Port Phillip Salasso Pale. Very.

Port Phillip Estate Salasso Rosé 2011 (Mornington Peninsula, Vic)
12.5%, Screwcap, $28
Source: Wine list
www.portphillipestate.com.au

The march of the pale, savoury, orange coloured rosé continues. I’m quite a fan of this wine but my dining companion wasn’t so sure. ‘It’s not fruity at all’ she said. When I mentioned that it is modeled on a Provençal style (in theory) she warmed to it greatly. Moral of the story? Reference points are really useful with wines such as this (or at least I think so).

As for the wine itself, it still needs another 6 months in bottle and was – once it got above ‘ice bucket cold’ – really quite enjoyable. A little sternly dry perhaps, but enjoyable. The colour looks super serious too, a pale pale orange shade that makes it look more like a white with a little skin contact than anything drawn from red grapes (though much brighter). It smells restrained too, a hint of strawberries, orange rind and ‘not fruit’.

The attraction of this ‘blush’ though is largely through the middle palate, which has barrel ferment richness and maybe just a hint of red berries (it’s produced from Shiraz fruit after all). It finishes dry, long and citrussy though not unripe, making for a wine of some balance and style. Plenty of intrigue here. 17.7/92+