After 14 years in the rosé-making game, Peter Turner of The Hunting Lodge Winery decided to make a change and is about to launch the country’s first ‘crowd-blended’ rosé. Turner is inviting 500 members of the public to become winemakers, who will blend the wine themselves.
Hunting Lodge trialled something similar last year with family and friends, but it has never been attempted on such large a scale as this. It is a combination of winemaking and market research.
"We want to find out what New Zealanders want in terms of a rosé - there's a multitude of styles out there," Turner said.
Turner said that in past years wine drinkers have opted for sweet and flavourful rosés, but the trend has been moving towards drier, paler wines.
Three base rosés will be sent to those selected, who can then share their blend on social media. Once the results have been collated, a final blend will be produced, and all 500 winemakers involved will have their names on the bottle.
