New Zealand Villa Maria Rosé

New Zealand Villa Maria Rosé smells of vanilla and strawberries and cream, and is a pale rosy pink in colour. The palate is dry with some tartish length. Hawks Bay is usually a good source of wine from NZ and this is definitely a good Rosé.

2016 Rimauresq Cru Classé Rosé

The 2016 Rimauresq Cru Classé Rosé, Côtes de Provence is available locally, but not cheaply. It smells of roses, Turkish delight and honey. On the palate, it is extremely dry, but elegant and sophisticated. And in colour it is a beautiful pale pink perfection. Part of the problem of paying a lot for a Rosé is that practically any Provencal, Pinot-Noir based Rosé cannot, I repeat, cannot go wrong. And there are cheap ones around.

Picpoul de Pinet: 2016 Domaine La Serre Languedoc, 2016 Clomarin

I bought 2016 Domaine La Serre Languedoc Picpoul de Pinet from a bottle shop chain in North Adelaide, on a family-visit-sojourn, because it was the first time I had seen/heard of the grape: it took me a moment to understand that it was the grape name. There is honey/mead in the perfume and on the palate. But it is dry with depth. Not sweet in itself, but may be good with dessert ... like honey cake? But then it is dry. Marsanne-ish? A light gold in colour. Just savoury: wondering what savoury food you'd have with it. Lobster/prawns? But let me say: Languedoc: would you not drink any wine from that place. Via a local Northern Rivers hotel/resort is a 2016 Clomarin Picpoul De Pinet, gold in colour, with a hallucinatory greenish edge. It smells of nut butter like a Chardy, and something sweet with a vague end of musk. A kind of smoky sweetness. The palate is dry but with melon depth/expansion.

2018 wine trends: De Bortoli 2016 Down the Road Pinto Grigio Arneis, 2017 Floats Ya Goat Marlborough Sauvignon Blush

A 2018 (continuing/expanding) fashion trend in wine is mixtures, and I so recommend blends, like the De Bortoli 2016 Down the Road Pinto Grigio Arneis (also containing 8% Vermentino). It is so frighteningly slurp-able – if this was the only white I could buy, I wouldn't be worrying! Do also look for the delicious combo of Chardonnay and Semillon: there are a few around, including Wolf Blass Eaglehawk, a Clovely Estate (from South Burnett, Queensland), as well as a Temple Bruer Chardonnay Semillon (preservative-free and organic, Riverland, South Australia).

Another burgeoning fashion is New Zealand Sav Blanc coloured with a touch of Pinot Noir. My most recent try, 2017 Floats Ya Goat Marlborough Sauvignon Blush, isn't the best: too tart. There is the Ta_Ku Sauvignon Blanc Pink, but the Tori Tori is better.

Rosés: 2015 Aimé Roquesante Côte De Provence Rosé, 2015 Aimé Roquesante Côte De Provence Rosé, Rosemount Rosé

Rosés. Yep! If you haven't seen pink shelves in bottle shops, you are not 'paying attention'! Never go past a Pinot-Noir-based Rosé, meaning that it is inevitably great. And most often that comes from Provence, France. The 2015 Aimé Roquesante Côte De Provence Rosé is drink-downable. The 2015 Trois Provence Côte De Provence Rosé is, again, pale ballet pink and bronze in colour, with no perfume to speak of unless it is of the name 'peonies', but is an all-down-the throat delight. The 2016 Matua Lands and Legends Marlborough Pinot Noir Rosé is a gorgeous bronze pink, with a creamy, dry palate. But there are so many good Rosés: go back to the first sentence in this paragraph, but that doesn't cover everything, because the fabulously cheap but great Rosemount Rosé is made from 100% Chambourcin.

Pink-tinged Pinot Gris/Grigio 2017 Empress Joanna Vineyard Pinot Gris, 2016 Sirromet Vineyard Selection Granite Belt Pinot Gris, Logan Clementine Pinot Gris and Tar and Roses Grigio., 2016 Mojo Adelaide Hills Pinot Gris

Regarding Pinot Gris/Grigio: I am so favouring, but not totally, a pink-tinged Pinot Gris. I have rarely come across, if ever, a bad pink-tinged Pinot Gris or Grigio. My most recent discovery in this category is the rewarding 2017 Empress Joanna Vineyard Pinot Gris (god knows what that is named for: the Dylan song 'Visions of Joanna'?) from South Australia's Limestone Coast's Terra Rossa: an Andrew Peace wine. It's very drinkable! Its palate is salt water (also in its perfume), nuts and fizz. But I cannot find it sensibly on the web. I also recommend Logan Clementine Pinot Gris and Tar and Roses Grigio. The 2016 Sirromet Vineyard Selection Granite Belt Pinot Gris, although blood red in colour, smells of burnt Turkish delight or roses and tastes of dry butterscotch with pepper and possibly geranium. Also, do buy the 2016 Mojo Adelaide Hills Pinot Gris with its ballet pink tinge. It smells of pear, and is dry and tart on the palate, possibly suited to sushi.