Something blue: Cerulean-coloured wine reaches TT shores

When it comes to wine, one can discuss aroma or bouquet, the body of the wine, whether it's crisp, dry or fruity, whether it's tannic or oaky. One can talk about the finish – the impression the wine leaves on your mouth or throat as you swallow it.

One can also, to a limited degree, discuss colour. whether the wine is a red, a white or a blush (pink).

Now the world, and more specifically TT can add blue to that list of colours.

The idea of blue wine may take a bit of getting used to, but as proven by blind tastings in Tobago and tastings in Trinidad (this reporter had a sip or two, but let's keep that between us) the taste of blue wine is both familiar and unique.

Gik wine, made in Spain by a group of rebellious science nerds, has been brought to expand the TT palette (and palate) by importers Meridian Distributors Ltd and is the company's first entry to the wine and spirits market. The wine debuted last month at the Tobago Wine Festival and entered blind taste tests, triumphing above competitors in aroma and taste, and is already available at some stores in TT.

But where did it come from?

Spanish startup Gik Live!, a group of men in their 20s, raised £26,000 between them and partnered with the engineering department of the University of the Basque Country in Northern Spain on a food-technology project. It took them two years of in-depth research to make the wine which is naturally blue. The natural blue colour, according to the company's website, comes from extracting a pigment called anthocyanin from the skin of the red grape with a pigment that comes from a flower.

Asked why they chose to change the colour of wine, the team responded that they wanted to be revolutionary and felt the wine industry was the most traditional they could find in their country.

How does it taste?

From the teensy sip (that's my story and I'm sticking to it) this reporter had in a private wine-tasting last week, it tastes a bit like a Moscato, fruity but not as sweet, or like a fizzy white Zinfandel, without the sweet finish.

Interestingly, Gik Blue is crisp but smooth. At 11 per cent alcohol content, it isn't overpowering...but it is very smooth.