Last week Allée Bleue launched its first sparkling wine, the Brut Rosé 2009, and dressed up its lunch venue in pink, in contrast to its blue corporate colour. Flowers on the tables were pink, pink and white balloons decorated the entrance to the venue, and GM Wolfgang Leyrer wore a pink jersey in honour of the event.
The new Brut Rosé is made from 53% chenin blanc and 47% pinotage, and has “delicate flavours of strawberries, rose petals and candy floss”, according to the tasting notes. The wine spent 10 months on the lees. Only 6000 bottles have been made.
Using the colour and flavour descriptions as a cue, the food and wine journalists and bloggers invited to the celebration of the new bubbly were treated to a most wonderful lunch:
* The starter was a Trio of Salmon, with wasabi cream, beautifully presented.
* The main course was Chicken Supreme and prawns in a saffron sauce
* The most beautiful of the three courses was the strawberry dessert, a strawberry pannacotta surrounded by fresh strawberry slices
For the past 18 months Allée Bleue GM Wolfgang Leyrer has been driving the development of the wine estate, now the largest venue in Franschhoek as far as weddings go, and he was proud to announce that 50 weddings have been booked for the season ahead already, held in their new Grand Hall, which was launched in March and can seat 300 guests. The new Brut Rosé will largely be used for wedding events, and will only be sold on the estate, at R89,50.
Winemaker Van Zyl Du Toit introduced his new Chenin Blanc 2010, made from Walker Bay and Franschhoek grapes, which was also served to the guests, costing R39. It is so new that it still has to be labelled. A Rosé 2010 was also served with the lunch, with a distinctive deep pink colour, and a dry taste. It costs R32.
A new chef Glen Ferris has been appointed for the Bistro, and he is currently doing an exchange at Schwarzer Adler, a Michelin two-star restaurant in the Black Forest in Germany.
Allée Bleue is a wine estate to watch, as it is constantly moving ahead with new developments, within a culture of German excellence. The owners of the wine estate are the Dauphin family from Germany.
Allée Bleue, R45, Franschhoek. Tel (021) 874-1021 www.alleebleue.com Twitter: @AlleeBleue
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.comTwitter: @WhaleCottage
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I pooped into the estate yesterday to taste their new Brut Rose. I was impressed by the quality of the surroundings and the pleasantness of the staff. It was no problem ordering two glasses of the MCC and they were accompanied by a dish of tasty olives, some bread and olive oil. I did find it rather odd that the wine was served in a largish ‘Burgundy’ style glass rather than a champagne flute but the pour was good value at R25 a glass and while it makes for a light summery sparkler, I am not sure I shall actually be a convert!
Thanks for the feedback Michael. I will pass it on to Allee Bleue.
[…] Last week Allée Bleue launched its first sparkling wine, the Brut Rosé 2009, and dressed up its lunch venue in pink, in contrast to its blue corporate colour. Flowers on the tables were pink, pink and white balloons decorated the entrance to the venue, and GM Wolfgang Leyrer wore a pink jersey in honour of the event. The new Brut Rosé is made from 53% chenin blanc and 47% pinotage, and has “delicate flavours of strawberries, rose petals and candy flossâ€, according to the tasting notes. The wine spent 10 months on the lees. Only 6000 bottles have been made. (Whale Cottage) […]
Dear Micheal
Thank you for you comments and interest in our Estate. We always pride ourselves on delivering exceptional service and are also proud of our table olives and Olive Oil.
The MCC is only available in the Tasting Room/Bistro/Weddings/Functions and we don’t normally serve it in the Wine Tasting Courtyard per glass, only bottle sales. However because we had 3 big groups pre-booked on the day, there was a bottle that hasn’t been finished and we were able to serve it courteously.
We did ordered Spiegelau flute glasses and are still waiting upon delivery seeing that its being sandblasted with our logo.
Hope to see you soon to taste some of our other wines and sample our lovely bubbly out of a proper Champaign flute glass!
Allée Bleue Team