I’m going to be honest. When I saw the colour (a deep dark pink, akin to some lighter Pinot Noir reds) and the price (€6.99) I didn’t have much confidence. This is one I’d swish around the mouth, gurgle, then spit down the sink, closely followed by the rest of the bottle. Due diligence and all that.

First impressions last

My conclusion would read something like “fine if you like that sort of thing, sure to provide a more serious version of wine zinfandel”. I mean, c’mon. A wine from Portugal calling itself “Pink Elephant”? Pleeeze!

But let’s give it a chance. Is this wine from Portugal named after the ghost of Dublin’s nightlife nineties past actually any good, let alone devoting three paragraphs to?

In Top Gear/Jeremy Clarkson style, I decided to challenge the credentials and give it full throttle. It claims to be “the perfect rosé for spicy food”. And on the front label! A bold claim. Let’s see if you can take the power of my Legendary Makey-Uppy Laksa.

Laksa?

Laksa is a spicey coconut based soup from Malaysia. The best one I’ve ever had was not in Singapore or Malaysia, but in the western Sydney suburb of Parramatta. That was 10 years ago and the place was called Temasek. The Makey-Uppy part is that my recipe changes on a whim and it’s never ever the same.

Anyway, the extra component for my Legendary Makey-Uppy Laksa was extra chillis. Most wines can’t cope with heat, though some Alsatians come into their own, as well as some Rieslings and cheeky Grüner Veltliners from Austria.

So, was this the perfect rosé for [really fucking - sic] spicy food?

Short answer: yes.

Longer answer: The company behind the wine, 10International, had a seeming impossible question to answer, “Which wine goes with curry?”. Focus groups. Research. Surveys. Gaps in markets. Panel of wine experts. Design a new wine. Indian restaurant. Consumer Taste Tests. Overwhelmingly positive results. PR. Guerilla Marketing. Social Media. Download the PDF if you like stories.

Bloody good wine

Turns out that despite my prejudice wine snobbery this is a bloody good wine (the highest achievable score in my private rating system). It’s made just from red grapes, free run juice (that’s the good stuff). There’s a perfect balance between fruit, sweetness and acidity. A very decent drop. and more than able as a match for spicey or really spicey food.

Despite its “critter name” it’s from quite a traditional region in Portugal previously known as “Estremadura”. The region is still called Estremadura (literally meaning the extreme as it is so far west), but the wine from there is now known simply as Vinho Regional Lisboa.

Pink Elephants and Black Pigs

Why? There’s a Spanish region called Extremadura, which means the same as the Portugese word, as you could probably deduct. It’s famous for acorn-eating black pigs rather than Pink Elephants. So there was some sort of clash or gentleman’s agreement over naming. I think the Spanish should have caved in, as the Portugese region is more extreme, at least in a westerly direction.

Where to get it and for how much?

So you’ve read this and now you want to know where to get it. Good news, it’s available from SuperValu nationwide at a very reasonable €6.99.