(2024) An organic certified pink from specialist retailer Vintage Roots, from vineyards between St Tropez and Toulon. It's a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault and is one of the fruitiest, punchiest wines of this tasting. A little more depth to the colour than some, with passion fruit and peach, pulpy strawberry and a juicy cherry acidity. Ramps up the vibrancy to good effect.
(2024) Another wine closed with the 'Vinolok' glass stopper on a rather romantic rose-embossed bottle, this blends Cinsault, Grenache, Syrah, and Carignan. It's a another finely detailed wine from Sainte Roseline, pale, peachy and fragrant, summer berries and herbs, a fresh and lightly grassy and floral aspect to this. On the palate the acidity and that grassiness give this gastronomic potential, those adding a bit of seriousness to the pretty peach and lime flavours.
(2024) 70% Grenache with 15% Syrah, Rolle and Cinsault, this is a part-negociant wine made using grapes from partner growers and the winery’s owned plots. 60% of the juices going in to the ferment are free run. Quite a bold aromatic here, cherry and lipstick aromas and rosy red apple. The palate has some confectionery character, cherry lips and sour plum, again quite bold, fi ishing with that stony mineral acidity.
(2024) 'Tall poppy syndrome' refers to the tendency for some people to cut successful entities 'down to size'. There's no doubt that the mega-brand of Whispering Angel suffers from that; some commentators claiming it is over-priced and intrinsically 'nothing special.' Having tasted the wine vintage after vintage for most of its 18 year history, I disagree and the 2023 is as good, if not better, than ever. Blended from old vine Grenache, Cinsault and Rolle, it's made in stainless-steel with lees-stirring. The peachy-pink colour heralds such an attractive nose, with watermelon and small red berries, passion fruit and downy peach skins. Dry but delightfully peachy and fresh, a hint of strawberry and then confit lemon is buoyant and rounded. That texture and fruit is extended by perfectly balanced acidity. Watch the video for more information.
(2024) A pale and typical Grenache-dominated blend, aromas are distinctly fruity - small red berries and raspberry berries- with just a suggestion of stony minerality. The palate hints at pomegranate and even passion fruit but the acidity is brisk and sweeps this up into a balanced and really quite powerful finish with acidity and a hint of tannic grip.
(2024) A bit of an old favourite of both mine and FromVineyardsDirect, this Côtes de Provence pink from the Famille Negrel is mostly Grenache and Syrah. There's a buoyant, lifted watercolour paint-box note on the nose, small red berry fruits are attractive, precise and crisp. In the mouth there's actually bags of flavour here: it is quite robustly fruity, some real concentration to the fruit, but that bracing core of salty and lemony acidity, maybe touching onto a bitter orange, powers through the long, balanced finish.
(2023) A blend of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault, this is organic certified. Pale to medium colour, and a relatively fruity and robust style, herbs and spices around lightly smoky, peach and citrus. In the mouth a nip of tannin backs up that impression of being a little more grippy and powerful, acids balancing the finish. Potentially quite a nice food wine with spicy chorizo dishes perhaps.