Winemaker Notes
lychee color robe with purple reflections. Intense nose, playing with white floral and exotic fruits notes. In mouth, the first impression is fresh and round, supported by the citrus fruits delicacy (guava, grapefruit….). A great lingering in the end.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Cotes de Provence Sainte Victoire Rose le Pas du Moine is a much bigger, richer wine than the winery's Esprit Gassier. Passion fruit aromas lead off on the nose, followed by hints of guava and pink grapefruit. It's medium-bodied, with a silky textured palate and bold flavors of tropical fruit and citrus, finishing with great length and vivacity.
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Wine Enthusiast
Named after the footpath that monks followed to the top of Sainte-Victoire mountain, this wine brings out the texture and the richness of this region of Côtes de Provence. It is made from organically grown grapes, bringing ripe, full-flavored fruit to balance with the good acidity. Drink this rich wine now.
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James Suckling
A solid rosé showing a bouquet of rose petals, lemons, sliced apples and spices. Round and fruity but with enough acidity to carry this through to a tangy finish. Drink now.
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.