Brown Brothers Cienna set to light up NZ palates

Brown Brothers Cienna set to light up New Zealand palates

Sensational chilled red wine now available in New Zealand

Brown Brothers Cienna has already taken the Australian market by storm. Now the chilled red wine is crossing the Tasman giving New Zealand wine drinkers a taste of the unique varietal. The 2008 vintage of Cienna, which is exclusive to the family-owned Australian company, will be widely available from next month.

Cienna is a truly unique New World grape variety, bred in Australia by crossing Cabernet Sauvignon with the Spanish variety Sumoll, and Brown Brothers is the only winemaker in the world to produce wine from the grape.

One reason for Cienna’s popularity across the Tasman is its versatility. Cienna’s fruit sweetness, low alcohol and lightness on the palate mean it is a fantastic food wine, ideally suited to a range of dishes that are traditionally difficult to match with wine such as hot curries and desserts containing both chocolate and fruit.

The sweetness in the wine counterbalances the heat of spicy dishes – making it a perfect match for tom yum soup, spicy lamb vindaloo or pizza with semi-dried tomatoes, hot sopressa salami, basil and mozzarella cheese.

Cienna’s berry fruit flavours match well with a range of fruit-driven dishes such as crushed meringue and fresh mixed berries smothered in raspberry coulis, berry fruit tart, summer pudding or strawberries dipped in chocolate.

Brown Brothers CEO, Ross Brown, says the first vintage of Cienna sold out at the company’s cellar door.

“We took that as a sign there is a demand for this style of wine. Since then we’ve expanded production and Cienna will be available in traditional wine and liquor outlets around New Zealand from September this year.

“Cienna fits in our range between two very successful wines New Zealanders are already familiar with, Moscato and the chilled red Dolcetto & Syrah.

“Our approach with Cienna was to make a wine somewhere between the two. Cienna has more sweetness and less tannin than Dolcetto & Syrah, as well as being lower in alcohol, matching Moscato at around 5 percent.”

With its deep beetroot red colour, sweet cherry and fresh berry fruit flavours, Cienna is as dramatic on the eye as it is on the palate.

ENDS

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