Tis the season... Photo: Getty Images
Welcome to the final column before the short Christmas-New Year break for Fresh.
There is something utterly joyous and summery about Rosé and one must grab the opportunities to sit on the deck with a glass, as all Dunedinites know that rain and a biting southerly could be just around the corner!
Thank you for reading the columns this year and I wish you all a marvellous festive season and prosperous 2026.
For those staying around, do enjoy revelling in some down time. For those heading away, safe travels and adventures.
And don’t forget, as Arnie once said: "I’ll be back".
2025 Maude Central Otago Rosé
Rating Excellent
Aromas of strawberry,
peach and gum leap
from the glass, joined
by spices and a light
dusting of icing sugar.
Gum notes to the fore
on the palate,
alongside peach,
apricot and
strawberry. Lovely
intensity of flavour,
great carry, hinting at
the fruit sweetness yet
nicely dry. With air
florality grows on the
nose, just brimming
with flavour.
2024 Dancing Water Georgie Diamanté North Canterbury Rosé
Rating Excellent to Outstanding
Fragrant nose, fruit
pastille, fresh cut herbs, a
wisp of oyster shell. Tilts
a hat to Provence, rather
than typically kiwi.
Texture and richness that
is rather engaging; hard to
pin down individual
flavours as it’s all about
the whole. A crisp, dry
finish with great carry,
actually rather lovely,
begging for another glass.
An uncommon grape,
Scheurebe, taking a
different path and doing
so with flair.
2025 Ruru Central Otago Rosé
Rating Very Good to Excellent
Attractive elegance
and subtlety, perfume
wafting over a core of
roast strawberry. The
palate adds fruit jelly
and peach to the
strawberry, ripe and
fruit sweet yet
attractively dry. Very
nicely done, excellent
length and looking
super for drinking over
the summer and
beyond. This grows
very nicely with air on
nose and palate, the
freshness now even
more evident.
2025 Penkridge Farm Central Otago Pinot Noir Rosé
Rating Very Good to Excellent
Perfumed and floral,
leading with rose petal
and dried strawberry.
Sweetly ripe mid-
palate, strawberry
again, summer
berries, a touch of red
apple, that fruit
sweetness snapped
into line by a hint of
chewiness and a
zesty, crisp close. A
style that will reward
those that crave that
wee touch of
sweetness.
2025 McArthur Ridge Lilico Alexandra Pinot Noir Rosé
Rating Very Good to Excellent
Perfumed gum notes
lead, apple and
strawberry follow.
Richness and texture
in the mouth
continuing the journey
begun by the nose.
Dehydrated
strawberry, apple
skin, apricot, nicely
balanced and
integrated, fruit
sweetness yet flowing
to a long, dry close.
This grows in the
glass, great mouthfeel
now, and very easy
drinking.
2025 Domaine Thomson Surveyor Thomson Central Otago Pinot Noir Rosé
Rating Excellent
A deeper colour and a
deeper register to the
nose, a touch of salinity,
dark berries, a fleeting
brambly quality.
Creaminess to the
palate, contrasted by
some lovely chewiness,
with a zesty
undercurrent. The fruit
more in the plum
spectrum, a sense of
grip and tautness to the
finish showing a
crossover to a light red
style, perhaps? A red
wine drinker’s rosé?
