Financial Times

It's the right time to make a 'song and dance' about 2004 ross, says JANCIS ROBINSON MW. Many of the 2003s were 'casualties of the heatwave summer', she says, adding that 'a ros without the thorn of acidity is a sorry thing'. Robinson says that producers in the Languedoc 'have been putting an increasing amount of effort into their pink wines'; in the Loire, 'acidity levels are high, but very pale pink Pinot from Sancerre and refreshing pink Cabernets from much further downriver can be satisfying if there is enough ripe fruit to counterbalance the acidity'; Italy provides 'some toothsome examples' from Lake Garda; Spain and Portugal are 'enthusiastic producers of particularly fruity, bumptious rosado'; while 'many New World producers are showing signs of real creativity in their offerings for this renascent wine category'.