Gosh, Ghost Rock's P3 2023 Rose is all tomato-y. I'm not saying this is a bad thing. Colour: light tomato. Aroma: just-ripe tomato. Palate: just-ripe tomato. P3 stands for a trio of grape varieties beginning with the appellation Pinot: Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Pinot Meunier.
It's big-ish in mouthful, so depends on what you like.
My best Tasmanian Roses are Small Wonders (used to be Goaty Hill) and Gala, neither of which are over-whelming, but pitched at the right level of love-ability.
Eastford Creek's non-vintage (a mixture of annual pickings = 2021-2023) sparkling rose is very pale pink that deepens while pouring into the glass, but nevertheless remains pale in colour. Its aroma is marshmallow-y, and/or fairy-flossy. It is salmon-y on the satisfying long though light palate.
(Please also see my post below this post: Thursday, January 16, 2025 Eastford Creek Vineyard Tasmania Pinot Gris 2024.)
Ok, so Tasmania appears to be doing, unbeknown to moi, the combo grape variety wine, when I thought Tasmanian was all about predictable varieties such as Chardonnay, Riesling, Sav Blanc and Pinto Noir. But, no, it does Gewurz, Pinot Blanc, Gamay and, wait for it, Chenin Blanc. See my post below that notes a not-dissimilar mix: Atom 2022 Entropic White: Gewuztraminer, Riesling, Pinot Gris.
This bottle invests in a quirky print maker, Kate Piekutowski, whom I've come across on Instagram.
So it's light gold in colour. It has a perfume of pear and jube (possibly red). On the palate, it is surprisingly full-ish and actually not sweet (on a second tasting with a day or so in between), thank the goddesses. A little too sharp on the end palate for such a mix. But wait, maybe waiting even more, the end palate is between savoury and sweet and seems finely balanced.
The branding IS CONFUSING (yes, all caps deliberate) because I looked up Tupelo and could not find a devoted website under that name, which turns out to be Stargazer, which you have to look for on the back label of the bottle. I am sure it has an explanation - but wait, there is another mixed variety wine with a different subtitle/name - but I was too tired to look for such.
This Atom wine is a lovely, pale-golden yellow in colour. Salty in perfume. Long palate, that is high syrupy in the middle and rich and lemony at the end. Savoury with a hint of sweetness. Atom wines are based in the south of Tasmania, at Lindisfarne is a suburb of the capital of Tasmania Hobart's Eastern Shore,
Gala Rose, along with Small Wonders Rose, are two of the best among Tasmanian Roses. Tasmanian Roses are usually Pinot Noir based ... 'cause PR does so well in a cool climate. In colour and perfume, the Gala is shy, and a light but on-the-border-of- showy pink in colour, and in perfume, something of sea-water and an unperfumed rose that's about to have a perfume, or wishes longingly that it did. On the initial palate, it is fullish, and ends very drily. And after swallowing it down comes the knowing that it's a lovely elegant, sophisticated wine, with a sense of mature and assured making.
Eastford Creeks 2024 Pinot Gris is rustic, light-bronze golden with a pink tinge. A pink tinge is always good in a Pinot Gris. And this is no exception. Think Zendaya's (why go for a single name?) dress at the Golden Globes 2025 but less copper/tangerine. In perfume it is peachy and on the palate fruity too, perhaps apricot, with a lightly backgrounded spice such as cinnamon or nutmeg or Chinese five-spice. It's a dry PG with a sophisticated and elegant palate. https://eastfordcreek.com.au/ I often stop here on a Friday for a glass of wine on my way home to Shearwater from a writers' group in Deloraine, Tasmania. And everything is interesting: the outlook, weather, wine choice.
