The Rise of Fine Rosé

IWFS Bombay will explore the fascinating rise of Rosé wines at a luncheon to be held on November 6.  An impressive array of fine Rosés from Provence will be shown, complemented with a spread based on Provencal cusine.

Provenceand the FrenchRiviera.  The ultimate pleasure zone. Immortalised by Cezanne, Van Gogh, Matisse and Renoir. Where Romanesque and Renaissance coexist with Belle Époque and Corbusier, inArles,Avignon, Marseille and St. Tropez.

To quote Andrew Jefford “In France, more rosé is drunk than white. The combination of wealthy vineyard proprietors inProvenceand their yacht-owning clientele has made fine rosé a reality.”

This is not about force or concentration. It’s an exercise in finesse, in delicacy and in discretion.  This is fencing, not wrestling. The reward is the perfection of disposition, not accumulation: striking physical prettiness of colour, flavour allied to mousseline textures, and a graceful lingering finish.

Your Managing Committee has invited Nihal Kaviratne to host this event. He has selected five masters of the pink to show. The Garrus from Ch. D’Esclans, which Jancis Robinson rates as the best pink in the world. Only 160 cases produced a year, and wholesaling at GBP 685 a case in theUK. The La Secret de Leoube, tongue-caressingly sensual and impressively complex. The crisper and more incisive Ch. Minuty. The bright raspberry warmth of the Coeur de Grain from Ch. De Selle of Dom. Ott. With the pale silver-pink, lively orange and strawberry elegance of the Billecart-Salmon to get us started.

In keeping with our plans to find unusual venues, this lunch time event will be held at the Bombay Paperie, made available courtesy Neeta Premchand, who started it to showcase and keep alive the ancient tradition of making thin, strong paper by hand. It is located in theSonawalaBuilding, a heritage award site at 59 Bombay Samachar Marg, opp. TheBombayStock Exchange. According to well known historian Sharada Dwivedi, it was built by the East India Company, and has a wide staircase up which ladies and large gentlemen were carried in palanquins. 

Shyama Kaviratne, Rahul Akerkar, and The Moveable Feast team are busy crafting a spread based on Provencal cuisine. Herbs, olive oil, tomatoes, crushed garlic, ratatouille, loup with rouille mayonnaise, tapanade, courgette flowers stuffed with onions, sardines, anchovies, fruits de mer, and sausages of every variety. Not to mention the famous goats cheeses ofProvence: Banon (wrapped in chestnut leaves), and Picodon, with its nutty flavour. Rich chocolate gateaux (Valrhona), almond sweets (Calissons) and Nougat from Montelimar, to finish.

See the invitation here.