from the deep and rich 1999 Nicolas Feuillatte Cuvée Palmes d'Or Rosé, all appeared as if they could take more aging. The 2002 Pol Roger Extra Cuvée de Réserve Rosé had a great deal of length. You can safely reassure your customers that older vintages, such as 1999 and 2002, are still in great condition, and are delicious.
M
ROSÉ CHAMPAGNES MATCH WITH A WIDE RANGE OF FOODS
ulti-Vintage Champagnes were in the majority. A new label, Barons de Rothschild Rosé, was fresh and crisp. G.H. Mumm Rosé had a lot of toasty character.
These offset the flavors of assorted hors d'oeuvres, from smoked fish to mild cheese. A lighter style, the Ayala Rosé Majeur was quite
pale, and very, very dry. Henriot Rosé was rich, and the Alfred Gratien Paradis Rosé lived up to its heavenly name. These were perfect with a first course of crab cakes, and their acidities balanced a Mousseline Sauce. With diver sea scallops and a truffled beurre blanc, a quartet of rosé beauties - the 2002 Pol Roger Extra Cuvée de Réserve Rosé demonstrated how flavors can
unfold, the floral 2004 Perrier-Jouet Belle Epoque Rosé (formerly Fleur de Champagne) and a fuller-bodied 2004 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Rosé - gave the course some weight, while a more youthful 2006 Louis Roederer Rosé added some fresh champagne aromas. Four more champagnes stood up to a Filet Mignon. The Gosset Grand Rosé was perfumed, and quite majestic in a magnum. (Magnums, incidentally, are an opportunity for you to increase a sale.)
Charles Heidsieck Rosé Reserve had the earthiness of pinot noir, and the Bollinger Rosé, always a ripe black grape style, showed a touch of wood from barrel fermentation. The 1999 Nicolas Feuillatte Cuvée Palmes d'Or Rosé, according to chief winemaker David Henault, is made with 100% pinot noir, from only two red wine villages – 50% from Bouzy, for power, and 50% from Riceys for fine aromas.
Retail Prices of these rosé champagnes range from $60 to $300. There seems little relationship between price and quali- ty. All were perfect in their individual ways, no matter the cost. While you may not be advising your customers to pair each course of a dinner party with more than one rosé champagne, you can see that it's fine to mix and match, since rosé champagnes all go so well with foods, and your clients can be confident.
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StateWays s www.stateways.com s July/August 2012
