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Gutter&Stars
Punka MVB Rosé
2024
4.0
Region
England › Essex › Crouch Valley
Type
rose · still
Grapes
Bacchus, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Ortega
Alcohol
11.5%
Volume
750 mL
Tasting Notes(1)
4.0
G&S surprises me twice now. Listen, this isn't deep or complex rosé - who cares? It's stupidly drinkable, the kind you want to gulp rather than contemplate. Cornelian cherry, strawberry, rhubarb somehow meeting cream and wet stones. Proper minerality and acid without that cloying beach-wine sweetness that makes you hate pink wine. The palate's like drinking fancy kompot - round, satisfying, just fucking delicious. This windmill winery gets it: sometimes wine just needs to be joyful.
About
A G&S first, this multi-vintage-blend includes wines from the 2023 and 2024 vintages, each wine is fermented separately in oak before blending. Sauvignon Blanc gives the wine its tropical backbone, Ortega adds depth, Bacchus brings a fresh citrus note, and Pinot Noir completes the picture offering colour and red berry fruit. A wild and dry pink wine.
Winemaking
Four single-site, single-parcel wines were vinified separately then blended and matured in stainless steel. The whites came from the 2024 vintage and make up 92% of the blend, 8% Pinot Noir comes from 2023.
Sauvignon Blanc from Creeksea Place Barns in Essex makes up 65% of the blend, followed by Ortega (18%) and Bacchus (9%) from Yew Tree Vineyard in Oxfordshire. A dash of Pinot Noir (8%) from Missing Gate Vineyard in Essex completes the blend. The Pinot was from the 2023 vintage, so was aged in oak barrel for 12 months before addition.
The wine was bottled on 25th February 2025. Just 230 bottles were produced.
Punka is bottled unfined and unfiltered making it vegan friendly. Due to this hands-off approach the wine may throw a delicate, harmless sediment in the bottle.
What to expect
A wild ride. This experimental blend is out-there; there's wild strawberry fruit and a dash of wood on the nose, followed by a richness on the palate from the Sauvignon Blanc and Ortega. Bacchus adds zip, acidity and texture and then the red fruit (raspberry, strawberry) comes roaring back. Long and refreshing.
Artwork: 'Dancing About Architecture' by Chris Wilson & Ed Wright
Wine name: 'Punka' is a 1996 single from Sunderland-based indie band Kenickie. It's re-release in 1997 was a Top 40 hit for the Lauren Laverne-fronted band. "Hey Punka".
Bottles produced: 230, each one individually numbered
- Varieties: Sauvignon Blanc, Ortega, Bacchus, Pinot Noir
- Vineyards: Creeksea Place Barns, Yew Tree Vineyard, Missing Gate Vineyard
- Harvest Date: 4th-17th October, 2024
- Alcohol: 11.5% abv
- pH: 3.19
- Titratable Acidity: 8.08 g/L
- Bottled: 25th February, 2025
- Released: 5th May, 2025
--- Gutter&Stars
