Winemaker Notes
Pampelonne Légende has a beautiful peach color. The nose is full of exotic fruits, with a wonderful density and structure. It is weighty and full in the mouth and there is a cleansing acidity. This is an extremely serious wine.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Marie Pascaud made this special cuvée to commemorate the formation of Les Maîtres Vignerons de St-Tropez, a coalition of ten estates. A selection of cinsault and grenache from 100-year-old vines on the Ramatuelle hill, it’s a savory rosé, with notes of herbs and flowers accenting the delicacy of its pale fruit. Its power lies in the texture, at once airy but substantial, which holds the flavors long.
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.