselves as Wiltshire’s largest vineyard. At 4 hectares (11 acres) this is tiny even by English standards! However, the geology here is excellent, greensand over chalk, similar to that of Ridgeview and Nyetimber, and Paul says that their location, further inland than most English vineyards provides less variation in weather. The vineyard is in Littleton Panell, just North of Salisbury Plain. The village is overlooked by the Rams Cliff escarpment. Paul and Lynn have named this classic English Rosé after this local feature.

For a relatively small size they grow a good variety of grapes with Pinot Noir, (making up more than 50%), Chardonnay, Auxerrois, Reichensteiner and Seyval Blanc; all their wines have vegan status. Around 70% of Paul’s wines are still wines with his Seyval Blanc dominated Sparkling White, Cuvée Victor (named after Lynn’s carpenter father who helped build the wine storage facility and despite being tee total, is a regular member of the picking team!

This is a limited production wine with only 3000 bottles made; why not pop one in your selection to try it! One or two other independents sell this wine around £16: check out our amazingly, competitive price.

“Summery! Pleasant soft red fruit scents and clean flavours, decent length. Good value”  Liz Sagues, Wine Journalist and International Wine competition judge. July 2019