Battle of Bosworth 2008 War of the Rosé

Rosé, for the most part, is the purview of dandies and the ignorant. Usually, it is little more than the mongrel by-product you get from bleeding the vats in the creation of the "real" wine. Despite that, winemakers still manage to fob it off on the unwitting.

That said, if you are forced to buy a bottle (as a gift say, for a hypogeusic aunt who "just luuuurves it", or for your girlfriend who dunks ice-cubes in her wine), then you could definitely do worse than the 2008 Battle of Bosworth: War of the Rosé. It is, at the very least, a clever name.

But it is also one of the few that is made with the rosé being the ultimate goal, rather than simply a cast off, ginger-haired step-child after-thought. This then is a credible and well-mannered alternative that you can happily swig down in the summertime.

The McLaren Vale cabernet lends an almost masculine amount of fruit to the nose. And it has admirable acidity and dryness. You could certainly enjoy it with a couple of barbequed prawns on a sunny Sunday afternoon with friends. And at only $18 a bottle, you could probably even slip it in with the more expensive bottles on the collective table and no-one would mind too much.

Equally, the vineyard is certified organic - so your ice-cube toting girlfriend may enjoy it simply for the reason that she also conspicuously monitors her carbon footprint and pretends to be into hemp clothing, and the Prius.

Go on. You know you want to. Just pretend it’s for your girlfriend. I won’t tell anyone.

Rating: 7/10

Drink with: discretion...

Price: $18

Image from http://www.edgehill-vineyards.com.au/