I Think Pink Is My Colour (Echo Falls White Zinfandel)

Member Name: venice105

Product:	Echo Falls White Zinfandel
Date:	16/06/07 (256 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Pretty, tasty, good for you?

Disadvantages: Social stigma of likeing the pink stuff

Recently I became aware of a rather cheese-tastic band called The Feeling. Despite generally liking moody types, once in awhile I will get a real hankering for some smooth pop perfection. I turned on my telly to see this band playing a live set at Abbey Road studios, and they were singing a quite lush, plaintive ballad about a lover and her delicate ways. It was lovely, and then they explained the song was about rose wine and how underappreciated it is and that's when I decided The Feeling were worth me parting with ten quid to buy their c.d.

Rose is something most people like, but it is usually looked down on as not a "proper" wine, and so people pretend to hate it. How could anyone hate rose? Yes, there are overly sweet ones, but generally you'd be hard pressed to find a more palatable, easy summer tipple. Alcopops are vile and full of headache inducing chemicals, red wine gives dreadful hangovers, white has a tendency to make you feel a bit squiffy too.

For some reason the gentle pink nectar of rose takes some heavy drinking to even hint at a peaked feeling. I say this after having imbibed a couple of bottles yesterday (with a friend!). We were at the pub, for a drink, and had decided on wine. "I don't mind, not red though" (I like red but once in awhile it hits you on the head!) "white...or (quiet emphasis) whichever..." My friend returns with a bottle of blushing rose liquid and I squeal "I hoped you'd get the pink stuff!" To which she replied "I only pretend to like white or red!" like a guilty schoolgirl.

This Echo Falls white zinfandel is a very drinkable beverage (so be careful as it does slide down rather too easily, we had not intended on consuming quite as much as we did and we are normally good girls!). It is sweet but has enough of a tang to keep it from being cloying. For a Californian wine the price is particularly impressive, I always balk at the price of Californian wine over here. We paid around £5.50 per bottle down our local, but it retails for a bit less - less than £30 a case, it would be an excellent investment for the summer I say!

The Echo Falls people describe it as being "a lively fruity rose wine with aromas of red summer fruits and an attractive crisp sweetness on the palate." I would agree with this, it is nicely dimensional and less obviously sweet than many other roses I have tried. That said, it is unquestionably sweet. These grapes come from vineyards in California's Central Valley, are pressed gently and fermented at cool temperatures if that means anything to anyone. I have seen "Sideways" three times and it doesn't mean much to me, and I'm sure the lovably ornery protagonist of that film would disapprove heartily of rose, considering the irate scorn he tossed at merlot - "I'm not drinking ******* merlot!"

Rose is best served chilled, as chilled as possible. It may not have the depth or bite of some other beverages, but in the summer can we really be bothered with sophisticated red wine, which incidentally is a lot harder to wash out of pretty white frocks than the pink blush of rose? In closing, I would like to quote the ode to rose by The Feeling -

The white to your left the red to your right
Are all that I'd seen
Til I realised the love that I seek
Lies right in-between

Rose
I love ya
Especially today
Rose
I love your delicate way

So get your cork out and enjoy an innocent taste of summer. Like the fizzy pop of The Feeling, there is no shame in this guilty pleasure!

Summary: A zingy zinfandel that isn't too sweet