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A Blushing Summer Rose
I’m not a wine snob myself but I know a lot of people who are and I’m sensible enough to know what wines they frown on. “I bought it ‘cos it’s got a nice label,” is a phrase that has had me ostracised at parties in the past. So when a friend brought round a bottle of the Lochiel Estate Rosé to accompany a relaxed summer lunch, I winced. Isn’t Rosé one of those unmentionables? In fact I had vague recollections of over-indulging on sugary pink Rosé as a teenager before the advent of the alco-pops so favoured by today’s teen. However because I’m really not a wine snob I smiled graciously and tried some. With its subtle but gently invigorating nose this Rosé is as far from the “lolly-water” of my adolescent recollections as it’s possible to get. The crisp, dry, red-berry flavours were an exhilarating opposite of what I was expecting. Inspired and now genuinely enthusiastic I decided to find out more, by visiting the Lochiel Estate Winery in Mangawhai, about an hour and a half north of Auckland. This area is rapidly gaining a reputation for being New Zealand’s “little Tuscany” with its blossoming wine and olive oil production. The velvety green hills, once dotted with cattle, are now graced with stately rows of lush vines and silvery olive trees. The higher humidity of the region is countered by the lack of hard frosts that can damage the berry setting in other regions. A Northland viticulturist worries about fungal disease and sudden heavy rains that burst the fruit just when it’s ripening. Lochiel Estate is, like all the vineyards here, quite new. In fact the first 2500 vines were only planted in 2002 with another 2000 planted in 2005. On the day I visited the team were battling the exuberant foliage growth of new vines. “We’re probably pushing the envelope growing grapes here but we’re producing grapes with I think different flavours as a result,” says Liz Cameron who together with husband Gary Cameron set up Lochiel Estate as a retirement hobby. Needless to say this hobby has become a passion and Gary is not playing nearly as much golf as he expected.. The Lochiel Estate Rosé is made in a traditional French manner which involves extracting the juice from red grapes and then cold fermenting. Rosé wines should have minimal skin contact which accounts for the very low level of tannins and hence the lightness of the wine. Gary, obviously a recently converted Rosé enthusiast, says the Lochiel Estate Rosé uses Merlot grapes to impart the lovely hints of strawberry. Each grape brings a subtly different twist of berry. “We tried using Malbec but we weren’t that impressed with the flavours. So we use Merlot which gives it a lovely strawberry nose. Pinot Noir gives more of a cherry nose. Syrah tends to be a bit more blackberryish. The French tend to use Grenache and Syrah for their Rosé.” Liz and Gary’s son Rob manages the final stages of the process, known as the vintage, by tasting the grapes until his palate tells him the time is right. Rob trained as a winemaker at Lincoln, followed by three years at Villa Maria working under Michelle Richardson. When the travel bug bit six years ago he left New Zealand to work in wineries across Europe but returns home at vintage time each year. “I think in all he’s done about 18 vintages in both hemispheres. So he knows his business. He makes the call in all the important winemaking processes,” says Gary with obvious pride. This is a true family business. For many years Rosé was a bit of a dead-duck for wine-makers. In fact when Rob suggested a Rosé, Gary was initially sceptical but allowed himself to be persuaded. “When Rob said “Oh we’ll make some Rosé”. I said, “What would we do that for?” But they drink a lot of it in Europe and in the UK now. Rob has made Rosé in Spain, Cypress, in Slovenia and Moldova. That one is sold into the WaitRosé supermarket chain. He’s done very well with it. I think he got a silver medal for it which the Moldavians were very happy about.” Over the last five years, there’s been evidence of New Zealand joining the Rosé trend. Bottle-shop shelves are not yet teeming with Rosé and indeed online wine traders have mostly yet to create a Rosé category but they are out there and they’re worth hunting down. There were only 106 cases of Lochiel Estate Rosé last year but Liz and Gary are very pleased with the fruit set this year which means more lovely Rosé. “This year we have plenty of fruit. I think this is the best crop we’ve ever had.” Call out box: Lochiel Estate’s Rosé is a dry, light and acidic wine so is best with more delicate summer foods such as salads, cold meats, fish eggs or creamy cheeses. 
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