Translated by Bethszabee Garner

"I know it may seem strange, but I'm a big fan of rosé wine. I love its structure, texture, and aromas... My wife and I often drink it at home. Whether it comes from Provence, Tavel, or elsewhere in the world, when it's well made, it's delicious. " Who dares to say that? Raimonds Tomsons, the world's best sommelier in 2023, during a master class dedicated to the wines of Château Sainte-Marguerite, a prestigious cru classé from Provence with splendid terroirs near the sea, of which he is the ambassador. It's “strange,” he says, because you wouldn't expect such a personality to defend this color, rather than a white or red.

Prejudices die hard. For many, it remains the “little” rosé of Provence that is drunk in summer under the arbors, around a barbecue, in a ‘pool’ drowned in ice cubes. It is by far the still wine that the French drink the most, but they do not consider it a “real” wine. A curious paradox. Fortunately, this image is changing.

Alongside these very light-colored, thirst-quenching rosés, often produced by merchants, with a slightly candy-like technological profile that can sometimes cause headaches, we now find rosés from more authentic terroirs and, above all, closer to the soil from which they are produced. “Terroir rosés are not meant to follow trends; they are timeless rosés that embrace their uniqueness,” emphasizes Philippe Guigal, president of the International Association of Terroir Rosés and owner of Château d'Aquéria in Tavel.

These are signature wines with taste and personality, like those of Patricia Ortolli. Thirty-five years ago, this former student of the École du Louvre bought Château La Calisse in Coteaux-Varois-en-Provence at auction. Her wines are of rare elegance, their pale color, which is natural here, coming from a cold terroir located at an altitude of 450 meters. “This rosé has no reason to be ashamed of being just a rosé,” the winemaker points out. “Of the three colors, it is the most difficult to create.” Marc Monrose, director of Château Saint-Maur in Côtes-de-Provence, Cogolin, near Saint Tropez, confirms: “It's the easiest to get wrong!”

High-end

Contrary to popular belief, rosé wine, which originated in ancient Mesopotamia before spreading to Europe thanks to the Greeks and Romans, is not simply a blend of red and white wine, except in a few specific AOCs. It is mainly made from black grapes with white pulp, using methods (such as “bloodletting”) that limit contact between the juice and the grape skins in order to extract just enough color to give the wine its characteristic pink hue. Heat and oxygenation are the enemies of its freshness. The grapes are harvested at night, by the light of headlamps. And you have to work quickly to get the grapes into the press. “If you lose control of the cold, you lose the aromas,” adds Marc Monrose, who produces two high-end vintages, Clos de Capelune and Clos Saint-Vincent.

Old vines cultivated organically or biodynamically, mass selection (which consists of choosing grafts from the best vines), a parcel-by-parcel approach, manual harvesting in small crates, refrigerated trucks, fermentation in temperature-controlled vats, indigenous yeasts, an ultra-modern winery... Clos de Caille, with its 10 hectares of vines, is a true example of the “terroir” concept. refrigerated trucks, fermentation in temperature-controlled vats, legorifiques, fermentation in temperature-controlled vats, indigenous yeasts, ultra-modern cellars...

Everything is done to enhance quality, as at Clos de Caille, an estate founded in the 12th century, which has been reborn since 2021 under the impetus of the Mariotti family, accompanied by oenologist Matthieu Cosse. The wines are intense and finely crafted, like the flagship wine, Clarisse, bottled in a black bottle, like Capelune. “This can be drunk in four to five years; we are keeping some in the cellar to see how it evolves,” says Matteo Mariotti. These producers are betting on convincing sommeliers and wine lovers that their rosé can be drunk all year round, and even several years after bottling. Rosé, a wine for aging?

Wines for aging!

At Château Pibarnon in Bandol, where the Mourvèdre grape variety reigns supreme, it has long been proven that age is not the enemy of rosé. On the contrary, the wine gains in color (saffron), complexity, density, and length. “Mourvèdre is an Andalusian grape variety that develops slowly in the shade before revealing its spices,” notes Éric de Saint-Victor, who has just added the 2015 vintage to the catalog. We tasted it by chance and, despite its ten years of age, we were impressed by its explosive yet sensual character. Mourvèdre is like a macho man wearing a tutu!

One day in 2019, during a tasting in a restaurant, the sommelier angered him by saying that he found a very light rosé “so good that it tasted like white wine.” “We are killing our southern rosé!” stormed Éric de Saint-Victor.

This is how the Nuances cuvée was born, a rosé that would only be released after two years in the cellar, made from 95% Mourvèdre grapes grown on a dedicated, late-ripening, high-altitude plot. Since the 2021 vintage, it has been aged 100% in stoneware jars, instead of the original casks. “This noble, low-porosity clay gives the wine its brightness, tension, and purity,” notes the winemaker. To enjoy Nuances at its best, it should be decanted lightly, served at a temperature of around 15-16°C, and poured into large glasses.

“We need to relearn how to taste rosé wine,” agrees Jean-Luc Jamrozik, president of the Paris Sommelier Associationand a great promoter of this gastronomic wine, which pairs wonderfully with Mediterranean cuisine, such as raw scallops with citrus fruits, with the Fantastique 2024 cuvée from Château Sainte-Marguerite, Gambero Rosso shrimp with orange juice with La Calisse Étoiles 2024, caramelized mackerel with Clos de Capelune 2023, barbecued veal with artichokes and black olives with Château Pibarnon Nuances 2021, or red tuna tartare with Clos de Caille Clarisse 2024. With its citrus and white fruit notes and beautiful bitterness, it also pairs perfectly with highly aromatic Thai cuisine.

It was precisely to create a “serious rosé” that Olivier Souvelain, with his Burgundian background, decided to age certain vintages from Château Gassier, on Mont Sainte Victoire, in oak barrels. This is still a relatively uncommon practice. His 946 cuvée, a blend of Grenache, Syrah, and a little Rolle, is aged in barrels for eighteen months. This aging gives it roundness and marzipan aromas. “It's a wine for fine dining, or even for sipping at the end of a meal as the aromas develop,” he says. In short, it is a winemaker's wine.

Rising prices

“There is no reason why rosé shouldn't become a great wine,” adds Gérard Bertrand, a visionary winemaker who has made Languedoc wines, all grown biodynamically, famous around the world. To achieve this, you need a great terroir, old vines, and low yields, as with all colors. " Provence had already demonstrated that it could produce renowned vintages, such as Garrus from Château d'Esclans, which sells for over €100. Gérard Bertrand wanted to take his region to the next level when, in 2018, he created Clos du Temple on the magnificent terroir of Cabrières, where the “vin vermeil” served at Versailles under Louis XIV, also known as the “vin d'une nuit” (wine of one night), was produced.

“When I discovered this terroir with its endemic grape varieties (Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah, Mourvèdre, and a little Viognier), I said, ‘Here, we're going to create a great rosé for aging, which has the potential to be drunk now but also in ten or fifteen years.’” The schist soil brings complexity and texture, while the limestone brings freshness and minerality. This means harvesting the grapes at the right stage of ripeness, and certainly not when they are “overripe,” in order to preserve a little acidity, and carefully aging them in barrels for nine to twelve months."

This wine, sold at €199 a bottle, has been voted the world's best rosé five years in a row. To drink these rosés, you have to be willing to pay the price.

Article written by Romain Rosso, featured in issue 12 of OniriQ magazine.