Château de Roquefort Côtes de Provence Grêle 2012
Château de Roquefort Côtes de Provence Grêle” width=”200″ height=”200″ /></a>A Provençal red, the 2012 Château de Roquefort Gréle No. 2 reveals black olive tapenade, Garrigue, black licorice, fresh potting soil. smoky black tea and pen ink as it slowly unspools. Round in the mouth and expressive, though not as full bodied or as intense as […]
Barton & Guestier Côtes De Provence Passeport Rosé 2015
Guestier’s Côtes De Provence Passeport Rosé 2015 is pretty and very drinkable considering its modest price. The nose is aloft with red berries, blood oranges, wafting sea air. It’s a delicious compromise between minerally limestone tension and fruit, which translates as cantaloupe flesh and crushed raspberries followed by a mouthwatering and lengthy finish. It’s fresh, […]
Hecht & Bannier Côtes de Provence Rosé 2015
The second 2015 rosé I’ve sampled from Hecht & Bannier, aside from admittedly loving their modern packaging, I have been impressed with both the Bandol and this Côtes de Provence in terms of quality and price. A blend of Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah, and Rolle, it’s an expressive pink. The vines flourish under the warm maritime […]
Domaine de la Sangliere Côtes De Provence Rosé 2015
Domaine de la Sanglière’s basic Côtes De Provence Rosé is all nervy mineral verve, with the merest touch of tantalizing underripe melon and raspberry shining through. Fruit is nearly absent on the palate, as though it has been brushed clean, or is a layer that has been artfully peeled away. What remains in its place […]
Château de Roquefort Corail Côtes de Provence Rosé 2015
Château de Roquefort Corail Côtes de Provence 2015″ width=”200″ height=”200″ /></a>An old-school blend of 35% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 25% Cinsault, 5% Carignan, 5% Rolle, and 5% Clairette, Château de Roquefort’s 2015 Corail Rosé dances and shimmers in the glass with abundantly pretty notes of Queen Anne’s Cherries, market strawberries, and fine mineral nuance. It’s quite […]
Château de Berne Pur Côtes De Provence Rosé 2015
The Berne Pur Côtes De Provence 2015 is quite possibly the palest Provençal rosé I’ve seen on the market, clear at the rim with a very pale salmon hue visible at the widest part of the glass, my dinner companions and I wondered if this is because of heightened demand for very pale rosé, it’s […]
Mas De Cadenet Arbaude Côtes de Provence Rosé 2014
I recently reviewed Mas de Cadenet’s ‘Mas Negrel’, a complex, creamy-textured Provençal rosé that is aged in oak casks. By contrast, Arbaude reads as the plucky little sister—with a peachy-pink salmon robe and the aromatics to match, it’s an elegant rosé, with genial stone fruit and raspberries, lovely florality and anise pastille. On the palate, […]
Domaine Sainte-Marie Extraordinaire Vie Vité Rosé 2015
Outstanding. Gossamer pale peach with honeyed highlights, expressing pure alpine air, catmint, dried honeycomb, white peach, cherubs tears, and meadow flowers. On the palate, it’s elegant and beautifully balanced, each note perfection, not unlike Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, here is lilting, refined, pitch-perfect acidity set against a backdrop of dewy raspberries that extends to sweet […]
Le Grand Cros Côtes de Provence l’Esprit de Provence Rosé 2015
Another favorite to emerge from the crop, or is it gaggle? of 2015 Provençal pinks I’ve been working my way through. The Le Grand Cros Côtes de Provence l’Esprit de Provence is elegant and conch shell pink with layers of ripe peach, melon and honeysuckle submerged under edgier mineral notes that are readily communicated in […]
Jean-Luc et Paul Aegerter Les Jolies Filles Côtes de Provence Rosé 2015
Les Joiles Filles or The Pretty Girls is an apt name for this lighthearted Provençal pink. It’s a carefree romp through fields of meadow flowers, dusty raspberries, apricots and anise. The palate is soft, red-fruited and imminently drinkable. It has a nice finality to it, a sort of wet cement expression that I very much […]