French Beginnings: A Deep Dive into Singlefile’s Great Southern Rosé

National Rosé Day is coming up on 5th of February and we saw this as an opportune time to  take a closer look at the evolution of Singlefile’s Great Southern Rosé.

Rosé styles can span from crisp and bone-dry, to fruity and sweet. The main varietal used will also have a significant impact on the style of rosé and flavour profile. Historically, rosé in Australia was often made from the first press of shiraz grapes. The rationale behind this approach being that this would make for a more concentrated and better red wine, with the added benefit of producing a light wine or “rosé”! It could be said that rosé was seen as an afterthought, rather than a considered endeavour. Early pioneers of rosé production in Australia, Charles Melton and Turkey Flat, were some of the exceptions — giving time and concentration to the craft of this style. 

In the global market, Southern France’s Provence wine region plays a key role in rosé production, long regarded as the rosé capital of the world. Popular varietals used to make rosé include grenache, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, sangiovese and nebbiolo.

The Inspiration behind the Singlefile Great Southern Rosé 

An adventure to France led Singlefile co-founder Pam Corbett to Bandol, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Here, she visited the Domaine Tempier winery and tasted the rosé that would become Singlefile’s benchmark. 

Image Credit: Domain Tempier 

In 2019 Patrick Corbett worked with winemaker Coby Ladwig to explore how Singlefile could produce a wine in a ‘Bandol’ style. This led them to a Great Southern vineyard of established Sangioviese, from which they produced an experimental batch of rosé. Due to the tiny volume produced it was released exclusively to Wine Club members and critics. 

The Sangiovese Varietal

Sangiovese, a Mediterranean varietal, is well suited to the production of premium rosé—balancing fruit flavour, savouriness and natural acidity. It provides the opportunity to produce a dry styled rosé with nuanced and elegant flavours of cranberry, orange skin and spices that are both refreshing and complex. It has a subtle textural mouthfeel and good length of flavour. In 2020 Singlefile were in a position to better prepare the Sangiovese vineyard for rosé production and now, all of the Sangiovese is used exclusively for the Singlefile Great Southern Rosé. 

In 2022 the Singlefile’s Great Southern Rosé won a gold medal in the International Rosé Championship (IRC), competing against true Provence wines. The IRC is intended to be the biggest international wine competition in the world that focuses specifically on rosé, and attracts entries from the world's renowned rosé producers including France, Italy, and Germany. To emerge with a gold medal was an unexpected, but encouraging result according to Patrick. 

“Given we had only been working with Sangiovese and this vineyard for a few vintages, receiving this accolade provided Coby and I with the confidence we were on the right track,” he said.

Ideal Rosé Pairings

Rosé is the perfect wine for the Australian summer, effortlessly complementing a laid-back, versatile lifestyle. It's light and easy for casual social events, yet dry enough to enjoy with any meal, especially those with a bit of spice, such as Thai green chicken curry.

As it is currently oyster season in Albany, co-founder Viv Snowden recommends pairing this rosé with fresh oysters and a kimchi vinaigrette. Speaking of pairings…if you review the back of the Great Southern Rosé bottle, you’ll find a link to our curated Spotify playlist set to transport you to the French Riviera as you sip on a crisp refreshing glass of this fine wine. Currently our most popular playlist, listen to it here.