First ‘crowd-blended’ rosé launched in New Zealand

The Hunting Lodge winery in Auckland has launched New Zealand’s first ‘crowd-blended’ rosé project involving 500 members of the public after a trial proved a hit.

As reported by Newshub, Peter Turner, head winemaker at The Hunting Lodge, trialled a crowd-blended rosé last year with friends and family, which proved popular.

Keen to experiment with crowd-blending on a larger scale, and surf the wave of rosé’s rising popularity in New Zealand, Turner has roped in 500 consumers to take part in the project.

“We want to find out what New Zealanders want in terms of a rosé – there’s a multitude of styles out there,” Turner told Newshub.

While New Zealanders currently favour drier styles of rosé, Turner wants to give consumers a chance to have their say and get involved in the blending process.

To make the wine, Turner will send three base rosés to 500 members of the public in the post, who will be asked to create their own preferred blend and share it on social media.

Once the final blend has been decided and a batch of the wine created, all 500 members of the public who helped create the rosé will get their name on the label.

According to Philip Gregan, chief executive of New Zealand Winegrowers, rosé is “on-fire” in the country at the moment, with consumers “flocking to rosé in droves”. Exports of New Zealand rosé are up 50% on last year.

“There is a buzz around rosé at the moment, which has been going gangbusters down our way, and has been selling well in cans,” Fleur Nicol, sales and marketing manager, Matahiwi Estate, told the drinks business.

Tim Lightbourne, co-founder, Invivo Wines, is also seeing increasing demand.

“We’ve noticed a surge in demand for New Zealand rosé. Consumers
are looking for an alternative to the Provençal style, and those who
enjoy a fruit driven style are snapping up New Zealand rosé,” he said.

“Our Graham Norton’s Own New Zealand Rosé is flying in the UK and Ireland right now with major retailers.

“Many New World producers are moving away from bright pink fruit bomb rosés and are making more Old World styles with a bit of a twist,” he added.