White Series Rosé

You can have this beautiful Quoin Rock Rosé on its own or with seafood dishes, such as crayfish, mussels, or ceviche. It is also an excellent partner for steak tartare.

The name Quoin Rock found its inspiration from the Agulhas area the most southern tip of Africa where Quoin Point is the second most southernly point and where Quoin Rock Wines’ conservation farm Boskloof is located. Ships rounding the cape on their way back from or to markets in the east from the mid-1400’s to these modern times would stop over at the cape of good hope — todays Table Bay Harbour Cape Town to replenish their boats with fresh produce. Farms like Quoin Rock would rush produce to the harbour and from the late 1660’s wines from South Africa started forming part of the goods delivered to the port. Now just over 350 years later South African wines are still exported from Table Bay harbour. While wine production is the main activity at Quoin Rock in Stellenbosch the Agulhas farm Boskloof focuses on conservation. Bontebok springbok eland and zebra have been reintroduced to this area.

Our Rosé is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. These cultivars are known to thrive against the slopes of Simonsberg mountain, where they get good sun while still being cooled off by southern winds blowing in from Table Bay. To deliver the most fruit while still guaranteeing a light colour, we hand-select the bunches from Quoin Rock vineyards at the break of day to ensure that thegrapes are still cool when they get to the cellar.

After fermentation, we rack the wine back into the same barrels to age for a further six months. With regular bâtonage, we generate a lovely textured palate that still emphasizes the fruit.

Although Rosé is commonly perceived as a fun, playful, everyday wine, it is one of the most challenging wines to make as we want to achieve a lightly coloured wine that still delivers on fruit and acidity. After we receive our grapes in the cellar, the bunches go into the press for a gentle squeeze at very low pressures and recoveries to ensure minimal colour extraction. The must is then settled for two days. On day three, the must is racked and inoculated in old 225-litre barrels for fermentation.