NICOLAS FEUILLATTE BRUT ROSE...What CHAMPAGNE is all about!! by Philip S. Kampe

It is the beginning of the summer, temperature wise (88 degrees today in New York), and to celebrate, we opened a bottle of NICOLAS FEUILLATTE'S BRUT ROSE. This salmon-pink-coppery colored cuvee is always a "Favored Companion For All Memorable Occasions".

Priced around $45 a bottle, one would expect an above average Champagne. NICOLAS FEUILLATTE'S BRUT ROSE received 92 points from the Wine Spectator and won a GOLD MEDAL at the San Francisco International Wine Competition.

We opened the bottle and poured the unusual salmon-pink-coppery colored Rose into our traditional champagne flues. Since it feels like summer, we paired the Rose with strawberries and goat cheese, a classic, and my favorite.

The first sip of this cuvee blew me away. The aroma was that of concentrated red fruit, with a hint of lemon. The first flavors I tasted were raspberries, wild strawberries, lemon and red currents with a slightly, mineral Champagne overtone on top of the subtle flavor of white pepper. This cuvee was complex and soothing at the same time.

Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Rose is made of 60% Pinot Noir, which contributes to the cuvees roundness and structure; 30% Pinot Meunier which adds the fruitiness and 10% Chardonnay which gives it's elegance and finesse. The cuvee combines grapes from a selection of 20 to 50 single crus.

If you haven't tried Nicolas Feuillatte's Brut Rose, consider buying a bottle. Head to head with all of the other Roses in this price range, I believe that this cuvee is the "Best Value for the money".

PHILIP S. KAMPE