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Domaine de la Sangliere Côtes De Provence Rosé 2015

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 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

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

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

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

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

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 […]

Domaine de la Sanglière Spéciale Côtes De Provence Rosé 2015

Domaine de la Sanglière Spéciale Côtes De Provence Rosé 2015

Domaine de la Sanglière’s 104 acres under vine are perched at the edge of the sea, and that saline-ness, an ethereal wafting, beachy salt air readily translates in this delicate blend of blend of Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Carignan, Rolle, and Clairette. The fruit, something like apricot or peach skin hover at deeper layers till the […]

Domaine de la Sanglière la Riviera Côtes De Provence Rosé 2015

Domaine de la Sanglière la Riviera Côtes De Provence Rosé 2015

Fragrant, very ripe cantaloupe flesh and some of the skin as well, co-mingling with a bit of papaya followed by wafting mineral notes of sea foam and salt. It’s quite lean on the palate, with minimal fruit—I’d like to see a bit more fullness, more fleshiness, to balance the high-toned acidity in this salmon-hued Côtes […]

Domaine Houchart Rosé Côtes De Provence 2015

Domaine Houchart Rosé Côtes De Provence 2015

The 2015 Domaine Houchart Rosé exhibits sweetness at the core verging on Watermelon Jolly Rancher, along with fresh, poppy notes of white peach and apricot. The wine label notes that the a blanket of CO<sub>2 </sub>is applied to the grapes during harvest in order to preserve freshness. I’d say they’ve achieved that goal<sub>, </sub>this is […]

CHRISTINE HAVENS
McMinnville, OR

christine@christine-havens.com