Kylie signs major Australian distribution deal for her wine range

Prepare for a big Australian push on pop princess Kylie Minogue's wines in Australia.

With over nine million bottles sold since launch, multiple awards and the UK’s top-selling Prosecco Rosé, Minoque has signed with industry big guns Oatley Fine Merchants (OFWM) for national Australian distribution with immediate effect.

“I am unbelievably humbled and thrilled by the global response to Kylie Minogue Wines," says the pretty in pink songbird.

"To be the number one rosé brand in the UK and selling over nine million bottles since we launched across 31 countries is an incredible testimony to the amazing producers and winemakers that we are lucky enough to work alongside.

"I have been so touched by the joy that Kylie Minogue Wines continue to bring to so many people throughout the world.”

Sandy Oatley, owner and Chairman of OFWM says “We feel very privileged to represent Kylie’s wines here in Australia and to be given the opportunity to build on the global success of her wines.

"It will be an absolute pleasure for our team to represent Kylie’s outstanding wines in the Australian market and to share them with our valued customers.”

# Kylie Minogue Wines was launched in May 2020 and has evolved into a worldwide phenomenon. It is now sold in 31 countries. Minogue has sold over 80 million records as a singer, achieved 34 top 10s and seven No.1s. The wines were previously distributed by De Bortoli Wines. 

For details see https://www.kylieminoguewines.com/

How canned wine is fast becoming mainstream

 

Wine in a can is becoming increasingly popular with more and more canned wines appearing on the shelves of retailers. 

Fourth Wave Wines has several of its brands available in cans - including Elephant in the Room, Le Chat Noir and Take it to The Grave - while Treasury Wine Estates offers Squealing Pig, and Innocent Bystander has enjoyed success with its moscato in an aluminium format.

Leading brands in the marketplace include Barokes, Crafters Union, and Riot Wines, while Jacob's Creek has also dipped its toe into the water. 

Wine in cans is a relatively new concept but is fast gaining traction - and the latest offering is not a bargain basement cheapie.

Port Phillip Estate on the Mornington Peninsula has just released its 2022 Salasso Rosé in both a 750ml bottle (RRP $27) and 250ml can (RRP $11). 

I tried the wine in a can and could discern no difference between it and the bottled wine - at least for immediate drinking. 

"Experimentation is an essential element of our winemaking philosophy , and in this case we have explored a non-traditional packaging format," says Port Phillip Estate and Kooyong chief winemaker Glen Hayley. 

"We were attracted to the slim 250ml aluminium can for its numerous environmentally friendly attributes, and its convenience."

Three 250ml cans are approximately 40% lighter than a traditional 750ml bottle, and more space efficient, as well as being durable and easily portable.

Port Phillip Estate says aluminium is "the most cost effective material to recycle". 

Hayley points out there was initial resistance among consumers to screwcaps but now over 90% of Australian wine is bottled using that format. 

"We believe it is important to challenge our current thinking and and occasionally challenge the accepted norms of premium wines," Hayley says.

The 250ml cans are available at cellar door and online at www.portphillipestate.com.au     

     

    

The Provence rosé with a movie star pedigree

Mario Andretti was probably a better racing car driver than winemaker. Greg Norman a better golfer than winemaker, but Brad Pitt may just be a better winemaker than he is an actor.

Celebrity wines are all the rage - with some better than others.

I really don't know much about Pitt the actor, but apparently he has won an Oscar, so I might be being a bit harsh. 

He used to be married to Jennifer Anniston and then to Angelina Jolie. And I have to admit I get him mixed up with Johnny Depp. Sorry fans.

It was with former wife Jolie in 2014 that he invested in Chateau Miraval, the Provence rosé specialist, where he is apparently "hands on" with the winemaking. 

Pitt has enjoyed himself so much he is now also investing in Champagne.

Miraval certainly comes with movie star looks with a unique diamond-inspired bottle and label that stand out from the crowd - and the zingy, dry rosé is pretty impressive. 

It has an RRP of $34.99 - but look out for specials at Dan Murphy's stores. 

