Every year on February 14th, the celebration of love honors the passion and connection between two people. It’s a day for exchanging sweets and fresh flowers, perhaps meeting for dinner with a special bottle of wine.
In such cases, how do you choose the right wine? There’s truly a vast selection, and even if you want to stay within the borders of a single Italian region, how do you navigate, for example, among the best Puglian wines? Is it assumed that to toast to a particularly intense and deep bond, you need to uncork an equally “important” (and expensive) bottle? And what about when it comes to newly blossomed loves? And when you still don’t know your partner’s tastes and neither of you can boast a sommelier’s or wine connoisseur’s resume?
What is meant by “crowd-pleasing” and “feminine” wine
When preparing a romantic date, like a Valentine’s Day dinner, the toast is one of those moments to organize well. How do you avoid taking risks? As the saying goes, the solution should be simple: just choose a so-called “crowd-pleasing” wine.
What are we talking about? In common language, “crowd-pleasing” wines are those that, due to their simple and balanced organoleptic characteristics, appeal to almost all palates. Sometimes these are also called “feminine” wines, as they are generally very smooth and relatively sweet, able to seduce even those who are not accustomed to or typically do not enjoy the nectar of Bacchus.
In this perspective, the quintessential feminine wine has always been rosé, especially sparkling and bubbly, because it is typically more fruity and light, but also due to the pink color typically associated with women. Certainly, we can say that no wine can be defined as “feminine” or “masculine” regardless, and that each product should be known and appreciated for its particularities. However, it must be acknowledged that for a long time, this widespread association of ideas has been misleading and probably delayed the rise of rosé wines, which are now highly sought after and consumed across the board.
Crifo wines from Puglian Bombino Nero and Nero di Troia grapes favored by women
Today, among the great wine experts, there are many female names: so why not take inspiration from the evaluations of these professionals and “borrow” some valuable advice for toasting on Valentine’s Day?
In 2014, Yumi Tanabe, a great professional and wine connoisseur on a global level, created the prestigious “Sakura Japan Women’s Wine Award,” establishing the first international wine competition judged exclusively by women in Japan. To this day, the awards given by Tanabe form the largest and most important wine competition in Asia, with over 4,000 labels participating from around the world. Thanks to this and other national and international events inspired by it, women are defining a new perspective on the selection criteria for white, red, and rosé wines.
Among the wines favored by women, in light of the recognitions obtained during the Sakura Japan Women’s Wine Award, we highlight some Crifo labels, both rosé and red, with an invitation to taste them on a special occasion like Valentine’s Day.
Starting with the rosé, the all-female jury awarded the gold medal to the Cryfus Easy Vino Spumante Rosato Extra Dry, made from native Bombino Nero grapes vinified in purity, chosen from among 4,333 labels from all over the world.
Moving on to Crifo reds, the gold medal was awarded to Grifone Nero di Troia Puglia IGP, while the Augustale Castel del Monte Nero di Troia Riserva DOCG even won a double gold medal. These results are anything but trivial because they concern two wines made from pure Nero di Troia grapes that few, on paper, would successfully associate with a female target. And yet, here’s the surprise (for those who have never tasted the labels in question, of course): on one hand, wine consumption trends are evolving in favor of more refined products, and on the other, the best wineries are able to successfully present to the broad public even the fruits of vineyards that are anything but “crowd-pleasing.”
