Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
The region of La Londe lies along the southern schistous slopes of the Massif des Maures and down to the sandier soils along the coast. The combination of the warm maritime climate and schist soils seems to create wines which combine both round ripeness and darker minerality, and this is no exception. A pale-shell creamy pink, with delicate aromas of red fruit. On the palate there is ripe, white fruit, white nuts, a creamy richness with a long intense salinity, some nutty phenolics and a long dark mineral structure. Complex and textured from the rich start to the long, fresh-lime acidity on the finish.
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.