With 79 entries, this was one of the largest fields ever for a Cuisine rosé tasting. New Zealand wineries are making more of the pink drink because we’re consuming more – rosé’s popularity has been trending upwards for several years now, as it has been overseas. We’re also making it better. Eleven wines came through with four stars or more at this tasting, with three wines achieving the highest accolade of five stars.

“People are searching for different styles, and that’s exciting,” noted panel chair Ben Glover.

“But balance can be elusive. With rosé, achieving that summer afternoon freshness and drinkability is all important.” Helen Morrison said that while the top three rosés were all made in a dryer style, they were still a diverse trio.

“There was variation in the shades of fruit on offer and how each wine showcased that fruit. What they do share is they’re all great food wines.”

TASTING PANEL

For this rosé tasting, our regular Cuisine tasting panel chair John Belsham was in Australia judging a wine show. Taking his place leading the panel was Ben Glover, an international wine judge, Chair of Pinot Noir NZ 2017 and owner-winemaker at Glover Family Vineyards.

Ben was joined by Helen Morrison, senior Marlborough winemaker at Villa Maria, and John Saker, author and Cuisine wine writer.