As part of its color diversification strategy, Inter Rhône launched the “La vie en Rhône” concept on May 15. Over twelve stopover towns in France and the United Kingdom, one hundred rosé wines will be presented for tasting to 300 wine professionals.
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n ray of sunshine, a terrace, thirty-two chilled rosés for self-tasting, and a lunch structured around elegant food and wine pairings: you don’t need more to see “life in the Rhône”. May 15 in Lyon sounded the kickoff of this event orchestrated by Inter Rhône to promote the rosés of the Rhône Valley to professional buyers.
Until June 26, twelve lunches associated with a free tasting time are planned in ten cities in France and two in the United Kingdom. At each event, twenty-five professionals are invited: mainly wine merchants and restaurateurs, but also buyers from large retailers, wholesalers, a few hotel schools, etc.
After an organized launch ” obviously “ in the Rhone capital, a tour of France is planned, avoiding direct confrontation with the strongholds of the appellations of Provence. Paris is also not on the program this year to avoid “the drop of water effect” of an event of too modest size.
This also leaves time, before facing the capital, to consolidate the volumes of rosés. They represented 13% of the 2022 harvest across the Rhône Valley, with 353,230 hl. The objective announced by the interprofession is 467,000 hl by 2031, including 200,000 hl for Côtes du Rhône and crus.
“For La Vie en Rhône, three panels of 32 wines will tour the different cities: in one month, around a hundred wines will have been tasted by 250 French and 50 British professionals”, summarizes Elodie Daniel, France marketing manager at Inter Rhône. The interprofession has focused its communication on two rosé profiles: “fruity and delicate” for aperitif wines to be drunk during the year, versus “fruity and generous” for gastronomy wines, more structured and to drink within two years.
At each event, fifteen wines of each profile are served, from all types of terroirs (crus, Côtes du Rhône and Villages, Rhône Valley) and two specialty rosés: Rasteau natural sweet wines and Beaumes de Venise muscat. With cellar prices of €6 to €12 excluding vintages and €12 to €20 for the vintages, the bottles of rosé claim the same value for money as the Rhone reds.
In addition to having a panel of wines tasted, the idea was to debunk clichés. First, we do not judge a wine by its color. A “blind test” consisted of guessing the shade of two rosés (among eleven shades) tasted in black glasses: no one had 100% success… Then, a rosé wine can be tasted like a great wine and accompanies any type of gastronomic dishes – proof of this was given in Lyon with a cheese amuse-bouche, a crab starter, a lamb dish and a fruit dessert.
The format of the event, around a lunch with food and rosé pairings, is strategic: “We want to enter the restaurant menupresents Elodie Daniel. One out of two wine merchants offers Rhone rosés, but only 12% of the CHR: there is real potential to be found in restaurants! »
The event should be repeated in 2024 and 2025.
2023-05-19 08:04:39
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