Chateau d'Esclans Garrus Rose 2014
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James
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Tasting
Panel - Decanter
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Spectator
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Amazing aromas of earth, mushroom, stone, mineral and slate. Flowers too. Full-bodied and round yet agile and dynamic. Flavors of delicate strawberry, apple, lemon and mineral. Salty. Linear, energetic backbone of acidity. Barrel fermented and aged for almost a year. From mostly old vine grenache and rolle. Super structure and impressive finish. This will be even better in 2016 but great now. Greatest rosé ever.
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Tasting Panel
Nutshells and caramel with jasmine, garden and lip-smacking raspberry-backed by distant tart cherries and savory herbs; finishes with lilacs, sage and satiating acidity. Barrel-fermented in one and two year old demi muids.
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Decanter
Here we get the full contingency of the 80+ year old Grenache vines, with a touch still of Rolle. For both Garrus and Les Clans, cooling tubes are placed directly into the barrels, ensuring everything slows down, taking up to four months and increasing complexity along the way. On the palate is slate, stone, a beautiful finesse and the barest hint of creamy lemon and burnished red fruits that have been deepened by a year of barrel fermentation and ageing. A beautiful salinity on the finish really takes this wine into totally moreish territory. Is the score too high for a rose? Not if you are measuring it on the sheer pleasure that it gives.
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Wine Enthusiast
Always aged for a year before it is released, this iconic wine is impressive. It is superrich without losing freshness. Light wood toast, red fruits and balanced acidity meld together in a ripe, spicy whole. The wine could even age for another few months, so drink it this summer or keep until the end of 2016.
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Wine Spectator
This is distinctive, with blood orange, jasmine tea and mango notes that stay elegant and restrained as the creamy, floral-edged finish hangs beautifully. The long stony echo keeps the finish tight, so cellar briefly. Drink now through 2017. 1,200 cases made.
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Château d’Esclans, a magical property, is situated in the heart of Provence, northeast of St. Tropez overlooking La Vallée d’Esclans (the Esclans Valley) with the Mediterranean coast in the faint distance. The vision of Sacha Lichine (Founder) with his acquisition of the Château in 2006 was to create the greatest rosés in the world igniting the “Rosé Renaissance”.
Patrick Léon (Founding Winemaker) became an essential part of the project bringing his many years of international winemaking experience to Château d’Esclans. He introduced new and innovative winemaking techniques to Provence which revolutionized the styles of rosés being produced from this appellation. This led to the creation of a world class rosé portfolio from Château d’Esclans including Whispering Angel, Rock Angel, Les Clans, and Garrus: a new generation of rosés characterized by elegance, depth, richness and complexity. Today, Patrick’s son Bertrand currently leads the winemaking team following in the footsteps of his father.
Sold in over 100 countries, these rosés are enjoyed globally from London to the Hamptons, and from St. Barth’s to the Swiss Alps. Whether you are relaxing by the beach, on a yacht, or in the mountains during “après ski”, Château d’Esclans rosés are a light and refreshing accompaniment to any destination. Whispering Angel is today’s worldwide reference for Provence rosé.
"In the Esclans Valley angels whisper. If you drink this wine, you might hear them… If you visit us, you might see them.” - Sacha Lichine
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.