Jordan Wright
April 15, 2015
Special to DC Metro Theater Arts
Le Menu
Did you know the French drink more rosé than white wine? Quelle surprise! At a private tasting at Daniel Boulud’s DBGB Kitchen + Bar at City Center DC earlier this month I learned a great deal about the blush-colored wine the French adore and we find intriguing. On this sunny spring day our education was to be accompanied by a delectable four-course luncheon, designed to pair with the eleven wines we would taste. Swirl, sniff, swish, and spit was decidedly not the plan, not when DBGB Executive Chef, Ed Scarpone and Pastry Chef, Celia Lewis, were about to spoil us rotten with a menu to dovetail these selections.
Scarpone showed how rosé pairs well with flavors other than French dishes, in this case showcasing the more robust of these wines with the exotic influences of Asia and Morocco. And Lewis demonstrated how the sweetness of cassis-hued rosés marry well with chocolates and sugar-dusted madeleines.
Maryland crab with coconut and champagne mango – Grilled chicken with couscous and spicy yoghurt – Grilled kale with sweet potato, Brussels sprouts, pickled water chestnut and buttermilk dressing
For starters, heave mightily to the dustbin all memories of Lancers or Mateus – – once the only rosés available on our wine-starved Eastern shores. These fizzy blush wines from Portugal tasting like soda pop. How ever did we survive such an ignoble introduction to rosé? Those were dark days indeed. Today our wine shops are filled with a veritable panoply of French rosés revealing finesse, charm and sophistication…and they are becoming madly popular. Consumption of these little gems has doubled in the last twenty years.
A basket of warm Madeleines – Petit fours – macarons, marshmallows and gold leaf truffles
In Provence four sub-AOCs, or terroir appellations, have been recognized, and more are expected to be added. You can trace these regions (where rosé accounts for 88% of all wine production), from the mountains of Aix-en-Provence in southwestern France then south to the ports of Marseilles and Toulon, and down along the Mediterranean coast to the Riviera turning up along the eastern coastline to the millionaire’s playground of Cannes and St. Tropez.
Because the climate is drier in the mountains and more humid by the coast, there are distinctive variables in the wines that define their unique profiles. Limestone and limestone-clay soils impart a notable minerality, and the fierce seasonal winds of Le Mistral offer further dimension. Notwithstanding the climate, terroir and wide-ranging elevations of this vast region, there is also the crafting of the wine’s personality expressed by each winemaker who can draw from more than a dozen varieties of grapes used to make it. Nearly all of them are estate-grown.
Founded in 1999 the Center for Rosé Research in Vidauban has created its “Provence Rosé Color Scale” to better define its varying shades. This color reference chart depicts the diversity of liquid color gradations that categorize rosés under the official names of Red Currant, Peach, Grapefruit, Melon, Mango and Tangerine. It helps to express the shades that range from pale pink to peach to ruby hued.
I will not go further into the complexities of taste of the different rosés, nor how they are made. That discussion is for the serious oenophiles or future winemakers out there who already know far more than I. This is meant as an inspirational primer – – an introduction to its delights. I will go so far as to say I chose a favorite amongst all the offerings – – the Chateau Saint Maur Cru Classe L’Excellance Rosé. It is a prestigious wine, refined and delicate, with overtones of melon and rose petals conjuring up visions of heaping bowls of bouillabaisse or platters of fruits de mer. I’m already dreaming of fields of lavender and thyme, the truffles of Périgord, and a mess of langoustines. You should too.
For more detailed information visit www.CentreduRosé.fr
Photo credit – Jordan Wright