Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food Same Time Next Year
by David Scott Allen
Winery: Château Sainte Roseline
Cuvée: Kylie Minogue Cru Classé
Appellation: Côtes de Provence
Type: Rosé
Vintage: 2021
Grape Varieties: Grenache 40%, Cinsault 30%, Mourvèdre 15%, Syrah 10%, Tibouren 5%
Alcohol: 13%
Average Retail Price: France €28.00
Susan, Towny, Mark, and I re-zoomed our online dinners again this week. (Don’t you just love bad puns?) It has been been a long time since we have seen each other, even though Susan and I chat frequently on the phone, seeing them via zoom is much better than not seeing them at all!
This week, we both had bottles of Château Sainte Roseline’s 2021 Rosé “Kylie Minogue Cru Classé.” Our menu was very simple but perfect: herb and lavender marinated halibut fillets grill over hot coals, accompanied by new potatoes bathed in butter and sprinkled with parsley, and fresh asparagus. For the halibut recipe, please visit Cocoa & Lavender.
What surprised me about this wine was how directly involved Kylie Minogue was in the blending stage of this wine. Until learning about this wine, I honestly had no idea that this Australian popular music icon was so interested in the subject — in Australia, Italy, Spain, and France, specifically (in our case) Côtes de Provence.
Before we go too far, though, I want to let you know that this wine is not available in the United States… well, not this year. Around the same time next year, you’ll be able to get the 2022 vintage, and I venture to say that it will be worth waiting for. Right now it is available in the UK and at the Château.
The wine is a very beautiful light salmon pink, with a touch of cotton candy pink added. It has a very fresh mineral nose with lots of peach and some citrus. On the palate, we found the aforementioned peach, along with fraises des bois, and orange zest. It is a very bright and crisp wine, with a very round mouth feel. We all found it well-balanced, and thought that it would do well on its own but was exceptionally good with our meal. It paired perfectly with the fish and potatoes, and even was good with the asparagus.
We all loved the wine, and hope that you will bide your time until next year when you can purchase a bottle and taste/see for yourself.
My bottle was graciously sent to me by Patrick Pouvatchy at the Château to create a pairing and to share my thoughts… Bonus? You get all of our thoughts (and all our thoughts and opinions are our own)!
We tasted this wine in April at the Chateau and liked it very much then but now, six weeks later, it is really coming into its own with lovely fruit and traces of minerality. It is well balanced, as David wrote, and has a nice weight that enhances the pleasure with food (although I would gladly drink it alone!). David’s halibut was such a perfect match, too. I think the smidgen of Piment d’Espelette contributed to making the wine and food seem like old friends.
I always feel very lucky when a pairing works so well! (As you know, it’s not always the case…) But that is the fun of this gig, right? It’s taught me a lot about food and wine pairing, and I am grateful to you for your tutelage!