Winemaker Notes
Pairs well with an aperitif, salad, stuffed vegetables, Mediterranean cooking, and paella.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Tête De Belier Rose reminds me a great vintage of Tempier’s Bandol Rosé. It’s one serious rosé that has the freshness to stand on its own yet displays the depth and texture to shine on a dinner table. A blend of 90% Mourvèdre and 10% Grenache brought up in tank, this medium-bodied rosé boasts a light pink color as well as stunning notes of orange blossom, spiced strawberries, crushed rocks, and salty sea breeze. With bright acidity, fabulous purity of fruit, and a great finish, it’s up with the finest rosé in the world.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: With the flooding of rosé wines in the marketplace—and the variance of styles—I had to create an ever-changing chart on how the wines relate to each other. The 2018 Château Puech-Haut Tête de Belier Rosé, one of the few that I have tasted from the Languedoc AOP, is an excellent wine. TASTING NOTES: This wine is bright, fresh, and redolent of fruit. Enjoy its aromas and flavors of energetic red fruit with grilled chicken thighs in a piquant wine reduction sauce. (Tasted: September 9, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
Nestled on the shores of the Mediterranean and the foothills of the Cevennes region of southern France, Chateau Puech-Haut’s vineyards span 625 acres in Côteaux du Languedoc AOC, including 230 acres in Saint Drézéry and 55 acres in Pic Saint Loup. The estate’s vineyards are mainly planted to Syrah, Grenache, Carignan (50-60-year-old vines), Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne.
The history of Château Puech-Haut is above all the story of Gérard Bru, a visionary man who built his vineyard just as he built his own life: starting from nothing and creating and achieving a dream without question. In 1980, Bru bought a parcel that was planted to olive trees and wasn’t part of the Languedoc A.O.C. classification. Bru was impressed with the area’s unique terroir and believed it was ideal for growing premium grapes, with its clay and limestone soils topped with a layer of rounded pebbles. The property was converted from olives to grapes and the property’s farmhouse evolved to Château Puech-Haut, producing its first wines a few years later.
The wines of Château Puech-Haut are all full of history and endowed with a singular identity with strong character. In summarizing the Estate’s philosophy, Gérard Bru states, “Our objective is clear: produce the greatest wines by respecting and captivating various terroirs is the philosophy of Puech Haut.”
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.
Approved for both red and rosé wines, Saint-Drézéry sits between Montpellier and Nîmes at the eastern end of the Languedoc, deep in the hot, dry lowlands along the Mediterranean coast. Comprised of the great southern French grapes, Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre, with traditional Languedoc favorite Carignan blended in for rustic grip, the wines are robust and full-bodied, but retain acidity due to low rainfall and cool nights. Tending toward the meaty, roasted style of Languedoc red, the region’s wines show fig, stewed plum, and blackberry fruit, with licorice and pepper spice. The product of a wine tradition which traces its roots to the Romans, the quality of Saint-Drézéry reds have been recognized for centuries. Learn about Barossa wine, common tasting notes, where the region is and more ...