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The French Rosé Climate Divide: Northern (Oceanic) vs. Southern (Mediterranean) in Six Types by Six Producers. (12-Bottle Pack $255, Tax Included)

Tastes in wine run hot and cold and so do the climates that produce them. Nearly every commercial vine on earth is grown between 30° – 50° latitude (both north and south), but that range offers an almost endless array of rainfall patterns, cloud covers and wind configurations and such a wide spectrum of environments and that generalization seems pointless. And yet, anyone qualified to blind taste with authority should be able to tell you very quickly whether the wine comes from cool or warm region simply by gauging the character of the fruit. In cool climates, where budding occurs late and frosts arrive early, even grapes harvested at optimal ripeness tend to produce lighter, more acidic wines with flavor profiles that lean toward savory herbs and acidic fruits like cranberries and tart cherries. In fact, you’ll find these types of descriptors used for wines made from any number of varieties that have adapted to cooler climates. In contrast, warm weather and extended growing seasons in the world’s southerly vineyards results in jammier, richer wines with less acidity and darker fruit flavors (blackberry and plum), often underscored with exotic aromatics like coffee and chocolate.

Nowhere is this climate divide more obvious than in France, and no style of wine demonstrates it better than French rosé, a wine with many guises. A versatile food wine and a cherished part of French viticulture, crisp, cheerful rosé is produced both in France’s frosty north and sultry south with characteristically different, yet equally spectacular results.

This package, with dozen bottles ($255, all inclusive), contains selections from six of France’s most highly regarded rosé-producing regions. It represents the spectrum of hues and flavors that mark the climatic influence, as well as the common essence of the dry French ‘rosé style’ that makes it the quasi-official wine of summer.

The Loire Valley
(Northern France)

 

Chinon

At the western edge of the Touraine district, on a tributary of the Loire, Chinon’s vineyards drape the steep banks of the Vienne, traveling northwest to the Loire itself. The soil is mostly erosional scree and gravels on top of hard Turonian limestone. Chinon’s focus has traditionally been on racy red wines made from Cabernet Franc, although up to 25% of Cabernet Sauvignon is permitted. For centuries they have also produced a wonderful rosé from these same grapes; wines that often display a similar spiced-fruit character in a lighter, more refreshingly acidic package.

Château de la Bonnelière ‘M Plouzeau – Rive Gauche’: ‘Rive Gauche’ translates literally as ‘Left Bank’, and here, of course, refers not to the Seine in Paris but to the Vienne in Loire. Château de la Bonnelière has been in the Plouzeau family since 1846; Marc Plouzeau took over in 1988 with a game plan that included lowering yields and hand-harvesting at ideal physiological ripeness. His vinification philosophy emphasizes fruit rather than tannins—ideal for the production of rosé. Likewise, the estate’s Argilo-Calcaire soil, with sun-reflecting flint on the surface and plenty of limestone underneath, produces wines of great complexity. Plouzeau refers to his terroir as ‘privileged.’ Château de la Bonnelière, 2020 Chinon Rosé ($17) is a crunchy delight, with watermelon and strawberry notes and great overall depth bringing out elements of cantaloupe, ripe red pepper and a beguiling black cherry undercurrent that adds weight and depth.

 

Bourgueil

Having grown and produced Cabernet Franc wines at the Abbey de Bourgueil for more than a thousand years, Bourgueil may well claim the title of the variety’s birthplace. Situated on the right bank of the Loire, Bourgueil shares a terroir with Chinon, being mostly sand, gravel and limestone, although Bourgueil wines are known to mature longer in cellar, sharing an age-worthiness comparable to wines from the Médoc. The entire AOP is less than three thousand acres in total, and produces only scant amounts of rosé—it represents less than 5% of their output—but it is noted for its peppery elegance and general affordability.

Domaine de la Chanteleuserie: Seven generations of winemakers have graced this beautifully-named vineyard (‘Chanteleuserie’ means ‘the place where the lark sings’). Currently coaxing gems from limestone-clay and chalky, porous tuffeau is winemaker Thierry Boucard, who keeps the yields from his south-facing vines low and preserves the freshness and acidity by careful temperature control. Domaine de la Chanteleuserie, 2020 Bourgueil Rosé ($16) hails from 35-year-old vines grown in siliceous clay; it is perfectly balanced with red fruit and earthy terroir, displaying lush strawberry/raspberry aromas with lots of citrus notes, pink grapefruit being the easiest to isolate and the one that carries through a full and tart finish.

 

Coteaux du Giennois

The vineyards of Giennois follow a sort of geometric ribbon along the limestone slopes of the Loire, encompassing 14 communes as they pass through the ancient river terraces of Gien and extensions of the geological formations of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. Giennois is predominately known as a white-wine AOP, with reds (and pinks) being made in lesser amounts from Gamay and Pinot Noir.

