2016 Gusbourne Sparkling Rose
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Tasting notes
60% Pinot Noir, 39% Chardonnay, 1% Pinot Meunier. A mild spring resulted in a mid-April budburst. The weather during flowering was warm and dry resulting in abundant fruit-set. Veraison in early August as usual. Harvest began in early October. Fruit from own vineyards in Appledore, Kent, and near Goodwood, West Sussex, on largely clay soils. Primary fermentation in temperature-controlled (18–20 °C) stainless-steel tanks with a small percentage of barrel-aged red wine blended before secondary fermentation. Full malo. Bottled 9 May 2017. Minimum 30 months on lees. TA 8 g/l, pH 2.95, RS 8.7 g/l. Tasted blind. Mid orangey pink. Timid nose. Sweet start and a little sickly on the end. Rose-petal flavour. (JR)
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Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
Disgorged in October 2020, Gusbourne's 2016 Brut Rosé is showing very nicely, unfurling in the glass with a youthfully reserved nose of ripe apples, mandarin, red berries and peony. Medium to full-bodied, seamless and complete, with tangy acids, fine concentration and a pearly mousse, it's tightly wound after its recent disgorgement, but it's evidently a very fine bottle in the making.
The 2016 Rosé from Gusbourne has a slightly deeper salmon/bronze hue than I was expecting, but with a fine mousse. The bouquet does not mess about, delivering strawberry and light peachy aromas. Not amazingly tense, but clean, and if you like your rosé fruity instead of steely, then you will be pleased. The palate is fresh on the entry, offering red cherries, orange peel and lemon zest, armed with lively acidity. The rather spicy finish just feels a little heavier than I would have liked. But otherwise this is a fine sparkling rosé to enjoy over the next 4–5 years.