Musings of a Wine Maven

My Favorite Seasonal Window Display in New York City

I no longer wait in that endless line to meet Santa at Macy’s flagship store on Herald Square in Manhattan, but I do indulge in other seasonal delights in the city. Good friend and wine importer Jacques Navarre joined me in the Apple recently. Beginning at Saint Pat’s under the lights, we crossed Fifth Avenue to see the giant tree and the skaters at Rockefeller Center, followed by the famous department store windows, including a peek at Saks’ windows (always stunning during the holidays).

In the morning, we headed down to the Village for brunch.  My daughter, a brief resident of the city, recommended Jack’s Wife Freda on Carmine Street, with a warning it was tough to get a table (but we were successful that particular morning). Well fed, Jacques and I made a left turn exiting the restaurant and immediately faced the window display of a wine shop that almost took my breath away. It was a beach scene featuring the rosé wine of Château La Gardonne, an AOC Côtes de Provence grower! My improving, but still hard to completely shed, curmudgeonly views on rosé as an all-season wine stopped me dead in my tracks.

OK, I thought, this is the final proof that I am one of the last to get it. Were I the window dresser at the shop, Spirits of Carmine, a selection of bubblies would dominate the display with a hint that one can never have too much of this New Year standard. I feel certain that the owner of La Gardonne would agree with me—that château is owned by the legendary Champagne house, Vranken Pommery Monopole. Instead, this message here is “think Caribbean” and even if you will not be traveling south anytime soon, you can still get the effect with a bottle of rosé.

For me, this is clearly the most provocative window display of the season…and I confess that all this past week at home, a glass of rosé was on the coffee table as I started a late afternoon fire.