'I hope it makes you feel good': But did it? We try Kylie Minogue's new rosé wine
Most people are content with letting their friends buy them a drink on their birthday. But if you’re Kylie Minogue, you mark turning 52 by launching your very own wine label.
Kylie Minogue Rosé was released quietly in 50 branches of Tesco last week ahead of its official nationwide launch on the singer’s birthday on 28 May, with stores selling out of the few bottles that eagle-eyed shoppers managed to find.
Minogue told the Telegraph that she had been considering creating her own rosé for several years. “I hope that my wine is inviting and makes you feel good,” she continued. “I have tried to make the rosé elegant, joyful and to represent a good moment for yourself.”
The wine is a straightforward vin de France made with a blend of carignan and cabernet sauvignon grapes. Strawberries and blossom are prominent on the nose and the crisp palate is rounded out by a creamy bubblegum note. Appealingly easy drinking, in other words, if not exactly something you can’t get out of your head. Minogue suggests pairing it with her favourite dish of salt-baked cod with olives and grilled fennel.
The singer's signature on the label pushes the price up to £9, which is punchy for a bottle with the vin de France classification (the French designation for a table wine) but unlikely to deter drinkers thirsty for a taste of pop royalty. True Kylie fans can buy the wine direct from Minogue’s website and spend an extra fiver on a rather nice silver gift box with the singer’s name all over it.
Rosé sales have boomed in recent years and celebrities have played a prominent role in driving the trend. Minogue’s rosé is a collaboration with Benchmark Drinks, which also manages wine brands from Ian Botham, Graham Norton and Sarah Jessica Parker. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s critically acclaimed and commercially successful Miraval is the rosé to which all other celebrity winemakers aspire, while Drew Barrymore, John Legend and Jon Bon Jovi all have a pink wine to their name. Should you ever find yourself in Charlottesville, Virginia, you may wish to stop by the Trump Winery for a tasting of its still and sparkling rosés (the wines, alas, do not ship outside the US).
And as all seasoned Kylie watchers know, where one Minogue leads, another can’t be far behind. Might Domaine Dannii be the next big thing in Burgundy? We should be so lucky.
Four more celebrity rosés
Graham Norton’s Own Pink by Design Rosé
Launched in 2014, Graham Norton’s New Zealand wine business now produces over 3 million bottles a year, meaning that the TV star no longer has the time to crush the grapes with his feet on his chat show. Fresh, fruity and dry, rather like the man himself. £9.50, Tesco
Miraval Côtes de Provence Rosé
The Pitt-Jolie marriage may be no more but the former couple remain partners on this award-winning Provencal wine that they consider an investment for their family. No wonder: Miraval Rosé Champagne is in the pipeline. £18.50, Fortnum & Mason
Hampton Water Rosé
Tired of dragging cases of rosé to his holiday home in the Hamptons, Jon Bon Jovi hit upon the idea of making his own wine instead. Produced in the Languedoc by winemaker Gérard Bertrand, the ripe strawberries-and-cream flavours are summer in a bottle. £19.99, mywinecellar.com
Botham and Balfour Sparkling Rosé
As patriotic as you would expect from one of the greatest cricketers this country has ever produced, this joint venture between Sir Ian Botham and Hush Heath Estate in Kent is clean-tasting but complex and an approachable introduction to why the reputation of English fizz is on the up and up. £25, bothamwines.com
