Paarl Heights Rose
£9.29
£12.39 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
Only 2 bottles left
Rosé made from Chenin Blanc? It works beautifully here. Pale, coppery pink with crushed peach and a whisper of strawberry, this Paarl charmer is dry, fresh and softly rounded. The kind of easy, food-friendly bottle you reach for again and again once the sun finally shows up over Britain.
Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.
UK wide delivery
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Our Verdict
We have a soft spot for clever winemaking that does not cost the earth, and this is exactly that. A dry rosé built from Chenin Blanc is an unusual move, and Boutinot pull it off with a freshness and gentle savoury bite that lift it well above most supermarket pink. For under a tenner, it punches considerably above its weight. It is the bottle we would happily bring to a barbecue or hand to a friend who claims they do not like rosé. We only have a couple left in stock, so if dry, summery and easy-drinking is your thing, do not dawdle.
Tasting Notes
Pale coppery-pink in the glass, with aromas of crushed ripe peach and a hint of candied fruit that promise something more generous than the dry, taut palate delivers. And that contrast is the charm. There is subtle red berry fruit here, a brush of wild strawberry from the slow, cold ferment, then a gentle savoury edge and fine granite-driven minerality that keeps everything fresh. The finish is soft and rounded rather than sharp, leaving you reaching for the next sip.
About This Wine
Here is a rosé that does something a little different, and is all the better for it. Most pink wines lean on red grapes, but Boutinot turned to Chenin Blanc, the variety that first drew them to South Africa, and the result is a wine with real freshness and personality at a price that barely registers. In the glass it is pale, coppery pink. The nose gives you crushed ripe peach and candied fruit, then the palate follows through dry and clean: subtle berry, a gentle savoury edge, and a soft, rounded finish that keeps you pouring. The fruit comes from old bush vines on the granite foothills of Paarl Mountain, the second-largest granite outcrop on earth. Those decomposed-granite soils are where the quiet minerality comes from, and a slow, cool three-week fermentation locks in all that bright, strawberry-scented aromatic lift. Serve it well chilled. This is a picnic-blanket, back-garden, first-barbecue-of-the-year kind of wine, happy alongside grilled prawns, a summer salad, soft goat's cheese or simply a sunny afternoon with friends. It also makes a genuinely lovely, low-risk gift for anyone who enjoys their rosé dry rather than sweet. We deliver across the UK, usually within a few days, so you can have it chilling by the weekend.
Food Pairing
Built for outdoor eating. Pour it well chilled alongside chargrilled prawns or a platter of cold poached salmon and new potatoes. It has the savoury edge to handle a herby roast chicken salad, and the freshness to cut through a goat's cheese and beetroot tart. Honestly, it is happiest at a summer barbecue with whatever is coming off the coals.
- —Chargrilled garlic prawns
- —Cold poached salmon with new potatoes
- —Herby roast chicken salad
- —Goat's cheese and beetroot tart
- —Barbecued chicken skewers
How to Serve
Decanting
No decanting needed. This is a fresh, dry rosé meant to be poured straight from a cold bottle, so keep it chilled and serve it as it is.
Behind the Wine
Paarl bakes under a Mediterranean sun with a continental streak, midsummer days climbing well above 35°C while cool nights slip back in to lock acidity and aromatic lift into the fruit. Winter rains quietly recharge the soil for a long, dry growing season. That swing between heat and cool is what keeps this rosé fresh rather than flabby, and a slow, cold cellar regime carries the bright, fruity esters all the way into the glass.
Ageing Potential
This is built for freshness, not the cellar. The slow, cold ferment locks in those bright fruity esters, so drink it young and well chilled to catch the wine at its most vibrant rather than holding bottles back.
The Land
These grapes grow on old bushvines, some pushing past thirty years, planted across the granite foothills of Paarl Mountain. The soils are decomposed granite: free-draining and low in vigour, which keeps yields modest and concentration high. That same stony base is where the wine's gentle, mineral thread comes from, a subtle savoury edge running beneath the soft fruit.
The Winemaking
Everything here is about gentleness. The grapes come in cool, are destemmed, then lightly bag-pressed so the juice never picks up harsh, grippy tannins. A brief twelve hours on skins draws out that pale, coppery-pink colour and a whisper of berry. The juice settles, then ferments slow and cold at 12 to 15°C for a full three weeks. That patient, chilly fermentation is the trick: it holds onto the delicate strawberry and peach esters that would simply burn off in a warmer tank.
About the Producer
Boutinot
Paul Boutinot spent years searching the world for a site that could make wine on his terms. He found it on the Schapenberg, a windswept ridge above Somerset West looking out over False Bay and the Atlantic. From day one Waterkloof was farmed organically, with biodynamic conversion following soon after. Cattle, sheep and goats roam the estate producing compost and grazing cover crops, and draught horses do the work tractors usually do, keeping the soil loose and alive. Cellarmaster Nadia Barnard, who joined at the very beginning and now runs the cellar, takes those naturally balanced grapes and gives them as little intervention as possible. It's farming as philosophy, and you can taste it.