Shingleback, Haycutters Salmon Rose 2014

With the worst of winter behind us and the buds and blooms of Spring poking their reluctant heads out to sun themselves in anticipation of clear blue skies, it’s a perfect time of year to put some pink (Rosé that is) on your table at your next Sunday lunch.

Rosé is an obvious compromise between the bold, juicy, red berries of a heavy winter red and the fragrance and perfume of a summer white.  And at my place, last Sunday saw the Shingleback Salmon Rosé 2014 matching a zesty lemon chicken risotto on the deck’s outdoor dining table.

Rosé is a style normally served in its youth and heavily chilled, but if you can have enough patience, the Salmon Rose becomes delightfully floral as it warms in the glass and delivers on the front palate all of the ripe strawberries and red rose petals that appear on the nose.

It’s definitely a lighter style and more savoury than sweet, but the Salmon Rosé finishes well with enough gentle acidity to retain its structural integrity right through to its flavoursome finale.

It’s only available at Vintage Cellars, but at the $16 price point, it’s probably not a big ask.