Winemaker Notes
Beautiful ripe cherry and red berry aromas with floral scents. Good concentration on the palate, flavorful and perfectly balanced. Good acidity and mineral backbone make it a great match with Provençal or Asian cuisine, grilled meat, fresh fruit salads.
Blend: 50% Grenache, 30% Cinsault, 10% Clairette, 10% Syrah
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A super effort, this estate's 2020 Tavel combines notes of cherries, licorice and wet stone into a medium to full-bodied rosé that delivers plenty of intensity, complexity and structure. There's a firm but silky mouthfeel and a lingering, mouthwatering finish. This tank-aged blend of 50% Grenache, 30% Cinsault and 10% each Clairette and Syrah should drink well at least through the end of 2022.
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.