If you read my rant yesterday about the available of good rosé, you would have noticed that I bought a few wines at my local Majestic. This interesting example was one of them.I had picked out 6 wines at this point, four from Spain and two from France. Then I looked over at the tasting table and noticed they had a couple of rosés there. One of them was this Sauvignon Blanc rosé from Marlborough. I gave it a try and was impressed, so I promptly put back my two bottles of Torres Vina Sol rosé (I've actually never tried it) and replaced them with these.
It tastes very much like a Sauvignon Blanc, but it has a little Syrah mixed in which gives it a pink colour but also contributes a red-fruit flavour essential to rosé wine. It's a winning combination, and one I'll look out for in the future.
Sauvignon Blanc Rosé 2009
Marlborough, New Zealand
Majestic
£7.49 (£5.99 when you buy 2 or more)
3/5
Posts
is this any relation to Chateau Thames Embankment?
ReplyDeleteMarc,
ReplyDeleteI depend on you for serious feedback. Is that any way to support me?
Kiwi rose is still much under-appreciated, both here and in NZ itself. Some of the finest roses around are made in North Island's Hawkes Bay from merlot and malbec - check out Mission Estate from Le Bon Vin and, particularly, Esk Valley from NZ House of Wine. The finest rose I have found (across 4 wine tours of NZ) is by Black Barn, a boutique producer just up the road from Te Mata Estate.
ReplyDeleteBut the funny thing is that when you speak to Kiwi wineries many tell you that they are stopping production of rose because "there's no market for it". Presumably they mean absolutely no market in NZ and Australia and limited market in Europe because Europeans are busy drinking the stuff that comes out of France and Spain. It's a real shame, as Kiwis are in danger of pulling out of rose, leaving only the majors like Constellation,Villa Maria etc.
Best wishes
Giles
Hi Giles,
ReplyDeleteThanks for that informative comment. I was just speaking with a friend about rose last night, and it would have been useful to have that info then!
It'd be a shame if they stopped making it - we need more good rose here, not less. The Australian stuff is usually awful I find...
Tim