Chateau La Gordonne La Chapelle Gordonne Rose 2012
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La Chapelle Gordonne Rose is the perfect accompaniment to rich seafood such as bellevue lobster where the finesse and fat in the crustacean marry perfectly with the wine.
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The story of Château la Gordonne begins around the 1st century BC, the Romans set up on the site of La Gordonne to take advantage of its vines and its wines. In 1652, La Gordonne was definitively established as the name of the Château. In 1850, the Château and outlying buildings were completely renovated, and the Château has been selling wines ever since. The Château La Gordonne estate is also home to one of the 174 bells of the Var, dating back to the French Revolution. The bell was cast in 1654 and originates from a former chapel located on the grounds of La Gordonne. The Château La Gordonne is now one of the flagships of Vranken Estates.
Château La Gordonne is established in Pierrefeu-du-Var, in the heart of the Golden Triangle of Provence. It is a unique property in Provence, covering a contiguous area of 816 acres of vineyards planted on seaward-facing terraces of shale, which enjoy a special microclimate. This allows the vineyards to grow in the best conditions to produce high-quality grapes. In 2021, the vineyards of Château La Gordonne will be certified organic according to the specifications of the EU after 3 years of conversion.
Château La Gordonne produces excellent still rosés thanks to its new high-performance wine-producing facilities equipped with the same pneumatic presses historically used in Champagne and modern thermo-regulated stainless-steel tanks. These assets allow the winemaking team to extract the best juices, a fraction called Tête de cuvée. The winemaker Bruno Mailliard enjoys making wines that reflect the land on which they are grown, fruit-forwarded and sun-drenched. La Gordonne rosés typify the Côtes de Provence region, unique in the world, and capturing the most subtle fragrances of the Mediterranean.
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.
More than just a European vacation hotspot and rosé capital of the world, Provence, in southeastern France, is a coastal appellation producing interesting wines of all colors. The warm, breezy Mediterranean climate is ideal for grape growing and the diverse terrain and soil types allow for a variety of wine styles within the region. Adjacent to the Rhône Valley, Provence shares some characteristics with this northwestern neighbor—namely, the fierce mistral wind and the plentiful wild herbs (such as rosemary, lavender, juniper and thyme) often referred to as garrigue. The largest appellation here is Côtes de Provence, followed by Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence.
Provence is internationally acclaimed for dry, refreshing, pale-hued rosé wines, which make up the vast majority of the region’s production. These are typically blends, often dominated by Mourvèdre and supplemented by Grenache, Cinsault, Tibouren and other varieties.
A small amount of full-bodied, herbal white wine is made here—particularly from the Cassis appellation, of Clairette and Marsanne. Other white varieties used throughout Provence include Roussane, Sémillon, Vermentino (known locally as Rolle) and Ugni Blanc.
Perhaps the most interesting wines of the region, however, are the red wines of Bandol. Predominantly Mourvèdre, these are powerful, structured, and ageworthy wines with lush berry fruit and savory characteristics of earth and spice.