KEY POINTS:
Before the fad for designer glassware, pink wines and New Zealand
wines had taken off in this country.
There was an exotic-looking bottle on the windowsill of the house where I grew up. Short and broad-shouldered, its label had been removed and it was used to "strike" cuttings of plants to grow in the garden. Whenever I asked where this unusual bottle was from, the unsatisfactory reply fired back that it was a wine bottle. This meant nothing to a toddler living in a household where wine bottles were never seen.
Years later I discovered the secret. It was a Mateus ro[e bottle.
Revile it you may, but Mateus still exists in the same bottle, except these days it's sealed with a screw cap.
Its relaunch in the past decade in an extensive European "drink pink" campaign helped spur a global trend that many wine drinkers love to hate: pink wine.
I love to pour a good ro[e for anyone who thinks they hate them. Not all pink wines taste good, but some are every bit as serious as wines considered more mainstream.
The best I have tasted are bone dry, made in Spain and look and taste far more like light reds than the insipid lolly pinks that many wine drinkers conjure up when they hear the word ro[e.
A trip to your nearest specialist wine store may yield these goodies. Look for these labels: Coto de Hayas and Bodegas Chivite, both from Spain, both unavailable in supermarkets.
Meanwhile, here are three top-tasting diverse ro[es from New Zealand
and Australia that are easy to find.
2007 Jacob's Creek Three Vines Shiraz Cabernet Tempranillo $18
Lay aside your preconceptions of pink wine. This three-way blend
of shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and tempranillo has all the qualities of a
light-bodied red.
Its colour comes from the Spanish tempranillo grape, which also adds body and an interesting savoury flavour.
2008 Askerne Hawke's Bay Ro[e $20
From a small Hawkes Bay winery comes this refreshing light red. When
tasted in early summer by a dozen wine drinkers it emerged head and
shoulders above the other two ro[es served next to it. The reason? It was the driest with the most body and the most lingering flavours.
2008 Rockburn Central Otago Stolen Kiss Pinot Ro[e $20
Now that pinot noir is the most planted red grape in New Zealand, it's no surprise to find a growing number of light reds and pink wines made from it.
This Central Otago pinot has been pressed lightly into service as a soft pink wine that tastes good with food because of its intensely fresh backbone.