Located in the village of Correns, Miraval is an impressive chateau owned by Pitt in partnership with a Russian oligarch, to whom Jolie, rather unfortunately, sold her share of the business without Pitt's consent. 

That sale is now before the courts, challenged by Pitt. 

Made in conjunction with Rhone-based winemaking family the Perrins, who own Chateau de Beaucastel, the Miraval 2020 rosé is a dry blend of cinsaut, grenache, syrah and rolle (which we know as vermentino).  

Good work from Pitt and Marc Perrin (below). It has been reported that Pitt  "remains obsessed with the intricacies of winemaking".  

Think vibrant strawberry and cream notes, hints of cranberry and fresh, lively acid on the finish. Certainly best enjoyed well chilled. 

Charlotte Ferrari, business manager for Dan Murphy's, says rosés from Provence and Languedoc have been selling impressively over summer - with the Miraval just one of several choices in stock. 

Rosé sales have apparently grown by 35% over the past 12 months.

"Each wine in the range lends itself perfectly to the warm Australian climate and make a fabulous accompaniment to wide range of foods to be enjoyed at picnics, barbecues or family gatherings," Ferrari says. 

The wine is available in Australia www.danmurphys.com.au 

  

Discover Australia's first festival dedicated to rosé wines

Nowhere in Australia does pink better than Queensland's Gold Coast.

And it the Gold Coast which is to host Australia's first wine festival dedicated to rosé wines.

Rosé Coast co-producer and creative director Kristen Francis said the one-day festival at the Gold Coast’s Kurrawa Beach on May 1 was aiming to be the nation’s premier rosé celebration.

Producers from over 20 wine-growing regions across Australia have already locked into the Gold Coast showcase that highlights the growing popularity of rosé.

Francis, who is also founder and festival director of the Wine Island festival held on Clark Island in Sydney Harbour, said the Gold Coast was the obvious choice as the Australian location to exclusively host the event.

“Queensland is a big market for rosé, everywhere you look people are drinking pink. It is a drink that has been on the rise for the past five years and it’s just not going anywhere,” she  said.

“Rosé is best enjoyed outdoors in the sun and on the beach, it is not an indoor style drink so that just complements Queensland perfectly.”

Francis said the Gold Coast was synonymous with the pink drop as well as being famous for its beaches and maturity as an events city.

“We’ve got a background of putting on unique events in special places,” she said.

“Rosé and the Gold Coast go hand-in-hand. They are very complementary of one another, conjuring up sunshine, beachside, lifestyle and friends.

“This is where Rosé Coast is starting and this is where it will hopefully take place each year.”

Major Events Gold Coast chief Jan McCormick said the Gold Coast had already lured significant national and international events allowing the city to host a full program of more than 100 events for 2021.

“As an event which fits our destination so perfectly, I am delighted to welcome Rosé Coast Gold Coast to our city,” McCormick said.

Australian labels including Tulloch, Grant Burge, De Bortoli, La Prova, Pipers Brook, Soumah and Pizzini  will be joined by Sirromet, the only Queensland winery to feature at Rosé Coast.

For details see: https://rosecoast.com.au/

Pink Freud: Discover some French rosés worth analysing

The Camargue region in the south of France is both wild and beautiful.

It sits between between the Mediterranean Sea and the two arms of the Rhone Delta and is home to wildlife ranging from 400 species of birds (including flocks of flamingos) to semi-wild white horses known as Camarguais. 

The local wines, predominantly still rosés, come under the Sable de Camargue geographic indicator. 

The region is best known for its vins gris style of rosé (grey wines), made predominantly from grenache, cinsuat and carignan. These and more traditional rosé styles account for over 90% percent of production.

The vines are planted on sand dunes, either right next to the sea or further inland, divided by a number lagoons and salt marshes. 

Domaine Royal de Jarras, whose wines are readily available in Australia, has vineyards in the heart of the Camargue region near the small Languedoc town of Aigues-Mortes, which means dead waters. 

The vineyard is located on an island between the sea, lagoons, and salt marshes. 

Domaine Royal de Jarras comprises a 924-hectare estate including 420 hectares of vines. Both flamingos and horses are a common site.

