Best rosé 2026: Proefschrift wine contest winners

Thirty-five rosés reached the final. Duds? The jury didn’t find any.

The 38th Proefschrift wine contest, one of the Netherlands’ longest-running tastings, just named the best rosé of 2026. The result says more about where rosé is heading than about any single winning bottle. Jan and Kyra van Lissum tasted the entries and picked 35 finalists across six price tiers, from under ten euros to nearly fifty.

The throughline: rosé stopped being a seasonal drink a while ago.

Provence rules, but not alone

Eighty percent of the finalists come from France, with Provence at the centre. The familiar names return. Henri Bonnaud, Domaines Ott, Rimauresq, Clos Cibonne, Puech Haut. Steady quality, year after year.

The outliers are where it gets interesting. In the tier up to fifteen euros, the win didn’t go to a Provençal at all. It went to the Cistercien Rosé from Schloss Gobelsburg in Niederösterreich, Austria. Zweigelt, Sankt Laurent and Pinot Noir, with a spicy finish the jury called a surprise. Portugal showed up with Niepoort’s Redoma in two versions, built on tinta amarela and touriga franca. Sardinia sent the Arjola from Argiolas, a cannonau rosé. Germany brought a Spätburgunder Weissherbst.

If you still think good rosé has to be pale and Provençal, you’re wrong more and more often.

The winners by price tier

Under €12.50 the winner was Le Champ des Grillons from Domaine La Croix Belle (Côtes de Thongue, organic, €10.85). Up to €15, that Austrian Schloss Gobelsburg. Up to €17.50, Henri Bonnaud took first place with his Sainte-Victoire. Up to €20, Château d’Astros surprised with Amour, an estate certified organic since 2021. Up to €25, the win went to By Ott from Domaines Ott.

And in the priciest tier, the Cuvée Tradition from Clos Cibonne was the only wine to earn five stars. Ninety percent tibouren, a rosé the jury described as being from another dimension and fit for any season.

That last bit is exactly the point.

Past the terrace

The most telling observation sits in the contest’s own introduction. Rosé remains the summer terrace wine par excellence, yet the tasters kept running into wines that hold their own at the table well beyond summer. Phrases like gastronomic rosé and food rosé run through the whole list. Ott’s Château de Selle: all year round. Clos Cibonne: any season.

There’s a shift here. Rosé is growing from aperitif into a wine for the meal. More colour, more structure, riper aromatics, tibouren or mourvèdre more often than the palest grenache blends. Not the water-clear style for the terrace, but something with enough body to stand up to a plate of food.

Two more things stand out. Almost every top wine is organic. And value at the bottom end is strong: an organic winner at €10.85 is no longer the exception.

Worth tasting

I haven’t tasted these bottles myself yet. But the list makes me curious, especially the non-French outliers and that Clos Cibonne. If you’re buying rosé this summer with the idea that it should still work at the table in October, this is a serious shortlist to start from.

The full final with all tasting notes is on proefschrift.nl.

Sources

Primary source: 38th Proefschrift Wine Contest, rosé final, proefschrift.nl, June 2026