A Rose For All Seasons
Young French Winemaker Mathilde Chapoutier
By: Philip S. Kampe - Mar 23, 2017
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).
Mathilda 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.