OK, so the H&M Hofer Zweigelt Rosé isn’t Italian. It’s still one of my favorite Pink drinks.
This flirty little wine is made organically with Zweigelt, an Austrian grape, which is dark-skinned, and rich with acidity. The short contact with the skins in order to produce this rosé highlights the grape’s elusive aromatics: fresh strawberries, cherry-pits and wet stones. On the palate the wine is bright, crispy and finished with a shimmering minerality. The perfect wine to sip all summer long.
From what I understand, the area where this wine is produced, Auersthal, is an unlikely place for an organic estate. The village has a history of wine making and vine-growing, but also of oil mining. This area north of Vienna is comparable to the Texas of Austria, a region famous for its fossil fuel mining industry. Somehow Franz and Christina Hofer’s 15 hectares of vines produce something even more precious than oil… they make this rosé!