A touch of Provence in Rutherglen

While working in France in 2004 / 2005, Winemaker and Rutherglen Young blood Christobelle Anderson was quite taken by some of the famous Rosé wines of Tavel and Provence in Southern France.   Light, refreshing, low alcohol and completely dry, this style of wine is as perfect for the Australian summer as it is for the Mediterranean.  But curiously, there are not many rosés made in this style in Australia.

So, with this style in mind, Christobelle and her father Howard decided to pick a small amount of their Shiraz early in the 2008 vintage and try their hand at a European style rosé.  The resulting wine is a world away from what you’d expect from an Australian rosé.  It is not a light red, not at all sweet, and just 11.1% alcohol.

It is made from Shiraz (called Syrah in Southern France) from their low yielding dry land vineyard and made like a white wine.  That is, crushed into their basket press and the juice drained immediately with no skin contact at all.  This was followed by a cool “white wine” fermentation.

The lack of skin contact means the wine is quite pale (but has some pink colour thanks to the intensity of the dry grown fruit).  It also has no phenolics (drying or bitter compounds found in the skins), which has allowed the wine to be left bone dry.

It has lovely strawberry and cherry blossom flavours, and that light, refreshing character they were aiming for.

The Anderson 2008 Shiraz Rosé will be released on September 1st 2008 to welcome Spring and the warmer months.

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