Wine Review : �Pink' by Yellowglen

While shopping at my local Wal Mart shortly before Halloween, a friendly-faced product demonstrator clad in a cloak, presumably dressed to look like a fortune teller, asked me to touch her crystal ball and find out what kind of wine I was in the mood for today. After two hours in the store with half my brood (the 2 youngest out of four), I'm sure I looked like an easy sale. I know I felt like one. Anyway, there were enough witnesses around, so I touched her tell-tale ball.

Hues of pink and blue, rimmed with traces of yellow indicated two choices for me, one I didn't buy, but the other sounded good so I bit. 'Pink' by Yellowglen of Australia. By now, I needed a drink.

Pink was described by the vineyard as a wine with "Strawberry aromas and refreshing fruit flavors of sweet berry and refreshing lime.". To me, it sounded as if Pink was a berry-flavored version of a Moscato, one of my all-time favorites. Moscatos are indicative of peaches, a sweet sparkling wine that pairs well with cream desserts, or as a dessert by itself (I couldn't say about pairing it, but it goes down very easily on its own). I like berries, strawberries in particular, better than probably any other fruit. Pink sounded like the perfect way to cap a day at Wal Mart and an impending school Halloween evening extravaganza.

Duties done for the day (I'll spare you the gory details), I poured myself a much anticipated glass of Pink wine and settled onto the couch for a sweet sparkling treat and some bad Friday night TV. I got half of what I expected. The TV was bad.

I wouldn't necessarily say the wine was bad, but it was less than I had hoped. Pink had plenty of sparkle, but little in the way of sweetness. The much anticipated strawberry and fruit flavors were weak. A background of lime was present in the light to medium weight wine.

My husband is a beer drinker who is becoming more of a wine fan. He isn't much for fruity, berry, sweet treats. He likes a good Pinot Grigio, and is a fan of Chardonnay. I knew he'd love this wine when he got home. (Post the children's Halloween party he'd helped me with, I'd taken pity and allowed a few beers out with a friend.) Pink actually was somewhat reminiscent of beer.

If you are looking for a sparkling and/or sweet dessert wine, Pink isn't it. Yellowglen claims it pairs well with pasta, salad, and grilled seafood. Possibly, but the sparkles might make it tough to take with fish. I could see it as a light accompaniment to a light salad or lunch; less so with dinner. It's no good with Kit-Kats.

At any rate, Pink is a wine worth trying if you do not expect a sweet wine with intense berry or fruit flavors. I can't really agree with the description as sold to me, but then again, it was Wal Mart and the woman had a cloak and a crystal ball. At under $10.00 per bottle, Pink is a fair to good value, great if you know what to expect and this is the type of wine you are looking for. So far for me, in the realm of sweet, sparkling wines, nothing yet has really beat a good Moscato (or a bad one, either).