Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/688647
96 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } JUNE/JULY 2016 said, incredulously, "Imagine that! I was put on an allocated basis for a pink wine. My, how times have changed!" To counter the notion that rosé is just a summer sipper, Marta Chef Joe Tarasco created plates demonstrating the wines' life beyond the patio to be "seriously compatible" with all sorts of meals, year 'round. The pairings included marinated olives, an assortment of Italian cheeses from mild to robust, duck liver mousse, assorted hams and Stracciatella. Presenting the "Rosé Cuvee" Unparalleled from Coteaux Varois en Provence, Nicolas Quille demonstrated the delicate juice could hold its own with rosemary and savory herbs. Andrea Sartori poured his Bardolino Chiaretto (Veneto), a salmon-colored DOC wine with 12 hours of skin contact. (The color is actually a DOC requirement.) With its creamier and slightly fuller-body, it held up to the spicy fennel-infused Finocchiona. Introducing Cerulli Spinozzi Cerasuolo, made from 100% Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Enrico Cerulli noted the eastern-grown grape has "an identity of its own" separate from the better known Vino Nobile di Montalcino with which it's often confused. With overnight skin contact, the rosé showed pronounced color and tan - nins, which Cerulli noted, "combined with acidity, makes it feel closer to a red than a white." The Chilean sample, Natura Rosé Emiliana Valle de Rapel, was similar in hue to a Provence rosé, but with a fresher, smoky flavor, which winemaker Noelia Orts attributed to the higher elevation. Hers, paired with coppa ham and piave vecchio, is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Syrah. Sourced from the southern part of Piemonte, Banfi's Alta Langa Cuvée Aurora Rosé borrowed from the strict DOCG production principles of nearby Franciacorta, and the 100% Pinot Noir tradition of French sparklers to create a rosé of unexpected contradictions. Sartori noted, "Usually Pinot Noir is more masculine; this wine is more delicate but can hold its own throughout the meal—with fish and anything fatty." SEMINAR: WHAT'S OLD IS NEW: RESCUE ME! City: New York by Lana Bortolot / photos by Doug Young The seminar on old varieties brought out the poet in the professors presenting these often- misunderstood grapes and regions. No one could resist injecting poetry, emotion and love into their lecture. Master Sommelier Jack Mason of Marta intro - duced the discussion of wines and origins with "undeserved stigma." He began with Lambrusco, presented by Luciano Castiello. A self-proclaimed defender of the maligned red juice, Castiello said, "There isn't a reason to have it, but there's not reason not to have it." He noted it is "Misunderstood by young people who think it's sweet, and appreciated by older people who are looking for something to discover. Lambrusco makes the party go on . . . and then you go back to it to cleanse your palate." And, he added, "There isn't a better wine in the world with pizza." Indeed, Mason paired the Lambrusco di Sorbara with a carbonara pizza with potatoes, guanciale (cured pork jowl or cheeks), black pepper and egg. Mauro Merz, a leading producer of Frascati, spoke of that wine's real nature—the very oppo - site of its reputation as a "girly wine that you don't drink past next Tuesday." The smoky and flinty Nicolas Quille (Winemaking Director, Pacific Rim), Enrico Cerulli (Family Proprietor, Cerulli Spinozzi ), Alberto Lazzarino (Directing Winemaker, Banfi Piemonte), Lars Leicht (National Director, Cru Artisan Wines), Cristina Mariani-May (Family Proprietor, Castello Banfi), Andrea Sartori (Family Proprietor, Sartori di Verona), and Noelia Orts (Winemaker, Emilian Organic Vineyards). Photographed at the Martha Washington Hotel, New York, NY. The "students" of the New York CAC campus during the Toeing the Line for Vine To Wine seminar. Martha Washington Hotel, New York, NY.