Rosé Port from Portugal made using the traditional Port varieties: Tinto Cao, Tinto Roriz, Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, and Tinto Barroca. SRP of $20 but I was able to find it for as low as $14.
Sample submitted for review.
From the bottle:
"Croft Pink is the first ever Porto with a beautiful light ruby color, achieved from light contact with the skins of traditional Porto grapes - lighter in style with a unique crisp and fruity flavor, serve chilled in a wine glass for maximum enjoyment.
19.5% Alcohol"
The Croft Pink Rosé Porto represents a new innovation -- the first rosé Port. I'm sure many traditionalists will write this wine off right away as a gimmick, but here at The Reverse Wine Snob we take each drink on its own merit. Regardless of whether a wine is "true" to the variety, the question we ask is simply is it good? And then is it good enough to justify the price?
The Croft Pink is definitely not a complex wine. It's pretty straightforward: sweet and hot. The wine has aromas of strawberry syrup, raspberry, cranberries, alcohol, and roses. The taste is rich, sweet and syrupy. The high alcohol shows right away but the finish is relatively smooth.
The Croft Pink would probably would be much better if they dialed down the sweetness a bit, but as it is the wine has potential when paired with the right food. I'd go for a rich chocolate dessert. The wine was actually pretty good when I drank it with Joe-Joes (Trader Joe's Oreos). Otherwise I'd recommend using it in a mixed drink, but I probably would not drink it by itself.
The other redeeming quality about this one is that it will last in the fridge for several weeks which is good because at almost 20% alcohol you'll knock yourself out if you try to down the whole bottle.
See a listing of local retailers selling this wine here.
Overall Rating: 6
