BLOODY AWARDS

I've been buying Villa Maria Hawkes Bay Rose 2017 in New World supermarkets for a couple of months now.  It's bloody nice and, when on special I'd stock up on the stuff. When I first spied it (I look out for new vintage release Rose wines as they are at their best when young) I ignored the big gold decal on the bottle which, when you read the lettering say's something like "NZ's most admired wine brand" or some bollocks like that - unworthy I think of Villa Maria and I wonder if Sir George is aware of what his marketers are doing.

This is the decal - ignore the sauvignon Blanc

This is the wine I've been buying


The wine is superb and fits any occasion or time of day.
I had mixed feelings when I learned that it just won a gold medal in the New World Wine Awards*.
It endorsed my appreciation of the wine but now every bugger will be wanting to drink it. My buying over recent years has been driven by finding excellent wines that 'every bugger' hasn't yet and, as sales volumes might be low the producers or retailers knock the price off.

This is what the NEW WORLD WINE AWARDS judges said about the wine:

Beautifully balanced with textural ripe strawberry flavours and a perfect acid and sugar balance. This Rose has drinkability by the glassful. A Gold medal last year and this year, and the wine is even better if that's possible. Perfect summer Rose to drink while enjoying an outdoor concert.

Yeah, OK and the

"Rose to drink while enjoying an outdoor concert."

comment matches my 'any occasion' comment so we agree on a couple of things.

*************************

Rose wine styles have been making a bit of a come back.

Most producers are now making one or two styles under their various brands and labels and there are a lot to choose from.
The trick is in selecting a good one that isn't 'lolly-water' nor an old tired, brown-looking one. Roses are best drunk young so new release 2017 wines - from say September onwards are generally at their best until mid 2018. The provenance of the brand is useful to know (e.g. the Villa Maria PB 2016 went gold as well) and once you find a favourite it pays to check it out each year. There are so  many now though that it pays to check out some other brands and styles and, in case the Villa Maria becomes unaffordable - other prices.

*Asterisk and italics because this is a supermarket chains wine awards.