To mark the launch of Gusbourne English Rosé 2024 to our members, we speak with Mary Bridges, our Head Winemaker. Here, she takes us through how we make English Rosé, what’s special about the 2024 vintage and how it compares with 2023.
Let’s start with the basics. There are a few different ways to make a rosé wine. While some winemakers favour blending a little red wine into a white, we opt for a different method: gently pressing our red fruit, and removing the juice before it has significant skin contact. Can you tell us more?
Our English Rosé starts with Gusbourne’s lovely Pinot fruit. We de-stem the fruit for our Rosé, and then it goes into the press for about 40 minutes to an hour. We keep checking the colour during that time – after the first flush has come through, the beautiful pink hue starts to appear.
And how do you know when to stop pressing?
It’s all about balancing colour with yield. The harder and longer you press, the more colour you extract – but we don’t want to go too far and tip into red wine territory. We’re aiming for a bright, almost neon pink. At this stage, you want the juice to have slightly more colour than you might expect because some of the colour won’t hold.
What happens next?
The juice goes into tank and we keep it on its lees – grape solids from the press. It’s held at about 8 to 10°C for a week, which helps fix the colour and preserve aromatics like citrus and red fruit. After that, we transfer the juice to a fresh tank for fermentation at around 16°C, which takes about two weeks. Then it’s filtered and bottled – usually by the end of January. That quick turnaround helps us capture all those vibrant summer fruit flavours.
So it’s not a wine to cellar?
No – it’s meant to be opened and enjoyed while it’s fresh and full of energy. That said, thanks to the Vino-Lok closure we now use instead of cork, the wine does hold its fruit really well. The 2023 is still tasting lovely.
Let’s talk about the 2024 vintage. What makes it special?
For Gusbourne, 2024 was a small but mighty vintage. We knew early on we weren’t going to make a still red, so we earmarked some lower-yielding, more concentrated Pinot fruit for the Rosé. This included Boot Hill (777 and 828 clones) and Lower Mill Hill (115, 777, 828) — all Burgundian clones with really nice fruit.
Interestingly, the parcels of vines we used for the Rosé flowered during a good weather window. That helped us get beautifully flavoursome, phenolically ripe fruit – with brown seeds and plenty of character.
How does the 2024 compare stylistically with previous vintages?
English Rosé is one of those wines where we look for vintage to vintage consistency. But 2024 is especially lovely – bright, juicy citrus, notes of tangerine and orange. It’s a bit less hedgerow-fruited than some years, but super vibrant and balanced. It just does what a rosé should do – it brings joy.
How long should I keep it?
This is a wine to enjoy in the moment. If you bought a bottle next week and opened it at Christmas, it would still be bright and fresh. It won’t develop into anything spicy or tertiary – it’s not built for that – but it will hold its energy well.
From a winemaking point of view, is Rosé one of the trickier wines to make?
Absolutely. It might be the wine we talk about in the most playful language, but it’s actually a very technical wine to make. Every step needs precision, and you’re working to a tight timeline to get it ready for spring. But when you open that bottle and it’s exactly what you hoped for – it’s worth all the effort!
A limited quantity of Gusbourne English Rosé 2024 is available exclusively to members here. Please ensure you are signed into your account to purchase this wine.
