At Glou Glou, we’ve got a mandate. As diehard wine lovers, we are continually keeping ourselves in check to avoid developing into so-called ‘wine snobs’ – those ever-elusive creatures who slither within the wine industry, voicing their chichi opinion to whoever will listen (which, in accordance, is other people within the wine industry), only to create an echo chamber of jargon that completely isolates anyone outside of their wine tank.
The result? A tumult of people who are intimidated by expansive restaurant wine lists, perplexed by in-store wine shelf displays and oh-what-the-hell-why-bother-let’s-get-some-beer-instead.
So we’re here to shake things up. And that’s why blue wine caught our eye, ’cause it’s doing the exact same thing. The brainchild of a Spanish startup and released in 2016, blue wine isn’t officially defined as a ‘wine’ due to its colour. The concept has already got a lot of people’s backs up, as in their eyes, it’s damaging the holy sanctity of traditional winemaking.
So what’s the deal exactly?
We got our palates on a bottle of Pasion Blue Chardonnay to see.
Let’s admit – manipulating the colour of wine isn’t exactly new. Rosé comes from red grapes that are lightly crushed and left to macerate with their red skins for a little while to lightly taint the juice pink rather than deep red (sort of like leaving a tea bag in for 30 seconds rather than forgetting it in the cup overnight). That said, rosé also gets a preposterous amount of sass from wine snobs and noobs alike, so blue wine never really stood a chance. In the case of blue wine, the juice is hued neon blue with anthocyanin (a pigment found in grape skin) and indigo (a dye extracted from the Isatis tinctoria plant).
As we sat there sipping by the edge of the Atlantic, we all got very obvious wafts of peaches, granadilla and all the summery fruits you practically expect to smell while sitting on an island and drinking this stuff. And with an 11.5% alcohol percentage, blue wine is best described as wine’s version of an ‘alcopop’. We think this is the kind of drink that would be a really fun introduction for an entry-level drinker – say a student, someone who is young and ‘wine-curious’ but put off by the acidity or harsh tannins of many wines. It’s also perfect for someone seeking a new, fun wine experience. As Adam said, “it’s sweet and yummy – why wouldn’t you like it?”.
It might not have been a complete winner for us taste-wise (we prefer our Chardonnay from Burgundy and elegantly wooded), but with the current wine industry awash with a red ocean of choice, it’s refreshing to see some creative wine folk wading into the blue.
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