By Fergal Gleeson
Rosé Wine has had a spectacular rise in popularity in Australia in recent years. Rose has changed both in style and substance from a deep coloured, girly, unfashionable, cordial like drink to one which is now enjoyed all year round, by men and women of all ages! Though millennials still can’t resist Insta #Rosé shots of themselves by the pool!
I spoke to some of Margaret Rivers leading winemakers about what’s leading the Rosé revolution and how they make there’s.
Xanadu Wines
“Rosé quality has never been better in Australia,” says Glenn Goodall, long term winemaker with the highly awarded Xanadu Wines.
“I think an increasing number of winemakers are now taking Rosé a bit more seriously by making decisions to produce Rosé right from the get go, in the vineyard, rather than as an afterthought in the winery.”
“I think that consumers have finally realised that the Rosés on offer now are quite different to those that their parents may have been drinking 20 or 30 years ago.”
“The perception of Rosé has taken a while to change since then, but it seems as though a new generation of consumers have discovered that Australian Rosés have evolved into much more refined wines.”
“These days elegant, salmon-hued, dry savoury styles (such as we’ve come to expect from Provence) are being produced locally and leading the Rosé revolution. “
How does Glenn choose the varietals for Xanadu Rosé?
“We have a small block of Graciano on our Stevens Road vineyard which we have always used in our DJL Rosé (in some years the DJL is actually 100% Graciano),” Glenn says.
“The variety has always played an important part of the blend as it offers lovely savoury/spicy elements, and next to no green characters even when we pick it relatively early for Rosé production. In years when we don’t have enough Graciano, we’ll target a portion of estate grown Shiraz to use in the DJL Rosé blend as it complements the spiciness and offers lovely primary fruits.”
Given Xanadu make a crisp, dry, savoury style Glenn feels it’s perfectly suited to dishes with a bit of spice, with tapas or a simple platter of cured meats, olives and cheeses.
Cullen Wines
Vanya Cullen, Halliday Companion Winemaker of the Year 2020 feels that it’s about time that Rosé Wine became popular because “it’s such a fun style which crosses many food types.”
Vanya describes Cullen’s 2019 ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’ Rosé as a fun wine where the varietal mix changes from year to year depending on vintage conditions.
The grapes are sourced from Cullen’s certified biodynamic vineyards and fermented in wild yeast to make a genuinely natural wine.
More than any other wine style there is a lot of focus from consumers on the colour of their Rosé. I asked Vanya about the relationship between Rosé colour and sweetness.
Vanya thinks that “The colour which is most beautiful is the Provençal Rosé colour. Sweetness is different to colour. The wine has fruit sweetness which comes from the physiologically ripe grapes off balanced biodynamic vines which have low yields particularly in 2019.”
She recommends ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’ Rosé with Antipasto.
More at http://www.xanadu.com.au and
From Your Margaret River Region Magazine
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