Vergelegen Florence Rosé
£11.59
£15.45 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
In Stock — 12 bottles available
91Tim Atkin MW
Best South African Rosé
A rose-gold Cape rosé built for sunshine. Vergelegen's Florence blends Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvèdre into something dry, delicate and quietly serious. Strawberry and raspberry lead, cool False Bay breezes keep the acidity singing, and six months on the lees adds just enough texture to lift it above the usual pink crowd. Chill it, pour it, done.
Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.
Our Verdict
We taste a lot of rosé, and most of it blurs together. Florence doesn't. There's a precision here, a quiet confidence, that comes from one of South Africa's great estates taking a style some producers treat as an afterthought and giving it real craft. The lees work adds genuine texture without touching the freshness, and Tim Atkin's 91 points for this wine tells you we're not alone in rating it. Perfect for the drinker who wants Provence prices without the Provence predictability. Stocks run thin once summer arrives, so we'd grab it while we can.
Tasting Notes
Pale rose-gold in the glass, almost blush pink with a copper edge. The nose leads with fresh strawberry and raspberry, lifted and summery, with a soft floral note underneath. The palate is light-bodied and dry, with that red berry fruit carrying through alongside a bright, delicate acidity that keeps everything fresh. Six months on lees adds a subtle weight and roundness without softening the energy, finishing clean and crisp. This is al fresco drinking distilled into a bottle.
About This Wine
You know those rosés that promise the Mediterranean and deliver cordial? This isn't one of them. Florence Rosé is Stellenbosch doing what Provence does best, with a touch more sunshine and a lot more character. The blend leans heavily on Shiraz (65%), rounded out with Grenache and a splash of Mourvèdre, each variety fermented separately in stainless steel before being brought together. Vergelegen is one of the Cape's oldest and most storied estates, settled in 1700 at the foot of the Hottentots Holland mountains. Florence takes her name from Lady Florence Phillips, who planted the estate's famous camellia garden in the 1920s. The vines sit on north-facing Hutton slopes just a few kilometres from False Bay, where cooling afternoon winds keep acidity bright and fruit precise. Expect pale rose-gold in the glass, strawberry and raspberry on the nose, and a dry, delicately textured finish shaped by six months stirring on the lees. At 12.5%, it's a wine that knows when to show up and when to get out of the way. Pour it with a chicken salad on a warm evening, a plate of grilled prawns, or anything coming off the barbecue when the British summer finally shows up. Delivered to your door anywhere in the UK, and gift-worthy for anyone who's grown bored of generic pink.
Food Pairing
This is a garden-table wine, happiest in the sunshine with simple, fresh food. Pour it with a chicken and avocado salad, grilled prawns with lemon and garlic, or a plate of smoked trout and new potatoes. It handles the first British barbecue of the year beautifully, cutting through grilled halloumi or herb-marinated chicken thighs without ever stealing the show. Chill it well and let it do the heavy lifting on a warm afternoon.
- —Grilled king prawns with lemon, garlic and parsley
- —Chicken Caesar salad with crisp cos lettuce
- —Smoked trout with new potatoes and crème fraîche
- —Barbecued halloumi with watermelon and mint
- —Niçoise salad with seared tuna and green beans
How to Serve
Decanting
No decanting needed. This is a wine built for immediate pleasure. Open it, pour it, drink it. If anything, keep the bottle in an ice bucket at the table so the last glass is as cold as the first.
Ageing & Cellaring
This is a wine to drink young and fresh, while the strawberry and raspberry notes are still singing. Enjoy within two to three years of the vintage. There is no benefit to cellaring; rosés of this style lose their vibrancy with age rather than gaining complexity.
The Land
The rosé vines sit on north- and north-west-facing slopes planted on Hutton soils, a deep red, well-drained profile that holds just enough water. Those aspects catch the afternoon sun, warming the fruit slightly more than the rest of the farm, while False Bay's breezes keep everything in balance.
The Winemaking
A pale rose-gold hue starts with intention: a mix of whole-bunch pressing and destemming, keeping only 400 litres of juice per tonne so the colour stays delicate and the flavours stay crisp. Each variety ferments separately in stainless steel with different yeasts, giving the blender more cards to play with. Around six months on the lees, with regular stirring, adds a quiet textural weight without ever dulling the fruit. No oak. Just clean, cool, considered winemaking in service of freshness.
The Stellenbosch Region
Stellenbosch sits in the shadow of dramatic mountain ranges, barely fifty kilometres east of Cape Town. Cooling breezes sweep in from False Bay, tempering the summer heat and giving grapes the slow, even ripening that builds complexity. While the region built its reputation on bold Cabernets and Bordeaux blends, its cooler pockets, particularly those exposed to Atlantic influence, are proving increasingly hospitable to Pinot Noir. Granite-based soils add mineral depth, and the sheer diversity of mesoclimates across these mountain-fringed valleys means Stellenbosch can deliver finesse just as convincingly as power.
About the Producer
Vergelegen
Vergelegen has been making wine since 1700, founded by Cape governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel and now standing as the third-oldest winemaking estate in the country. Anglo American took stewardship in 1987 and committed to the kind of long-horizon thinking the place deserves, restoring 2,240 hectares of native fynbos across the 3,000-hectare estate and earning South Africa's first BWI 'Champion' status for its conservation work. The winery itself is built into a hilltop, an octagonal structure echoing the walled garden van der Stel laid out three centuries ago. Today Luke O'Cuinneagain leads the cellar, bringing experience from Bordeaux, California and Stellenbosch, and a quiet philosophy of minimal intervention and patient stewardship.