rosé – Cerise Chérie

A few months ago I visited a new wine shop on the recommendation of a friend. It’s on the other side of town in an area I almost never go; however, I was on the hunt for a certain wine and heard that they may have it. Not only did I find the wine I was searching for, but I found a very extensive collection of local Colorado wines. Among them was this bottle – A Touch of Red by Bookcliff Vineyards out of Boulder, Colorado. I was first attracted to the label. (You know me, I’m a sucker for a good label, especially if there’s a dog on it!) In this case, two adorable terriers sniffing curiously at a cluster of grapes. I bought it, thinking it would be perfect to open on Valentine’s Day.

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Chambord with Rosé is a beautiful variation on the more traditional Kir which is simply made by combining Crème de Cassis, a blackcurrant liqueur, with leftover dry white wine and swirling the two together in the glass. When making Kir or its more elegant cousin, Kir Royale (which is made with champagne), I often substitute Chambord, a black raspberry liqueur, for the standard Crème de Cassis. The two liqueurs are very similar in taste, with the exception being that Crème de Cassis is slightly sweeter and syrupy in texture, whereas Chambord is more refined in flavour, with notes of blackberries, Moroccan vanilla, honey and citrus playing off the predominate raspberry flavour. It’s not quite as sweet as Cassis and is a bit thinner in texture making it easier to swirl into the wine. In my opinion, the two can be used almost interchangeably but, since raspberries are my favourite summer berry, I always have a bottle of Chambord in liqueur cabinet. Continue reading “Chambord Rosé” →