La Kooki Margaret River Rosé Blonde 2021

There are wine collaborations and then there are superstar collaborations. Winemakers Ely Jarvis (ex-Cape Mentelle/Fonty’s Pool) and Glenn Goodall (Xanadu Wines) fall into the latter category. The couple is behind La Kooki and as the name suggests, they don’t mind mixing things up. The Rosé Blonde is relatively conventional, however, with a splash of barrel fermentation in old French barriques thrown in. It’s a smart rosé, subtle and fine featured with class. It starts in the prettiest tea rose hues, eye-catching stuff. Pristine juicy, crunchy fruit in strawberry, cherry, briar, a just-so touch of tart pomegranate pearls with a quiet whisper of spring blossom. Got the balance right in the acid/fruit/tannin department. Zesty with a touch of texture to close.

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