On June 13-14 the La Nuit en Rosé event was held in Manhattan and was billed as “New York’s first Rosé wine festival”. I attended the Saturday afternoon tasting which was open to the public.
More than 85 rosé wine from around the world were poured. Most were from France with many examples from Provence with others from the Languedoc, Champagne, Corsica, Rhone Valley, Loire Valley and Bordeaux. The rest of the world wasn’t left out with wines poured from Italy, Spain, South Africa, Chile, Argentina, Morocco, Turkey, Lebanon and even Long Island. Many of the wines were made from the classic Southern French varietals of Grenache, Cinsault and Mourvedre as well as from well known grape varietals such as Chardonnay, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir. Others from more obscure varietals such as Counoise, Rolle, Nielluciu, Sciaccarellu, Grolleau and Kavaklidere.
Rosé come in a variety of shades from light copper to dark pink depending on the method used to produce the wine. Those methods include the Maceration Method, the Vin Gris Method and the Saignée Method. Examples from the tasting included the color range from the very pale copper color of the 2013 Domaine Poli Niellucciu (Corsica) to the beet-red color of the 2013 Domaine de Chevalier (Bordeaux). The wines had a wide range of prices as well, from the B & G Cotes De Provence (Provence) at $6.29 a bottle to the 2012 Chateau D’ Esclans “Garrus” (Provence) at $90.00 a bottle. Some unusual wines included the 2013 Chateau Les Eollers “OG” (Languedoc) which is a copper-hued wine in a nontraditional bottle filled with real flecks of gold. The Ferrari Rosé Brut NV was a wine that the pourer opened by running to the bow of the boat and lopping the top of the bottle off with a mini saber as the crowd cheered him on, and a sparking wine name after one of the Presidents, the 2012 Gerard Bertrand “Thomas Jefferson Cuvee”(Limoux)
The event took place on the Hornblower yacht leaving from Pier 40 at Houston Street and we spent a good portion of the tasting cruising around lower Manhattan. It was a beautiful day to be on the water on a boat with plenty of good juice packed with people out to have a a good time. It was a fun day.
Of course with any party there must be sparking wine and there were a few of the rosé versions present such as:
Pommery Demoiselle de Vranken Brut NV
Pommery Brut NV
Nicolas Feuillatte Brut NV
Domaine Lucien Albrecht Crémant d’Alsace Brut NV
Marquis de la Tour Brut NV
2006 Ferrari Perle
Berlucchi Franciacorta NV
Still wines I sampled included:
2013 Domaine du Grand Cros “Esprit de Provence” (Provence)
2013 Domaine Terra Vecchia “Clos Poggiale” (Corsica)
2013 Domaine Poli Niellucciu (Ile de Beauté)
2013 Merrenon Roséfine (Rhone)
2013 Bernard Magrez “Blu de Mer” (Languedoc)
2013 Gerard Bertrand Cotes des Roses (Languedoc)
2013 Gerard Bertrand Chateau La Sauvageonne (Languedoc)
2013 Prieure de Montezargues Tavel (Rhone)
2013 Rémy Pannier Rosé D’Anjou (Loire)
2013 Domaine Gérard Millet Sancerre (Loire)
2012 Chateau D’Esclans “Les Clans” (Provence)
2013 Chateau D’Esclans “Whispering Angel” (Provence)
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