Les Valentines Le Caprice de Clementine Rose 2018
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Wine &
Spirits
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Winemaker Notes
The nose is pure with berries and citrus, light pink in color, limpid. It is a well-balanced wine, where fresh fruits are cut with acidity and given weight by a ripely spicy character. It is full in the mouth while remaining completely fresh, delicate and elegant.
Perfect wine to accompany grilled fish, seafood, and light cheeses. It also pairs well with sushi, sashimi, Thai, and Indian curries. Blend: 50% Grenache, 50% Cinsault
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
A blend of equal parts cinsault and grenache from an estate halfway between Toulon and St-Tropez, this is saline and spritzy at first, needing a little air to coax out the red fruit. Even then it’s taut and nervy, its red-blushed peach flavors kept firm by zesty lemony acidity. For grilled fish. Best Buy
Other Vintages
2020-
Wine
Enthusiast
Between Nice and Marseilles and only a few miles from sunny St. Tropez, this century old winery Chateau Les Valentines exemplifies the unique terroir of A.O.C. Cotes de Provence. The grape varieties used include those traditional to the area, such as: Cinsaut for its lightness, elegance and fruity aromas of berry and citrus, and Granache for its warm and inviting fineness. With the combination of shale soils, Mediterranean climate and the breezes off the sea, Le Caprice de Clementine is the perfect balance of what one looks for in the Roses of Provence.
In 1997 the owners, Gilles and Pascale decided to make their own wine rather than bring their grapes to the local cooperative, and build a modern winery. It was an outstanding opportunity for them to fulfill their passion for wine in one of the most beautiful parts of southern France. Chateau Les Valentines uses organic methods of farming certified by Ecocert. The domain “Les Valentines” and Rose “Le Caprice de Clementine” were named for their children, Valentin and Clementine.
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.