Cricket in the park and Teres Rosé

I was introduced to the mysterious (for an American) game of cricket last weekend. My friend Ayesha’s husband plays occasionally in Regent’s Park and they invited me down one sunny Saturday afternoon to while away the day at the cricket pitch. Despite Ayesha’s best efforts to explain the game to me, I’m still mystified as to why is has so many devotees.

The real reason I went was to have a chat with Ayesha, enjoy the sunshine and the lovely rosé that I had brought along. I stopped by Wines of the World  in Earlsfield to pick up a bottle. WotW is my local but I rarely stop in, even though they have a great selection of wines to choose from, probably because I get home so late from work that they are usually closed when I pass by.

I chose a rosé from Provence, more precisely, it was a Vin de Pays des Maures, which is a relatively new (in existence for about 7 years) VDP in Provence. The wine is from the well known producer, Ch. du Rouet. The Teres 2007 (12.5% alc),  is their entry level rosé. It’s a blend of primarily grenache with a bit of cinsault thrown in for balance. The vineyard is situated on the Mediterranean coast allowing the grapes to enjoy the sea breezes coming off the sea. This in turn keeps the grapes cool and the sugar levels low producing light, dry, yet fruity wines.

The wine was a  pale pinky/salmon colour, it didn’t have very intense aromas on opening, we detected wafts of raspberries and red fruits emanating from the plastic cup (hey, we were in the park). Drinking it was a delightful surprise. Strawberries and cream, raspberries, sour cherries, full of fruit but crisp and smooth. It effortlessly slipped down our throats. A perfect wine for a summers’ day in the park. It was so easy to drink we couldn’t believe how fast the bottle emptied.

Oh well, it was a good thing we polished it off quickly because about a quarter of the way thru the cricket game a player’s nose was smashed by a bouncing cricket ball. Blood everywhere and high drama. We thought his nose was broken but he escaped with cuts and a sore nose. I did, however, have to sacrifice the ice pack that I was using to keep the rosé cold, maybe that’s why we drank it so fast. Maybe not.

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