Picchi rosé vs Bloodwood "Big Men in Tights": Big Men wins

I’m just finishing off what is probably my last rosé for the summer as temperatures are already dropping and I’ll head back into more red wine drinking.

But I’ve managed to find myself a fine Italian rosé from Picchi, producers in the Oltrepò Pavese region. It’s a region just south of Milan, around the city of Pavia which is making a name for itself with its efforts in riesling. Most of the riesling comes from the “italico” variety and not the “rodano” variety, generally considered the more prestigious of the two grapes, though you can find some of the latter around.

I found the Picchi rosé in my local bottle shop, and the owner of the shop was happy with the purchase as he buys directly from the wine maker. It’s not a shop with a large choice but it turns out the owner is informed but not a snob, who understands the price range you’re looking at and doesn’t try to flog you his expensive stuff because no-one else will buy it.

The Picchi rosé is made from “rara” grapes which is a native Italian variety, and it has a lovely rosy, soft raspberry colour, with brilliant clarity. In my opinion, it is exactly what the colour of a rosé should be.

It is light on the nose with perfumes of red fruit, particularly raspberry, but the best thing about this wine is its acidity. It really leaves you with a clean palate, and none of that sweet aftertaste some rosés suffer from.

I’m not a rosé drinker by nature and I was quite snooty about the wine at the beginning of my wine drinking experience because I considered rosés some dodgy half-way point for who couldn’t decide between red and white.

But they have their place in the wine spectrum, though I prefer mine exclusively for summer drinking, in the right dose and with the right food. While it would be interesting to try it, Antonio Galloni writes of the Vie di Romans from Ciantons which he says is a rosé “with the structure to stand up to the richest of foods”; which in my mind is not what I look for in a rosé, this being aged in oak and bottled without filtration.

My rosé drinking was awakened in 2007 by Bloodwood’s “http://www.bloodwood.com.au/styles.htm” – what a marvellous name and a great addition to the Bloodwood portfolio! The guy at the drive-in bottle shop in Orange, Australia, deceptively knew his stuff and said it was a wine that once opened, required finishing because it was a glass-refiller. And he was right.

From what I remember of this wine, it had more of deep cherry colour, and wonderful roundness in the palate, along with some great complexity for a rosé – in the end, I don’t think rosé is an adequate label. Big Men in Tights was much like its name – a great package hidden in humble red, and for anyone who hasn’t yet read Stephen Doyle’s descriptions, what the hell are you waiting for?! A sample for this wine: “Keep the dastards honest, stick this in the fridge, splash it in a glass and remind yourself once more, all this will pass!”

Photo | Bloodwood