Many of us don’t have the time or money to spend twelve months in the south of France as Peter Mayle did in 1989 with his best selling memoir, “A Year in Provence.” But you can certainly spend an afternoon on your patio surrounded by the best selling wines of Provence, the rosés.
Wines from Provence are featured at BCLDB Signature Liquor Stores throughout June. Most rosés in the past were underwhelming. They were sweet and made from mediocre reds and whites blended together. But rosés from Provence are tres différent!
One of the wines from Provence you will be able to enjoy, the Roubine 2016 La Vie en Rose ($22.99), won the Gold Medal in 2016 for the best Provence rosé. It’s in a beautiful painted bottle that stands out in a crowd and makes the gorgeous salmon-orange coloured wine inside really sparkle.
Produced from 60 per cent Tibouren and 40 per cent Cinsault grapes, the peach bouquet is enticing, as is the raspberry/strawberry/rhubarb flavour with its bone-dry minerality. The Roubine is the most delicate rosé of today’s selection. Sipping it listening to Edith Piaf sing La Vie en Rose would be an elegant combination.
Next on my tasting menu is the S de la Sablette 2016 Cote de Provence ($22.99) from vineyards located between Marseilles and Cannes. While it does not have the amazing bottle appeal La Vie en Rose has, it is more like a red rosé because it has more oomph.
One reason for the larger personality is that the S de la Sablette is made from four different red grapes: Grenache, Carignan, Cinsault, Tibouren, and Syrah. Like all Provencal rosés, the juice is left to steep with the skins for only a short time to extract some colour and character. There’s a seductive rose petal nose, more acidity and minerality, more body, more flavour with the strawberry, orange, and watermelon.
My final recommendation is the Gassier Organic 2016 Coteaux d’Aix en Provence ($21.99). It’s produced from three Mediterranean grapes: 50 per cent Grenache, 20 per cent Cinsault, and 30 per cent Syrah and has more personality than the S.
I adored its generous bouquet of raspberry, red currant, citrus and peach. The flavour is more complex with red fruit and slightly bitter orange zest. And after you swallow, there is a long finish to savour.
Wines from Provence are very versatile and go with so many dishes. The elegant La Vie en Rose would go well with lobster spaghetti with fresh tomatoes. The slightly more complex S de la Sablette and Gassier Organic would be delicious with a baguette slider of canned tuna, anchovy, tapenade, with tomato onion and basil.
Ironwood and Brighouse stores are featuring these and other Provencal rosés throughout June. All three of today’s rosés are ideal partners as you sit in your garden and contemplate all that is rosy in your life.
Eric Hanson is a retired Richmond teacher and UBC instructor and a wine enthusiast. Reach him at [email protected]
