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ROSÉ EX MACHINA 2018

ROSÉ EX MACHINA 2018

Not just one of the very best wines we've released, we think our designer Jimmy has created probably the sexiest looking English wine label ever for our new Rose Ex Machina... very appropriate considering how opulent and indulgent this wine is, how sensual and hedonistic it feels. 

Whenever I taste it - in fact: drink, consume, or inhale it - I am instantly transported back to 2018 and the near-constant luminosity of that year. It wasn't just full of sunshine, it was simply relentlessly warm and bright from start to finish. The only interruption was... extra heat. And almost without a puff of wind at times, and virtually no rain. That remarkable summer is super evident in the wine, the flavours are so forward, generous and immediate and at ease with themselves - this Rose Ex Machina exudes all the confidence that it's label promises.

Dermot Sugrue

Hellen McGinn (Saturday Kitchen)
"Divine! Literally magical" April 2024
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TECHNICAL INFORMATION

CEPAGE: 70% Pinot Noir, 20% Pinot Meunier, 10% Chardonnay.

VINEYARD: Coldharbour Vineyard planted in 2005. Vines were13 years old at the time of harvest. 70-100m above sea level.

SOIL TYPE: West Sussex Chalk with clay and flint.

YIELD: 7,250kg/ha, 7,500 bottles produced. Lower yield on Pinot Noir for red wine vinification.

VINIFICATION: 100% fermented in stainless steel, without malolactic fermentation. 20% red wine from Pinot Noir.

MATURATION: Bottled in July 2019. First release in April 2024, four and a half years on lees.

ANALYSIS: Dosage 8 g/L, 12% abv.

THE STORY BEHIND ‘ROSÉ EX MACHINA’

Greek tragedies were full of dreams and scandal. Calamitous plots, based upon the myths of the time which often left the poor protagonists desperate and without hope. Sometimes, the situations were so complicated they seemed impossible to resolve. In such circumstances, a Deux Ex Machina (Latin for God from the machine) would be introduced suddenly and unexpectedly, surprising the audience and solving the seemingly insoluble problem being acted out on stage. These not only delighted the audience but brought about a happy ending too.

First vintage of Rosé Ex Machina was in 2016 - when extraordinary events unexpectedly occurred. The grape quality was exceptional, but the yields were tiny, and the tanks and barrels were barren. It didn’t look good. Suddenly though, like a Deux Ex Machina from the above-mentioned Greek tragedies all those years ago, the Gods intervened with grapes from Jenkyn Place Vineyard that were, quite literally, perfect. So crisp and so ripe and so faultless, it meant that he could make this extraordinary wine after all. The first ever rosé English sparkling wine from Sugrue South Downs. It truly is a wine from the Gods, a Rosé from the sky, a Rosé Ex Machina.

AWARDS AND REVIEWS

Hellen McGinn (Saturday Kitchen)
"Divine! Literally magical" April 2024

Previous vintages

95 POINTS
Anne Krebiehl MW Falstaff, May 2022 

"Linear and taut with great precision showing subtle leafy hints with cherry and cranberry hints as well as keen acidity and fine spicy hints. So linear and fine with lovely purity". 

94 POINTS

Jamie Goode www.wineanorak.com Sept 2023

AWARDS

WineGB Boutique Producer 2020, 2021 & 2023.

WINEMAKERS NOTES

Vibrant, rich coral pink colour. On the nose wine is effortlessly ripe, fresh with orange peel, rose petals and strawberry ice-cream aromas. First sip strikes with juicy peach flavours that are in perfect balance with red-fruit creaminess. Pleasing touch of herbaceous notes gives complexity and dimensionality to yeast-infused berry flavours. Aftertaste is long, persistent and moreish. Perfect condition to drink now, but will improve with age and time on cork. Both a serious and gastronomic wine that will pair brilliantly with a whole range of dishes, this is equally a crowd-pleaser that gives much pleasure on its own.