Not All Roses Are Created Equal-The Story of La Nuit En Rose by Philip S. Kampe

Terlato Wines at La Nuit en Rose

Every year, I receive an invite to attend the La Nuit en Rose cruise event that embarks from Pier 40 on New York’s Hudson River.

The Pier is just blocks away from the hustling Houston Street area, where you can find swanky and hip shops, restaurants of all sorts and an array of festive and dive bars. If you towards the sky, you will see rooftop bars that flaunt the view of Manhattan’s skyline.

Normally, when I board the Hornblower for the Rose wine cruise, I find a group of friends and hang out with them for the four hour event.

This year was a little different.

I received an invitation to attend a ‘Special VIP  Passport Tasting’ of Roses from Terlato Wines portfolio.

Terlato is a company that is an innovator in pursuing interesting, dynamic wines for distribution to the public.

Terlato is also an innovator in marketing, hence the Passport tasting. If you have a Passport, you can travel the world, and that is what the international Rose tasting of wines was about. 

The top floor of the boat was set-up only for invited VIP’s. The goal was to sample their array of Rose wines from around the world. The wines were each paired with a gourmet appetizer. The pairing of the rose with the appetizer raised the bar a notch higher. It was obvious a lot of thought went into the selections-which paid off immediately.

The wines that were represented at this phenomenal tasting included:

Sanford  Rose of Pinot Noir  Sta. Rita Hills 2016 (USA)

Belleruche Rose Cotes-Du-Rhone 2016 (France)

Il Poggione Brancato Rosato  Montalcino 2016 (Italy)

Protea  Protea Rose  Western Cape  2016  (South Africa)

Bodegas Valdemar  Conde Valdemar Rose  Rioja  2016 (Spain)

Mathilde Chapoutier Rose ‘Grand Ferrage’ Cotes De Provence  2016  (France)

Terlato Wines illustrated and educated the attendees, including me, that not all Roses are the same.

As a wine educator, if I were to teach a Rose wine class, I would use each of these wines to illustrate how universal the much used, French term, Rose, can be used nowadays.

Hats off to Terlato Wines for their effort to show the world that Roses are not only French wines.

Philip S. Kampe

philip.kampe@thewinehub.com

Mathilde Chapoutier Live! by Philip S. Kampe

Thanks for your many emails regarding what Mathilde Chapoutier looks like. I chose to focus on her wine in my previous article, leaving Matilde only as the winemaker-label designer-marketer and one person show.

As you can see from these images, certainly not the best photos of Mathilde, she is young, lively and acts care free.

The majority of Rose drinkers are not concerned with what grapes are used in the wine making process. Mathilde is and her 2016 Grand Ferrage is not your usual rose. The wine is made from many grapes, specifically Grenache (50%), Syrah (20%) and a mixture of Cinsault, Vermentino and Clairette.

                                                                    

                                                          Mathilde Chapoutier

Ask your wine merchant to order her wine if you don't find it. It is a small production wine that is in the Terlato Wines portfolio. The 2016 was released on 10 January and has received numerous accolades.

To describe the wine is simple, bright acidity, velvety with hints of peach, nectarine and apricot that create a freshness and finesse on the palate.





             

Philip S. Kampe
philip.kampe@thewinehub.com 




       

Why Mathilde Chapoutier's 2016 Grand Ferrage Rose is the Best? by Philip S. Kampe

                                                      2016 Grand Ferrage  

With Rose season upon us, yes and all of the Roses on the market, it is often hard to find the right Rose that can be your ‘go to Rose’ this summer.

My goal was to find the quintessential Rose.

After attending a handful of Rose Portfolio tastings and samplings, with over three hundred Roses offered, I knew the decision would be difficult, if not impossible. After narrowing the choices to a handful, I began to analyze each bottle and time after time, the Roses from Provence were in the running, as well as a few from, yes, Austria.

Roses from Provence started the trend, which has grown by double digits each quarter for the past several years.

 Today, you can easily find Rose sections filling space at your favorite wine shop-something unheard of years ago.

Roses are the late bloomers, leading the growth charts in the United States.

When I look for in a Rose is diversity. I don’t think of a Rose the same way that I think of other wines. Complexity and ageing factors do not matter.

What matters, as I mentioned before is diversity. What is diversity? In my case, diversity is one wine that can accommodate a complete evening of entertaining, from aperitif to dessert.

The Rose that I found that can accommodate nearly all foods is from Provence’s, Mathilde Chapoutier.

The wine is: Grand Ferrage Cotes de Provence Rose 2016 (under $20)

Mathilde is not a newcomer to the wine world. Her father and mentor is the notorious Michel Chapoutier (look him up).

Mathilde is a new generation winemaker. She does it all-designs the label-makes and markets the wine-and has the spirit of the ‘Flower Power Generation.’

She runs the show.

The 2016 Grand Ferrage is light, fruity and has an inner soul that coats and stays on your palate to tackle all types of food. At a recent lunch, the 2016 Grand Ferrage was put to the test and won-hands down-as a soup to nuts wine-one that was poured with each of the fifteen courses, including several that were gifts from the chef.

The Grand Ferrage is the diverse type of wine that can stand up to all dishes, whether creamy and sweet or spicy and hot.

My wine guidelines were taught to me by my parents. They would try the one bottle approach. Their only true success was Champagne.

With that upbringing and kitchen skills, I have looked far and wide for the new Champagne in my life.

And thanks to Mathilde Chapoutier, I have found it.


                                                    

                                 The 2016 Grand Ferrage is the King of the Boardroom

Philip S. Kampe
philip.kampe@thewinehub.com