Brokenwood Rosato 2021

The Italians – Nebbiolo and Sangiovese – join Spanish Tempranillo in a multinational meeting of minds. Each grape brings something of its individual character to the final blend: a firm backbone (Nebbiolo) fleshed out with bright red and black fruits (Tempranillo) leading to Mediterranean-style textural savouriness (Sangiovese). This is one mighty arresting dry rose trio.

Bright, confection-tuber rose pink is a standout in the glass. Eye-catching stuff. Wild strawberries, cherry meet watermelon ice and confectionery bonbon on the bouquet, with a light dustiness. The more you chill the wine, the less of that lovely scent will be on display. Take care.

Love the spice that comes into play lifting the palate. It’s joined by black cherry, pomegranate, red berries. Yes, it’s quite complex, but there’s more. There has been huge development in Australian rose in recent years with the best examples going dry (tick), looking to natural, bright acidity (tick) while also incorporating a lovely textural mouthfeel (double tick). They’re all here to be enjoyed.

Jeni Port

Wine critic at Winepilot

Jeni Port is one of Australia’s top wine communicators. Based in Melbourne, Jeni created the first wine column in the (then) Sun News-Pictorial before moving over to The Age and becoming that paper’s longest-serving wine writer. Over the years she has written for most Australian wine magazines and these days calls WinePilot home. She is also a Tasting Panel member on the Halliday Wine Companion. She was named Wine Communicator of the Year and Legend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in 2014 and in 2018 Legend of the Vine. She is a founding board member of Australian Women In Wine and is the co-deputy chair of Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards.

Wine writer and critic