- Location
- London
My wife (long time admirer of pink fizz of almost any sort) unbeknownst to me tacked a couple of bottles a fizz she’d seen favourably reviewed in The Times on to a Waitrose order. Last night she served me (and by coincidence, separately a visiting wine merchant) the wine double blind.
A lovely pale salmon pink colour, initially a slightly raw red fruit component which did settle down and integrate into a light strawberry element, a faint hint of amylic pear drop and a further hint of something chalky completed the picture. Very fine, fast rising, but persistent mousse. The palate reflected the nose almost exactly, with a touch of slightly sweet strawberry on opening, almost featherweight body, with just about enough acidity to balance and finishing slightly drier than the opening with just a hint of the bitterness of perhaps undeveloped fruit and alcohol combined.
”OK, so it’s not champagne as there isn’t the weight through the mid palate, not enough acidity and there’s nothing obviously autolytic here.”
“No it’s not champagne”
”Can’t see this as English, nowhere near the acidity and not attempting to be serious either”.
”How about pink Prosecco? Is that a thing?”
Half an hour later my delivery arrived.
Me - “Is this champagne?”
Wine merchant - “No”
Me - “Why?”
Wine merchant - “It just isn’t”. “I think I might know what this is. Is it a wine I won’t have tasted? Is it pink Prosecco?”
Blushes saved all round. It was a pink Prosecco.
Now the all important discussion around the level of quality. “How much would you expect to pay for this?”
Me - “For the quality I’d reckon about £12” I think it’s very decent quality Prosecco, very pretty, sophisticated by Prosecco standards and beautifully packaged.
Wine Merchant - “£10 to £12 I would think”
HRH - £8.99 accompanied by massive “I’ve won” smile!
Both - “Wow! Really? Holy! Now let me show both of you this thread on Wine Pages about a new English pink Charmat method fizz designed to take on Prosecco and the like.”
”What do you think of the packaging?”
Both fall about laughing.
Wine Merchant - “How much are they asking for it?”
”£16 a bottle”
Both fall about laughing.
A lovely pale salmon pink colour, initially a slightly raw red fruit component which did settle down and integrate into a light strawberry element, a faint hint of amylic pear drop and a further hint of something chalky completed the picture. Very fine, fast rising, but persistent mousse. The palate reflected the nose almost exactly, with a touch of slightly sweet strawberry on opening, almost featherweight body, with just about enough acidity to balance and finishing slightly drier than the opening with just a hint of the bitterness of perhaps undeveloped fruit and alcohol combined.
”OK, so it’s not champagne as there isn’t the weight through the mid palate, not enough acidity and there’s nothing obviously autolytic here.”
“No it’s not champagne”
”Can’t see this as English, nowhere near the acidity and not attempting to be serious either”.
”How about pink Prosecco? Is that a thing?”
Half an hour later my delivery arrived.
Me - “Is this champagne?”
Wine merchant - “No”
Me - “Why?”
Wine merchant - “It just isn’t”. “I think I might know what this is. Is it a wine I won’t have tasted? Is it pink Prosecco?”
Blushes saved all round. It was a pink Prosecco.
Now the all important discussion around the level of quality. “How much would you expect to pay for this?”
Me - “For the quality I’d reckon about £12” I think it’s very decent quality Prosecco, very pretty, sophisticated by Prosecco standards and beautifully packaged.
Wine Merchant - “£10 to £12 I would think”
HRH - £8.99 accompanied by massive “I’ve won” smile!
Both - “Wow! Really? Holy! Now let me show both of you this thread on Wine Pages about a new English pink Charmat method fizz designed to take on Prosecco and the like.”
”What do you think of the packaging?”
Both fall about laughing.
Wine Merchant - “How much are they asking for it?”
”£16 a bottle”
Both fall about laughing.
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