Winemaker Notes
The intense pink color is characteristic of a great Tavel. Aromas of raspberry, wild strawberry, and pomegranate share the glass with peppery notes. The wine is balanced and flavorful, and the finish is long. It is a gastronomic rosé that pairs with every part of the meal from aperitif through dessert.
Pair with barbecue, red meat, dessert, or fruit.
Blend: 50% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 10% Clairette, 10% Mourvedre, 5% Cinsault, 5% Bourboulenc
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
This producer has never bent to the winds of fashion in the styling of its Tavel, which holds firm with much deeper color and flavor than the rosés from nearby Provence exhibit. Tasting it blind, one might well mistake it for a light red wine. No mere forgettable poolside pounder, it will excel at the dinner table alongside many preparations of fish, poultry, or other white meats.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
More vibrant and harmonious than the 2024, Aqueria's 2023 Tavel wafts from the glass with aromas of raspberries, wild strawberries, flowers, lilac and pomegranate. Medium- to full-bodied, structured and enveloping, it has a fleshy core of fruit, delicate tannins and a long, mouthwatering finish. Rating: 91+
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Wine Enthusiast
Ripe and concentrated, this wine showcases the essence of fresh summer fruits such as raspberry and plum encased in rose petal and violets. Structured and fleshy, the palate offers abundant spiced plums, black pepper and stone. Additional cellaring promises further depth and complexity.
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Wine Spectator
Robust and full of character, with good cut and minerality balancing the red currant and raspberry flavors with hints of savory anise and chalk. Smoked thyme and crushed stone notes sit in the backdrop, with a gentle tug of structure on the well-defined finish. A rosé for food. Grenache, Syrah, Clairette, Mourvèdre, Cinsault and Bourboulenc. Drink now through 2026.
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.
The only all-rosé appellation in the Rhone, a Tavel comes in many hues from light salmon to bright pink and is said to be the only rosé that can actually age—and improve. The rosé wines of Tavel have a great historic reputation, having been favored by King Louis XIV in the 18th century, as well as famous authors, Balzac and Mistral.
Tavel are always dry but the high percentage of the fruity Grenache (30-60% of the blend by law) and even Cinsault, give charming aromas and flavors that make them feel "almost sweet." A great Tavel rosé will have a bouquet suggestive of rose petals, apricot, strawberry and red currant. The palate may be fleshy, round and layered but is always fresh and balanced.