Private wine tasting with Rowton Vineyard.
It’s 5 p.m. on a Wednesday and the team gather around the kitchen island, an air of anticipation. Conversation fades as bottles are opened and glasses filled, everyone eager to take a sip of a brand so close to our hearts: Rowton Vineyard.
Shaping an identity for their fresh and vibrant wines, we previously helped Mel and Zoe capture the spirit of their Shropshire vineyard through branding and packaging that reflects the character of their produce. It was now our turn to enjoy the full experience with a private tasting here at 5 Claremont Bank.
Tasting notes
With some new members on our team, they kicked off with a quick refresh about how it all began. They started in 2020 with a four-hour talk from a specialist team in Germany about planting vines. Two and a half years later, they had their first harvest. By 2023, they had produced 14,000 bottles, and in 2024, they had an even more impressive yield of 2.8 tonnes. Their products are a true testament to what Shropshire has to offer, and we were eager to taste our local terroir.
When sampling their wines, the advice was simple. Take your time and aerate as you try, allowing the nuances to unfold on the palate and unlocking the full character. We began with the pinks, admired for their beautifully clear colour. The aromas are soft and pleasant, and invite you to pause before the first sip, just to savour it.
Here’s the full lowdown of what we enjoyed.
We started with the 2018 Pink Fizz, a sparkling rosé that was also Rowton’s very first wine. Delicate yet bright, it’s a sophisticated blend of 80% Pinot Noir Précoce, 10% Chardonnay, and Seyval Blanc. Featuring notes of sweet raspberries and biscuity elderflower, it’s a dry wine laced with fruit. Age continues to add character to each bottle of this easy-drinking household staple.
Next came the 2022 Pink Pinot Noir Précoce, a small batch still rosé with softer acidity and winner of a Bronze award at the Independent English Wine Awards (IEWA). The grapes were left on their skins for just two hours before being gently removed, allowing Rowton to capture that beautiful shade of pink without letting tannins take over. This is the perfect wine for slow summer afternoons, and the kind of bottle you reach for when the only thing on the agenda is to kick back on a sun lounger, glass in hand.
A true celebration of the Shropshire terroir, the 2022 Sparkling Solaris is a fruity party wine with a refined fizz and notes of green nettle, floral hints, and classic green apple acidity. It uses grapes from the vineyard’s very first harvest, and was fermented in the bottle for three months. The result is an easy-going wine that carries lively notes of peach and grapefruit to the nose and tongue.
The last to round off the evening is the 2023 Solaris, a still white that has already won multiple awards and swiftly become their bestseller. Bright, rounded, and balanced with a grapefruit nose and zippy green apple acidity, it’s green and fresh but never too sharp. Reminiscent of a Sauvignon Blanc, it’s the sort of bottle that feels right at any hour, for any table.
A passion for local brands
Throughout the tasting, it became clear that every wine is a reflection of the season and the local soil. Some years they lean towards being more tropical, others green and fresh. Mel and Zoe go with the grapes, treating each harvest with the utmost respect for what each year brings.
And as the afternoon drew to a close, our Shrewsbury branding and web design agency was reminded of why we love working with brands like Rowton. There’s a sincerity to their brand story, an honest passion for their craft, and they have a delicious product we can most definitely get behind.
