Rogers & Rufus is the tale of two vignerons whose passion for wine is matched with a love for the frivolous summer months.
An Australian professional winemaker of great repute, Rogers runs the oldest family owned winery in Australia, Yalumba. He is never happier than when that summer sun starts to shine, the Aussie test match looms and the water of Kangaroo Island is calling his name. Add a glass of rosé, and it’s the closest thing to Utopia a man can get.
A British entrepreneur and a visionary at heart, Rufus has always been an ideas man. His wine journey started at well-known Champagne house, Veuve Clicquot, before revolutionising the Gastropub scene across Blighty. Nostalgic for the romance and glamour of a forgotten era, Rufus has a passion for vintage cars and is a man that truly embodies joie de vivre!
Meeting in a South East London pub that Rufus was renovating, the two talked wine and how Australian wine, in particular Rosé, was misunderstood because of the ruby red colours that were the colour of the day. Rufus was a Rosé hound and though it was not fashionable many moons ago, it was a summer that just cried for delicate, savoury, cool, edgy Rosé of Grenache.
Later in Kangaroo Island after a surfing and fishing holiday, it was apparent that their ice buckets lacked one vital summer ingredient - a cold, crisp, pale Rosé - and so Rogers & Rufus was born.
With a shared appetite for the finer things in life, the two set about creating the best expression of Australian Rosé possible. They decided to find a vineyard of old Barossa Valley Grenache and craft a provincial style Rosé for Rufus’ London pub. The result a pale salmon-pink wine, with a savoury rather than fruity style. Its palate is subtle, delicate and properly dry. Most importantly, it is eminently quaffable! It went so well they made it for two pubs, then ten pubs, and so on.