WineNZ Summer 18-19 (1)
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THE TWO ROSÉS<br />
Words by Paul Taggart<br />
There is a gap of epic proportions between the type of rosé wine the public is<br />
drinking and what winemakers and wine judges think they should be drinking.<br />
The point was clearly evident in this tasting.<br />
Is that an issue? Maybe, maybe<br />
not. I think it is an issue if judges<br />
are out of touch with general<br />
consumers and don’t realize that<br />
fact, as they’ll quickly become<br />
irrelevant, in the same way that<br />
corkscrews are now pretty much irrelevant.<br />
But if they are aware of the gap and can<br />
assess wine that is both technically correct<br />
for the variety, and also appreciate why the<br />
public enjoys and buys wine that may not<br />
be worthy of five stars in their eyes, then<br />
it isn’t a drama.<br />
One obvious reason consumers may buy<br />
wine that isn’t five star is price. Loyalty<br />
to variety, brand and even the motherland<br />
often goes out the window when there’s a<br />
sub-$10 Aussie in the bargain bin.<br />
But price isn’t so much of an issue with<br />
rosé, as much of it is reasonably low cost.<br />
However, the best wines in this tasting are<br />
knocking on the door of $30, so there are<br />
a few with some pretentions. Gone are the<br />
days when rosé was where bad red grapes<br />
went to die.<br />
One of the great things about rosé is that<br />
there isn’t the geographic snobbery that<br />
is associated with some other varieties,<br />
and good versions are made everywhere;<br />
just look at our wines that were awarded<br />
stars – we have a full hand, more or less:<br />
Central Otago, Marlborough, Hawke’s<br />
Bay, Nelson, Waipara and Matinborough.<br />
And showing the judges’ consistency,<br />
they picked two wines from the same<br />
winery as the five-star winners.<br />
What makes Wooing Tree so good? It<br />
is another family owned business (there<br />
is a theme developing with this tasting)<br />
and good Central Otago fruit. These two<br />
wines pressed all the buttons for our judges.<br />
Barry Riwai said they would both be<br />
excellent wines with food.<br />
Simon and Matt both picked the Wooing<br />
Tree Central Otago Rosé 20<strong>18</strong> as their<br />
top wine, while Barry went for Blondie.<br />
He said – and this is an accurate quote –<br />
“Drinking this wine with food, I would<br />
be on another plane. I would die and be<br />
in heaven”.<br />
There may be a certain amount of<br />
winemaker hyperbole in that statement,<br />
but it clearly makes a point. This wine<br />
needs to be on everyone’s table over the<br />
festive season.<br />
38 <strong>WineNZ</strong> Magazine | <strong>Summer</strong> 20<strong>18</strong>-<strong>19</strong>