Rosé and Remembrance

A recent foray into civilization in search of BPA free drinking containers—Sigg bottles for Henry and me; a Born Free trainer cup for baby Coco—led me to the very swankyWegmans in Sterling (my favorite grocery store--I never go in there because it’s like a zillion miles away and because I could spend a fortune on cheese alone in there…)I decided to go nuts and buy a bottle of wine. I told the very nice wine guy I was looking for a dry rosé from France, not too expensive. I am absolutely wild about rose, I must say. Proper dry stuff of course, nothing resembling white zinfandel…I look forward to it every summer. Back in NYC, my friend Manon and I would drink buckets of it as soon as the weather gor warm. I had to skip rosé season last year because Coco was gestating so was psyched to be back in action. Of course, I can’t put it away like I used to…both because of the nursing thing and because I have become a total lightweight in the past few years. One generous glass is just about all I can handle.
The Wegmans guy steered me toward a bottle of Jean-Luc Colombo’s Rose de Cote Bleue. I have a soft spot for Colombo from my old life. My old boss in NYC, Jean-Louis Carbonnier, used to do PR for Colombo who’s a well-known winemaker and consultant in the Rhone Valley. I had the good fortune to visit Jean-Luc and his family at their place in Cornas back in 2000—gorgeous—the wines, the setting, all of it. Colombo had this fabulous fireplace and I remember his effortlessly throwing a few duck breasts right in there and coming up with this fabulous meal. I was able to visit a number of winemakers he was affiliated with up and down the Rhone Valley and in Provence. Jean-Luc’s lovely daughter Laure stayed with me for a few days in Brooklyn the following year. Colombo is best know for his Cornas, but from what I understand, he now owns or is involved with some projects in southern France (Provence and Languedoc Roussillon). I’ve unfortunately lost touch with him so don’t know that full story. The wine guy from Wegmans had also been to Colombo's place, and I was really enjoying having an intelligent conversation about wine (with a grown-up!). But then my three year old decided to take off running in the direction of the meat department, so I had to cut the chit-chat and go retrieve him. Anyway, the Rosé de Cote Bleue is an AOC Coteaux d’Aix en Provence and was very drinkable for $10 which is pretty much my limit for a bottle of wine these days (except for an occasional splurge on Champagne which is another story). We had it with grilled shrimp and burgers—yum!