I don’t often have much to say about pale coloured pink wines: it’s wine, you drink it.

Sure,  this is wine. And yes, I am drinking it. But I have oodles to say...

The Wine:

The winemaker says it’s rose gold so the colour is officially rose gold. At wintery room temp it has a lovely medium intensity nose of tangerine peels, sweet mouth puckering lemon sorbet, juicy rosy fuzzy peaches, and bergamot or citrus leaves that adds an intriguing bitter depth.

Dry, delicious high bright acidity, medium alcohol, a weightier body, and a pretty lengthy finish. Red plum fruit clings in all the right places, grapefruit peel texture grounds you, addictive fresh acidity, and salinity that balances everything and lends slinky sophistication.

Empty glass sniff: gentle yeast, bread dough, raspberries and red apple skins. It explains the depth behind all the bright fruit. And these become more prominent by the next day.

Viti + Vini:

93% Pinot Noir and 7% Pinot Gris from the same farm planted on north facing, shale and clay soil vineyards in Stellenbosch. The grapes are chilled overnight then spends 30 minutes on its skins in the press. The juice is settled overnight. It is racked into *shaven barrels and undergoes natural fermentation. The wine is left on its fine lees for 7 months for that moreish mouthfeel. No malolactic conversion, added protein, cold stabilisation, nor filtration.

*If you're also wondering how shaved barrels affects the wine, here's what the winemaker had to say: "...the idea is to keep the fruit and not to infuse flavour. By shaving the barrel the barrel pretty much becomes a neutral vessel. The barrel still helps with protein stability and settling. Also there is a bit more micro oxidation than using a steel tank..."

Final Thoughts:

Carsten, the winemaker, is a self confessed foodie...so what’s a girl to do but head to the kitchen. Olive tapenade on rosemary crackers - yup. Smoked snoek pâté from the spoon - uh huh. Fresh bread and butter while making the aforementioned toppings - yes. Toasted pita topped with crème fraîche, capers, leftover smoked salmon and nasturtium weeds that are taking over the garden - you betcha. On its own in a variety of stemware coz we now gots time to handwash glasses - affirmative, ewe, aweh!

Find the Wine:

https://www.migliarinawines.com

Though, I picked this up from the always awesome Vino Pronto.