Indian SummerPrivate Blend Rosé 2020Hawke’s Bay945

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Words by Sarah Smith – Only Everything

Just when you thought you’d had enough Rose´, our friends from across the pond, Waiana Estate, New Zealand’s hottest up-and-coming sustainable rosé specialist has bought out a five star 2019 vintage of their Indian Summer Rosé to grace our Aussie lips!

After remaining a top-seller within the supermarket chains in both Asia and Singapore, the Provençal-style blend of pinot gris, viognier, cinsault and merlot will now be available nationwide (hell yeah).

We suppose you’re wondering who Waiana Estate are? Let’s clear this up for you – because they’re damn incredible and if you’re yet to taste then we urge you to leave the house now! PS – THIS IS NOT AN AD. They’re a boutique, family-owned rosé specialist based in the beautiful Tukituki Valley in Hawkes Bay, with a singular focus on producing the best rosé wine that New Zealand can make. All of their rosé blends are made from sustainably grown grapes (nice one, guys).

Indian Summer, the primary rosé blend of Waiana Estate, is a dry, ultra-pale, Provençal-style blend with a refreshing minerality infused in its onion skin colour. It incorporates a unique blend of Hawkes Bay pinot gris, viognier, cinsault and merlot grapes grown primarily at Waiana Estate. This wine has been allowed time to rest on its lees until early September to achieve the complexity the winemaking team were looking for in the blend.

The best part? This drop is only $26 and now available at all BWS stores Aus-wide! So get yourself a bottle and hit the sun 😉

Follow their journey here and be sure to support sustainable brands!

Review by Yvonne Lorkin, Wine & Beverages Writer, New Zealand Herald

If you closed your eyes in the moment you lift the glass to your nose, you’d almost smell the Mediterranean Sea. A hint of crushed oyster shells, splashed with watermelon, raspberry and the juice of wild cherries blended with pink peppercorns assails the senses. Grown by the Plowman family (who dedicate their vineyard to growing rosé, the whole rosé and nothing but the rosé in the Tukituki Valley, just outside of Havelock North) and crafted by winemaker Dave McKee, each sip tastes like Provence with a kiwi kick. Precision winemaking at its best here, and with every harvest the wine becomes more comfortable in its own skin, (a soft, ballet-shoe pink skin) and shows superbly balanced acidity with weight, florality and fruitiness. Love it!

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Review by Yvonne Lorkin, Wine & Beverages Writer, New Zealand Herald

This is the flagship rosé from the Plowman family and their Waiana Estate winemaking team. A step beyond their Indian Summer and Summer Sault rosés, this classically dry, Provençale style is crafted from a blend of Tukituki Valley-grown merlot and cinsault which has been left, post-ferment on its yeast lees for a stretch, then matured in 3year old large oak puncheons to impart extra complexity, palate weight and “I’m bloody awesome-ness” into it. It’s a rare thing to find such attention to detail in rosé construction in this country in order for it to hit this price point, but it’s been perfectly executed here. It’s a rosé to be savoured over something delicate like salmon nigiri or classic caprese salad.

Review by Yvonne Lorkin, Wine & Beverages Writer, New Zealand Herald

Named in homage to Cinsault, the principal grape used in a style that absolutely screams “South of France”, this rosé carries a serious caboose of character around with it. Weightier and showing more generosity than its little sister, the Indian Summer, this Tukituki Valley-grown groover heaves with pink peppercorn, redcurrant and lashings of watermelon-infused wizardry. Dry, punchy and ultra-lengthy on the finish, this is rich, succulent and satisfying.

Sip with: Sweet chilli prawns

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