Orange-pale salmon pink color; cherry, strawberry, bell pepper on the nose; ripe red fruit, strawberry on the palate.
Tasty fruit-forward effort; bone dry; excellent and welcomed acidity; light body, easy drinker; uncomplicated pop-and-pour that will go well with shellfish. Serve this cold, straight from fridge or ice bucket.
Made with cabernet sauvignon, not the first grape that leaps to mind when you think of rosé, but this well-positioned effort proves my blinkered vision was faulty. This is the less-serious, value-priced Bordeaux rosé Lardiley makes—they also make an 85% merlot, 15% cab version that is intended to be more serious and comes with cork closure—this pure cab effort is screw cap. I don’t have that the more-serious bottle for comparisons, but this one is nice for its price.
Owner Vincent Lataste writes of his and his winery’s background on their website: “I was born on my ancestor’s lands, at Château de Lardilley in Cadillac, near Bordeaux. I was brought up with a passion for our red gold and rapidly developed a desire to promote it around the world. I still remember when I was a kid I used to help my Dad with the vineyard. I joined and helped with the land tasks as often as I could. I learned the job with the old employees and they passed on to me the love for the wine and the terroir. After my father’s death I took over the family vineyard while I was carrying on my studies at the Oenology College in Bordeaux.
“I believe in Bordeaux’s terroirs. Research has evidenced now how crucial a good terroir is to producing good ripe grapes. The old people knew it, Bordeaux will always remain Bordeaux.
“I believe in environment protection that’s why I have been proud of coming back to respectful production methods. Vignobles Vincent Lataste now use organic agriculture technics. We abandoned chemical fertilizers and herbicides. We buy dry material (caps, wooden boxes, labels, bottles) to local suppliers. For our cases production we use wood of the Landes forest. We require labeled printers ‘ImprimVert’ and natural corks.”
Château de Lardiley Rosé Bordeaux 2015 is tasty easy drinker flush with ripe red fruit and excellent acidity. $13-14
Vincent Lataste website (click on icon for English)
Other photos: Vincent Lataste; Château de Lardiley winery
