(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) 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.
(2023) Fans of the hugely popular Whispering Angel may not even realise that producer, Château d’Esclans, makes a whole range of rosé wines costing up to £100 per bottle. This will set you back a bit more than Whispering Angel, but to that wines dry, red-fruited charm and purity, it adds a mineral intensity. There's also a subtle creamy and full texture, partly from fermentation in French oak, in a wine that is Whispering Angel's older sibling, showing that much more gravitas. A delicious rosé and gastronomic too, eat with salmon prepared however your prefer or creamy mushroom pasta or risotto.
(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.
(2023) Like it's 'big brother', the Garrus cuvée, this is where rosé gets serious, for me having more in common with quality white Burgundy than generic pinks. From a very careful selection of grapes, only the free run juice is vinified in 600-litre oak barrels for a full 11 months, with lees stirring twice weekly. Indeed, that's a winemaking recipe that would be familiar for white Burgundy too. Certainly, that sheen of almond and oatmeal is luxurious and subtle in this very pale wine, the fruit only hinting a small, intense red berries while lemon joins the picture. On the palate it is generous and creamy, but the sweet intensity of the fruit powers through. There is a little nip of tannin, but the concentration of fruit and acidity is what drives the long, dry, gastronomic finish. This and Garrus really are a different take on rosé.
(2023) Tasted here is a special edition in an extravagent livery of flowers and berries, the bottle painted by Swedish artist Hanna KL. It's a selection of the best fruit from both coastal and interior vineyards of the Côtes de Provence. Minuty produce one of the lightest and delicate styles, the fruit pretty and refined, dry berry flavours and bright lemony highlights in a wine with the clarity of a of running mountain stream. This doesn't have the fruit depth and concentration of some of the other Provence rosés, but that's the style: some will find it too anodyne, but chilled well it does summon up those salt-licked breezes as if sipping it by the Med. £19.95 when bought by the half dozen.
(2023) Syrah, Grenache, Rolle, Mourvèdre, Cinsault and Tibouren are in the mix here, from an estate owned by the luxury goods house of Channel. Unusually it is based on the island of Porquerolles, just off France’s Côte d’Azur, a 12.5 hectare organically farmed estate. A slightly deeper shade than many, touching bronze, the nose has orange and melon rind notes, hints of spice here too. In the mouth, plenty of flavour here. There's ripeness of pear fruit along with red berry succulence. It hints at some sweetness, but then a racy, slightly saline acidity grabs and extends the finish. Again quite a serious and gastronomic style with a bit of substance. £27.95 by the half dozen.
(2023) An aristocratic pink from the Provence outpost of the Rothschilds, a collabroation between Bordeaux's Baroness Ariane de Rothschild and Valerie Rousselle of Provence. Biodynamically certified, in the blend is 60% Grenache, 20% Cinsault, 10% Syrah, 5% Mourvèdre and 5% Tibouren. Pale peachy salmon, so much flinty, chalky mineral character here, backed up with a softer strawberry fruitiness and a sharper edge of raspberry. In the mouth a saline character gives a slipperiness to the texture, which is intriguing. That intense and decisive fruity but steely impression continues. Lots of pithy acidity and a little tug of tannin here giving this seriousness, though the fruit is good. £24.95 by the six-bottle case.
(2023) From clay and limestone soils, this blends all the grapes you can think of from Provence: Cinsault, Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Carignan, Rolle and Tibouren. The highly unusual bottle certainly makes a statement and will surely divide opinions, but the stuff inside is an intense and gastronomic rosé, perhaps more at home on the dinner table than the patio. Rose-hip and watermelon aromas move into peach and lychee, before the palate delivers and concentrated fruitiness, around apricot and exotic mango and lychee. The searing core of citrus pith acidity gives it those food matching credentials. For me there are probably better Provence pinks around for less money, but it talking point for sure. Watch the video for more information and food-matching ideas.
(2023) Mostly Grenache from Provence, aged on fine lees in tank. Extremely pale in colour, subtle aromatics, a little redcurrant and citrus, but not singing aromatically. Palate is fuller than you might imagine, a little more concentrated and robust. The red fruit comes through nicely and the finish is intense and quite long.