MICHAEL GREEN’S WINE NOTES #217

Rosé wines are now returning to favour.

After a period of relative neglect, rosé wines are now returning to favour in South Africa and elsewhere. Indeed in France they apparently now outsell white wines.

In a hot climate such as South Africa’s, it is hardly surprising that there should be a resurgence of interest in rosé. The first wine I ever tasted, a long time ago, was a Bellingham Rosé, at the South African premiere of the film of Alan Paton’s book Cry the Beloved Country, but for a lengthy period the connoisseurs took a somewhat disparaging view of rosé, mainly because most of these wines were rather sweetish.

Not now. The producers are turning out some lovely dry rosés and the critics have changed their tune. It is indeed a most appealing type of wine on a hot day: pinkish in colour, with the berry flavours of good red wine, and generally with a quite low alcohol content.

Seven Cape rosés, all 2008 vintage, were offered when our private tasting group met recently at the home of Vanda Davies and Dennis Banks, and the list included several high-profile names in the Cape wine industry. Various red cultivars were used in making these wines, and the results were well received by the tasters.

The proceedings, as usual, were blind - we were given a list of the wines but did not know which was which - and in the final scoring top marks went, perhaps predictably, to the Jordan Chameleon Rosé, one of the two most expensive wines served.

The Jordan wine estate at Stellenbosch was established by the family who made their name with shoes, and its first wine was bottled 16 years ago. I have never had an indifferent wine from this source, and the Chameleon Rosé was no exception. It is made from shiraz (50 percent), merlot (44 percent) and cabernet sauvignon (6 percent) and it is a brilliant pink colour, with a rose-petal aroma and fruity, berry flavours. Alcohol volume: 13 percent. Price: R47 a bottle.

Second place was taken by what must be a good value wine, the Two Oceans Light Shiraz Rosé, made entirely from shiraz grapes. Two Oceans is a member of the Distell group and this wine was made with grapes from the Stellenbosch and Malmesbury regions. It is a light style of wine (11,5 percent alcohol) with melon aromas and crisp berry flavours. Price: R26,50.

Next came the Woolworths Organic Diving Hawk Shiraz Rosé. “Organic” means that the grapes were grown without chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers. The wine is 100 percent shiraz and it was made with grapes grown in the Cape west coast area. Bright red in colour, full-bodied (13 percent alcohol) and attractively off-dry in taste. Price: R40.

The other wines tasted (there was very little difference in the marks) were:

Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé, from Stellenbosch, strawberries and cherries in the aroma, a nice spicy, slightly peppery taste on the palate. Described by the makers as an excellent aperitif or picnic wine, an ideal summer salad wine. Alcohol: 13,5 percent. Price: R47.

Nederburg Rosé, a famous name given here to a blend of cinsaut, cabernet sauvignon, merlot cabernet franc, malbec and pinotage. Lovely pale red colour, fruity and light (12 percent alcohol) and very good value at R26.

Long Mountain Shiraz Rosé, light red, aromas and tastes of raspberry, strawberry and toffee apple, very attractive, 12,5 percent alcohol. Price: R26.

Woolworths House Rosé, made entirely of pinotage, light pink, off-dry, crisp berry flavours, 12,5 percent alcohol, price: R30. – Michael Green