NZ & International Rosé

Directly translated from its native French, *bijou* means ‘jewel’, or can refer to something precious, elegant, beautiful, or made with dedicated craftsmanship. It’s a definition that could also be a very short tasting note for this rosé, which so enamoured our judges.
The Bijou brand has a number of ranges, and its ‘Terre de Providence’ range is one they call ‘A tribute to Mother Earth’. It seeks to highlight the incredible ability of the earth to provide the grapes, and then the serendipity or providence that must come together to create a really great wine. It made me reflect on how challenging it is for winemakers to get it just right. The season, the climate, the people, and so many other factors have to be in place at the perfect time to create the magic that is winemaking—just so we can sit back, relax, and enjoy at our leisure.
It’s a wonderful and wholly under-appreciated art that is also a science, also quite technical and alchemistic. True to say, it all came together quite perfectly in this very pale-salmon rosé. With a copper fleck in the glass, it has an attractive thread of fruit and florals coming together on the nose and the palate. The rockmelon, pear, lime, and fig fruit stamp is interwoven with citrus blossoms and lovely phenolics that give the wine texture, grip, and a really decent length during which everything comes together in perfect harmony. Fantastically beautiful, bejewelled drinking this summer season. Precious indeed. (A)