 

The estate is owned  by Champagne House Vranken-Pommery Monopole and the vineyards are all classified organic under European regulation.

The portfolio features the 2018 Domaine Royal de Jarras gris ($22) and 2018 Pink Flamingo rosé ($25); both produced by winemaker Auriane Eysseric. 

Both are dry, saline, lightly citrusy, savoury and extremely food friendly, made predominantly from grenache.  Thinks salads, freshly shucked oysters, seafood stews or simply as a chilled drink on the back porch in summer. 

Vranken Pommery also produces quality pale and dry rosés from the nearby Château La Gordonne in the Var region of Provence - equally stunning but with contrasting landscapes.

The Château La Gordonne vineyards were cultivated in 1300 by Carthusian monks so there is a little bit of history in every tangy mouthful. 

Both brands are well worth checking out to add some joie de vivre to your dinner. 

See https://vrankenpommery.com.au/

Roses are red, rosé is pink.

Cast your mind back a few years. OK, a couple of decades - and remember sitting around the barbie on a stinking hot summer day. Cheap sausages, lamb chops, bucket hats, blokes who should really keep their shirts ON, Auntie Dot’s potato salad and fruit curry salad. The cicadas are kicking up a din and the magpies are crying out for their scraps.

What were we drinking? Of course, there was an Esky full of awful beer - in cans - for the gents and Chateau Carte d’Bourde for the ladies. Then along came Helen - that woman who always wore her diaphanous swirling frocks too short, pale lipstick, oversize sunglasses and the incredulous floppy hats with matching scarves. Oh, and who was she bringing today? A new chap apparently, but he had a buttonless shirt, a cricketer’s moustache and a shiny red MG.

Helen would bring her wine in bottles because she was a bit posh. And what was that pink stuff? ‘Mate’s’?

“Hello darlings, who’d like a rosé?”

Well, back when Dennis Lillee was bowling overs and Evonne Goolagong was winning Wimbledon, that’s all we knew. And it was MATEUS, from Portugal by the way. Note spelling.

It was a decent drop back then, as it is now. But today Aussies are producing plenty of the fine, delicate wine too, and just this week I had the opportunity for a bit of a history lesson at the recent ‘Taste of Sydney’ event.

Matt Dunne, head sommelier for the Solotel group (RE)

The charming Matt Dunne, head sommelier for the Solotel group (read: Aria, Quay Bar, Opera Bar and 27 others) was at hand to guide me a little with this lesser-known wine style.

“First of all, you should know that rosé is probably the fastest growing wine style in Australia right now,” Matt says in his quiet, authoritative voice, “one and a half million bottles were exported to Australia (from France) last year, up some 50% from 2016.”

Vins De Provence Rosé. Just a few of the premium French brands. (RE)

And why shouldn’t it be? It’s agreeable to both men and women, who drink it in equal measure and it’s perfectly suited to the foods Australians love to eat.

“Rosé is the ideal accompaniment to Thai green chicken curry,” Matt says.

And where does the best rosé come from? Well, it’s easy to be biased under these circumstances, but the 3000 hours of sunlight every year in Provence makes this region pretty hard to go past. 

Unusual varietals such as mataro, tibouren, cinsault and rolle (aka vermentino) all make for very interesting tasting indeed. Australian rosé tends to be confined to our more familiar grape types such as grenache and cabernet sauvignon.

How to drink rosé? Chilled of course, in a standard red or white wine glass and ideally suited to a wide variety of foods, particularly cheeses, cold salads and seafood. It’s very easy to drink thanks to its simplicity, even palate and low acids.

Rosé is the perfect summer drinking wine

“How do you tell a good rosé?” we asked Matt.

“Balance, length, intensity and concentration. Colour should be a pale salmon or 'onion skin'.”

But don’t get all caught up in the technicals. Wine is for drinking and rosé has to be one of the easiest and most enjoyable wines at any time. Posh Helen was right all along!

A guest blog from Roderick Eime, who was a guest of Vins de Provence Rosé #provencewinesaustralia