Pansy tickles the palates of US distributors

Pansy - a quirky Kim Crawford wine originally made "just as a bit of fun" - has captured the imagination of the company's United States distributor.

The rose wine, which features a distinctive bright-pink screwtop and label, was first produced last year and was intended only for the wine lists of a handful of Auckland restaurants.

It is dedicated to "three of Ponsonby Rd's best-known hospitality professionals" - SPQR bar manager James Hall, Surrender Dorothy's Robert Street, and Street's drag queen alter-ego Onya.

Despite its initial limited release, the wine was such a hit with Auckland drinkers that the company began distributing it more widely.

When Erica Crawford was in Atlanta, Georgia, last month giving a presentation at Vincor distribution subsidiary RH Phillips-Hogue's annual sales meeting, she pulled out photographs from the Pansy launch party, held at SPQR restaurant.

At the end of the presentation an enthralled Phillips-Hogue sales manager asked if the company could take 2000 cases of the wine.

Erica Crawford had to pass on the bad news that only 100 cases were available. But a much larger order is now on the books for this year's vintage.