Tessier 2019 Femme Fatale Rosé, Smoked Spatchcock Chicken, and Rocking Tunes!
Hello Friends,
Pink-Party #63 (#PinkSociety on Twitter) recently welcomed Kristie Tacey, a Michigan native and research scientist turned winemaker who founded Tessier (the original French version of her last name) in 2009. The winery—very much a one-woman show—specializes in handcrafted, small-batch, single-vineyard wines with an annual production of approximately 1,400 cases. Kristie sources high-quality fruit from a network of grape growers in California’s Anderson Valley, Santa Cruz Mountains, Arroyo Seco, and El Dorado foothills. She employs minimal intervention practices in the cellar, crafting wines as natural as possible that express purity, the growing season, and an unmistakable sense of place.
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| Tessier 2019 Femme Fatale Rosé |
Besides being a talented winemaker, Kristie wears the coolest t-shirts and has eclectic musical tastes, posting music and wine pairings to her website to enhance the wine drinking experience. Like wine, I am also passionate about music, so I absolutely love this. Her attractive rosé, Femme Fatale, which I had an opportunity to taste during the virtual chat, is named for a wonderful song by The Velvet Underground that appears on their highly influential 1967 debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico (the one with the giant Warhol banana print on the cover). I may have a metal heart, but I enjoy other genres and certainly appreciate the art and punk culture that came out of New York during the late '60s and early '70s, so I was all over this wine and music pairing.
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| Winner, Winner, Tessier 2019 Femme Fatale Rosé and Smoked Chicken Dinner! |
Prior to the chat, I welcomed a beautiful autumn evening by rocking some UFO ("Strangers in the Night") and firing up my Weber Kettle. I proceeded to prep and cook a Cajun spice-rubbed and creole butter-injected applewood-smoked spatchcocked chicken, along with grilled marinated vegetable kebabs. Kristie’s Femme Fatale rosé is incredibly versatile at the table and paired really well with my flavorful dish. The virtual chat was great fun, but once it ended, I queued up The Velvet Underground & Nico album and poured another splash of Femme Fatale. With all the craziness going on in the world these days, it's imperative to savor and appreciate the little things. On this Thursday night, it was all about great music and a delicious glass of wine—all made possible by the good folks at The Pink Society. For further information and where you can find this wine, please see my tasting notes below.
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| Stevie Wonder's “Isn't She Lovely” perfectly captures the image! |
Tessier 2019 Femme Fatale Rosé (SRP $26): Composed of 92% Grenache and 8% Pinot Noir, this charmer pours a lovely light salmon color with a slight haze you’d expect from an unfined and unfiltered wine—which this is. A spirited touch of effervescence up front gives way to bright notes of red summer berries, citrus blossom, and a wisp of sea spray, featuring a pithy, refreshing finish. With a vibrant personality and ample acidity, this wine is tailor-made for food pairing and is one of many pink wines you should be reaching for all year round—not just in the summer. Only 250 cases of this wine were produced. Regions: El Dorado County and Santa Cruz Mountains, California. Other info: ABV 12.8%, Grenache direct press, Pinot Noir saignée, aged in stainless steel, cork enclosure. Click here to find this wine.
