(2024) Galoupet is a £50 pink from the LVMH stable, conceived to be a little bit different from most other Provence rosés. The certified organic wine blends 52% Grenache with Tibouren, Rolle, Syrah and small amounts of Cinsault and Semillon. Packaged in a 70% recycled amber bottle it was also aged in larger French oak barrels. A touch deeper in colour than some, there's a hint of cedar and vanilla creaminess to this, some citrus and a melon rind sense of grip. A palate of bitter orange and taut red berries also carries the grip, through a touch of tannin and the higher alcohol (14%). Really quite different, and apparently ageworthy (the 2021 said to be drinking really well).
(2024) The 281 cuvée first appeared in 2015, with very small volumes made from Grenache vines with an average age of 25 years plus 5% each of Rolle and 5% Syrah. Unlike other £50+ rosés this sees no oak, and has delightfully vibrant but more orthodox white peach, cherry lips and paintbox aromas of cool ferment pinks. It is certainly refined and delicious, but whether the price makes sense compared to Minuty's other very fine rosés is a moot point.
(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) A négociant wine, 60% Grenache, 30% Cinsault and 10% Syrah grapes from partner growers, 60% of the juices are free run. One of the palest wines from Minuty, it is delicate and dry, plenty of citrus and breezy mineral acidity, fruit is linear and the finish dry. Arguably a little less personality than the Prestige, for example, but gastronomic and quite fine.
(2024) Mostly Grenache, with 20% made up of Syrah, Cinsault and Tibouren this comes from the three main terroirs (schist, clay and sand) of Minuty’s own vineyards. 100% free run juice. Blush peach in colour, it has a fragrant nose, citrus peel, green herbs and a touch floral. In the mouth the acidity is bracing and mineral. Fruit moves from crunchy red apple to citrus, with a delicate red berry, summery sweetness just held nicely in check. Delightfully intricate stuff.
(2023) From the LVMH stable, this is a wine of serious intent - and pricing, though at time of review Berry Bros price of £36.50 is £10 less than any other retailer I can see. It has partial oak ageing, and that perhaps helps adds a burnished tone to the salmon pink colour, and certainly some delicate pastry notes to otherwise fruity and floral aromas. There's great concentration in this 14% abv pink, with a grapefruit grip and definition to the acidity, but very pleasing, relatively broad and juicy flavours through the mid-palate. A gastronomic rosé in a beautifully stylish package too.
(2022) An interesting new wine from an historic Provence estate acquired by LVMH in 2019, and high on eco credentials. Packaged in a flat, recyclable plastic bottle weighing just 63g, the wine comes feom vineyards in conversion to organic certification, and which also houses 200 beehives. It is one of only 12 queenn bee fertilisation stations in the world. A blend of Grenache, Syrah, Rolle, and Cinsault, it is mineral and filled with small red berries. Tight and savoury, a big lemon pith core gives lots of gastronomic appeal, but theres a peach juice succulence. A saline note in the finish adds to that. Fine and rather grown-up, it's pitched at the upper end of the rosé tree at £23: a bold statement of intent. Watch the
video for more information.
(2021) In this year there was drought, and water was cut off for over 20 days. Daniel says they were lucky that they crop lower than other producers and the vines didn't suffer. There was not the same diurnal shift of 2020, so the aromatics did not develop in the same way. More subdued, creamy and lightly vanilla-touched compared to the 2020. A more mellow nutty apple character, more orchard fruit and just the merest touch of exotic character. The palate has great minerality and dryness, much more European in character now arguably, with a really delightful zest and free-flowing freshness, that subtle nuttiness continues. So different from the 2020 in character, which is as much vintage and oak use, as we it is age I suspect. Price quoted is for a magnum (tasted from magnum).