Clément & Florian Berthier: A babe in arms compared to the ancient standards of Loire, the winery was founded in 1983 by Jean-Marie Berthier and is today managed by Jean-Marie’s sons, Clément and Florian. Both have wine pedigrees spanning the old world and the new, perhaps most notably in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, where some of the world’s compelling Pinot Noir rosé is produced. Delicate, crisp and vibrant, Clement & Florian Berthier, 2020 Coteaux du Giennois Rosé ($18) shows white raspberry and mandarin orange and a long, tangy mouthfeel.

 

Provence & Languedoc-Roussillon
(Southern France)

 

Côtes de Provence

The massive Côtes de Provence sprawls over 50,000 acres and incorporates a patchwork of terroirs, each with its own geological and climatic personality. The northwest portion is built from alternating sub-alpine hills and erosion-sculpted limestone ridges while to the east, and facing the sea, are the volcanic Maures and Tanneron mountains. The majority of Provençal vineyards are turned over to rosé production, which it has been making since 600 B.C. when the Ancient Greeks founded Marseille.

Château Peyrassol: Though they’ve been in the wine business for 800 years, it wasn’t until the 1970s that Château Peyrassol made a diva’s entrance on the world’s wine stage. The wit, cellar skills, gregarious charm and hospitality of winemaker Françoise Rigord, ‘La Dame de Peyrassol’, quickly became the stuff of legend. Today the winery is managed by Alban Cacaret, who continues ‘La Dame’s’ commitment to quality, a sense of place, of great energy and traditional Provençal open arms. Château Peyrassol ‘Cuvée des Commandeurs’, 2020 Côtes de Provence Rosé ($25): Harvested at night to preserve the acidity and placed in double-floor boxes to prevent any early maceration and coloration of the juice, this beautiful blend is intensely aromatic, showing gooseberry, crushed raspberries and orange zest wrapped around a shivery, acidic backbone.

 

Bandol

Like the Côtes, Bandol is an AOP within the greater Provence appellation, but unlike the Côtes, Bandol is relatively small, covering fewer than 4000 acres. Rosé represents about a third of Bandol’s wine production, and—like the reds—they are generally a blend of Mourvèdre, Grenache and Cinsault. Protected from the north winds by the Montagne Sainte-Victoire and the Massif de la Sainte-Baume to the north and the Chaîne de Saint-Cyr to the west, Bandol offers growing conditions suited to extra ripeness, greater fruit weight and structure in the rosé. Attesting to the refreshing quality of these blush wines, Alexandre Dumas portrayed his Count of Monte Cristo as enjoying a glass of Bandol rosé ‘bien frais.’

Domaine La Bastide Blanche: Michel and Louis Bronzo purchased Bastide Blanche in the ‘70s in the belief that the terroir could produce a wine to rival those of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. With that in mind, the brothers planted Carignan, Cinsault, Clairette, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah. Vintage 1993 proved to be their breakaway year, putting both Bandol and themselves on the wine map. The estate is located in the foothills of Sainte-Baume Mountain, five miles from the Mediterranean Sea on land that is primarily limestone scree. La Bastide Blanche, 2020 Bandol Rosé ($27) is a three-variety blend where the Mourvèdre is pressed directly and Grenache and Cinsault are allowed to macerate for 24 hours. The final cuvée is assembled the January following harvest, proving an intense nose of peach and pomegranate that leads to a silky middle palate and a long finish filled with stone and zesty lime.

 

Corbières

Corbières is one of the most productive wine-producing regions in Languedoc-Roussillon. With more than 2000 growers, 300 private wine producers, and over 30 cooperatives, the annual output of wine is over 73 million bottles; roughly that of Oregon. Most of the output is red, rustic, and filled with southern spice, made from Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Lladoner Pelut and Carignan. But Rosé Corbières has gained an international reputation for quality. Corbières is a pastiche of soils and subsoils—volcanic upheavals have exposed layers from many geological periods, and 11 unique terroirs have been identified.

Domaine de Fontsainte: Bruno Laboucarié’s mission at Fontsainte is as basic as it is complex: “To showcase nature’s generosity and to work with her in a sustainable way while respecting her capriciousness.” This means viewing the land through the eyes of his ancestors, avoiding their pitfalls, and beyond that, finding authentic inspiration in the terroir to meet changes in consumers’ tastes. ‘Gris de Gris’, 2020 Corbières Rosé ($17) is made primarily from Grenache Gris and Grenache Noir with smaller additions of Mourvèdre, Carignan and Cinsault. The result is lively and sharply focused with fresh strawberry, peach and floral scents and a touch of dusty minerals; it closes brisk and stony with a subtle floral note that linger with magnificent persistency.

 

 

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Posted on 2021.07.02 in France, Wine-Aid Packages, Languedoc-Roussillon, Loire, Provence

 

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