What does the new Queen rosé taste like?
That’s probably the question on many a pink wine drinker’s lips, and Patrick Schmitt MW gives his verdict following a blind tasting against the competition.
As db reported last month, Queen drummer Roger Taylor has put his name to a rosé from the Côtes de Provence – the largest and most famous wine appellation (AOP) in the Provence region of southeastern France.
Called Cuvée Rock n’ Roll, it comprises the area’s leading pink winemaking grapes Grenache and Cinsault from the 2025 harvest, using fruit from the grower-cooperative Les Caves du Commandeur, which is a direct investor in the Queen wine brand.
Described by Taylor at a London launch event as “delicious”, and ideal for drinking “on the back of a major yacht in hot weather”, the pink wine has been priced higher than the majority of mass-market French rosés, such as La Vieille Ferme, but lower than the Provençal brand leader: Whispering Angel.
“Our aim is not to be too expensive,” said Taylor at the unveiling party, noting that Queen Cuvée Rock n’ Roll will retail for around £18 in Waitrose – along with Amazon, Booths and Sainsbury’s – making it cheaper than its primary rival, which retails for £23 in the same retailer.
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So, what does it taste like? The best way to assess a wine such as this is to taste it ‘blind’ against its competitive set, which I have in fact done on two separate occasions – as the wine has been entered into the UK’s largest competition for just pink wines, The Global Rosé Masters this year and the last; both times, it has secured a Gold medal.
In 2025, it was submitted as ‘project pink’ with the 2024 vintage, with the partners in the project, UK agency business Watermill Wines entering a trial cuvée to see how it fared – which was very well, picking up a glistening medal.
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Following that success, in April this year, the first commercial release from the latest vintage was entered, and again, the Côtes de Provence rosé gained a Gold, and was in fact the only sample to pick up this hard-won accolade in the £15-20 bracket, which featured around 30 different wines.
So what does it taste like? Please read on to see my note, as well as the key facts about the new celebrity-based wine brand.
Queen Côtes de Provence Rosé: the taste
Pale poached salmon pink, with aromas of red cherry and ripe pear. In the mouth, these fruit flavours are joined by notes of white-fleshed peach, wild strawberry, sweet apple and a touch of ruby grapefruit. This is a pleasingly soft rosé, but with an appealing juicy citrus note on the finish, which, when coupled with a subtle chalky texture, gives a dry, cleansing edge to what is a satisfying, slightly creamy, mouth-filling wine – the sort of rosé that made Provence famous, and bone-dry pink wine popular. In short, a high-quality addition to the category, and this year’s best still dry rosé under £20. (Patrick Schmitt MW)
Queen Côtes de Provence Rosé: the tech specs
- Producer: Les Caves du Commandeur
- Region: Provence
- Country: France
- Vintage: 2025
- Grape varieties: 70% Grenache, 30% Cinsault
- ABV: 13%
- Residual sugar: 1.4g/l
- pH: 3.37
- Acidity: 3.42 g/l
- Approx. retail price: £18.50
- Medal: Gold in The Global Rosé Masters 2026
- The wine is produced by Les Caves du Commandeur in Montfort-sur-Argens, Provence – a winery founded in 1913 and made up of 60 local growers, tending vineyards that are either certified organic or High Environmental Value (HVE).
- With just 1.4g of residual sugar per litre, this is a genuinely dry wine, and the relatively high acidity keeps it fresh.
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