The Wharie Experience Rosé Reserve

I have thought long and hard about tasting notes. Whether it's level 1, 2, 3, 4 of the industry standard qualifications, it seems to me that consumers would like recommendations, best finds, and wines they wouldn't normally consider. So therefore, I leave the clinical descriptors out of the reviews. If it's a wine that doesn't represent the grape—I will say!

Let's look at The Wharie Experience.

If you are following my journey through English Vineyards, you know I love a producer that takes the attention away from traditional constraints and puts it entirely on the wine. Swiss oenologist Guillaume Lagger is doing exactly that on his wife’s family farm down in Sway, nestled in the New Forest National Park.

While the standard bottling is a fantastic juice, Guillaume has held this one back to create something a little bit special: The Réserve.

The biggest difference here? Patience. Unlike standard rosés that are rushed out the door to keep up with summer demand, the Réserve spends an extra year aging quietly in the bottle before it even begins to peek out into the sunlight.

For example, when the fresh 2023 vintage hit the market, the bottle on the table for the Réserve was the cellared 2022.

Patience pays off. The extended bottle age acts like a volume knob, turning down the aggressive, sharp acidity of the standard entry-level bottle and turning up the complexity. It tempers the palate into something beautifully structured, rounder, and noticeably softer, all while keeping that core of bright red berries and juicy watermelon.

It is low-intervention, minimalist winemaking at its best, letting the unique Hampshire terroir do the talking. The industry noticed, too—the 2022 vintage picked up a well-deserved Bronze Medal at the Independent English Wine Awards (IEWA).

So this is a find for sure! A style that youll either love. If your looking for that Natural / Skin Contact Lowintervention. then this winery is for you.