OUTDOOR DINING WITH LOUIS ROEDERER
Alex Tilling, Brand Manager at Champagne Louis Roederer, provides advice on the perfect champagne for al fresco dining and the inspiration behind it.
If home is where your heart is, the outdoor kitchen is where the fun begins.
Suddenly, rather than scurrying between garden and kitchen, you are able to dedicate yourself to the far more important task of drinking champagne with your friends. But what to drink?! Well it needs to match both the quality of the surroundings and the party atmosphere, so it must have an energy and vivacity to it. It needs to be refreshing and joyful, invigorating and exciting, and of course, one of not many.
There is only one champagne that fits this bill and that is the Louis Roederer et Philippe Stark Brut Nature Rosé Vintage 2012. This is the first vintage of this incredible new champagne, and the only example of a Brut Nature Rosé vintage to be found in the UK.
This is daringly modern and avant-garde biodynamic champagne from this most audacious yet respected of Champagne houses. It is a cuvée born of the friendship between the owner, Frederic Rouzaud, and designer Philippe Starck, crafted to reflect Starck’s vision of the perfect champagne; modern, minimalist and pure. By creating a champagne with no added sugar (known as Brut Nature or zero dosage) you are allowing the soul of the champagne terroir to be revealed.
It is of the palest pink colour, while the palate is both vibrant and intense with pink grapefruit and peach, ginger, subtle notes of toasted hazelnut and crystalline citrus juice finishing with an utterly moreish saline freshness.
A show stopping aperitif, it is also the most incredible partner to food; oysters, lobster or juicy BBQ langoustine, iberico ham, nutty cheese, seared tuna… the choices are endless, the champagne was born to match its concentration and freshness with richer foods. Experimentation with the food pairings is almost always a rewarding adventure!
The champagne in your glass says something about you, let’s make sure it is saying the right thing.