Winemaker Notes
Dry and fresh, it is the ideal Tavel for our taste, balancing the bold, stony flavors of the southern Rhône with a certain Provençal graciousness.
Blend: 60% Grenache, 13% Clairette, 13% Syrah, 10% Cinsault, 3% Mourvèdre, 1% Bourboulenc
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Tavel is a radiant medium rosé in the glass, easily dark enough to be instantly recognizable as Tavel. It's delicately herbal and stony on the nose, with hints of garrigue and warm galets accenting strawberry, peach and melon nuances. Medium to full-bodied, this shows real complexity, substance and length, making it stand out in the ever-proliferating world of rosés. It should drink well for at least a couple of years.
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Wine Enthusiast
Almost ruby in color, this robust dry rose is packed with pert red-cherry and raspberry flavors. It offers plenty of sunny, penetrating red fruit as well as nuanced shades of dried garrigue and crushed earth. This stately year-round rose will please both red and white-wine lovers alike.
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.