Clos Clementine Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
-
Wine &
Spirits
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Clementine is a dry Rose that dances along the palate, while bringing freshness to the mind; to be enjoyed as an aperitif, with poultry, fish and meat.
Blend: 30% Grenache, 30% Cinsault, 30% Tibouren, 10% Syrah
Professional Ratings
-
Wine & Spirits
A collaboration between St. Helena-born Steve Veytia, Bordeaux winemaker Thomas Capedeville and Pierre Arosteguy, the owner of a 137-year-old epicerie in Biarritz, this is a fresh, firm rose with a distinctively Provencal feel. A blend of roughly equal parts tibouren, cinsault and grenache with 10 percent syrah, it’s fragrant and light, the sweetness of the cherry fruit countered with a pleasantly bitter almond and herbal tone. Pack some ham sandwiches and set out for a picnic.
Whether it’s playful and fun or savory and serious, most rosé today is not your grandmother’s White Zinfandel, though that category remains strong. Pink wine has recently become quite trendy, and this time around it’s commonly quite dry. Since the pigment in red wines comes from keeping fermenting juice in contact with the grape skins for an extended period, it follows that a pink wine can be made using just a brief period of skin contact—usually just a couple of days. The resulting color depends on grape variety and winemaking style, ranging from pale salmon to deep magenta.
Cotes de Provence is an extensive but valuable appellation that includes vineyards bordering the main Provencal appellations. Its sites vary from subalpine hills, which receive the cooling effects of the mountains to the north, to the coastal St-Tropez, a region mainly influenced by the warm Mediterranean sunshine.
Here the focus is on quality rosé, as it defines four fifths of the region’s wines. Following in the rosé footsteps, a lot of new effort is going into the region’s red production as well. A new generation has turned its focus on high quality Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault and Carignan. Cotes de Provence white wines, which represent a miniscule part of the region as far as volume, are nonetheless worthy of consideration and can include any combination of Clairette, Semillon, Ugni Blanc and Vermentino.