Rocking their finest linen and summer cocktail dresses, Mandrea Bike and friends took to the dock north of the city for a blind rosé tasting and a couple of cheese platters. There’s nothing better than crisp, refreshing rosé during a heatwave. 

HOW IT WORKED

All the participants had their own glass and each bottle was covered in a large black sock to conceal its identity and labeled with a number from one to four. A sample of the first wine was poured into each glass and then opinions were discussed briefly in the group. The same process followed for each bottle, and then all the participants reveal their favourite and least favourite of the wines and guessed what country they could have been from between Canada, France, New Zealand and Portugal. At the end, Mandrea Bike revealed each bottle, and seeing as there was a second bottle of each wine, everyone enjoyed a glass of their top-rated wine. 

THE WINES

• Big Head Rosé, Canada
• Ogier Cotes du Ventoux Rosé AOC, France
• Kim Crawford Rosé, New Zealand
• Cabriz Rosé, Portugal

THE FINDINGS 

The majority of the gang picked Niagara’s Big Head Rosé as their favourite, aside from two who preferred the Cabriz Rosé from Portugal. For everyone, the French rosé came in second place, and Kim Crawford’s Rosé fell in the middle of the pack as the tasters seemed indifferent to it – neither good nor bad. The curious discovery about the Cabriz Rosé is that it was either loved or hated in a show of extremes. 

The dockside rosé party won’t be the last of the summer, and Mandrea Bike looks forward to sipping on more of the good stuff in the Canadian sunshine. 

Drink with you soon, 

Mandrea Bike
(Mat & Andrea)