Provence Wines

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

Flight of Fancy

Three wines; flight of fancy or fancy flight? I say it's both.
It has been a good year in Provence… most specifically, in Cotignac. Jeany and Stephen Cronk, founders of Mirabeau en Provence, situated in Cotignac, sent me the full flight of their rosé wines to create food pairings. All three of the wines won gold medals this year: Pure and Étoile received the 2017 Médaille d'Or in Paris and, in addition, Étoile scored an impressive 92 points form the Wine Enthusiast. The Mirabeau Classic won the 2017 Médaille d'Or at the
[...]

Musings of a Wine Maven

Most Laid Back Wine Competition of the Year Award Goes to “Rosé Today”

I guess I am beginning to become a little numb when considering all the wine competitions held around the globe each year. Could there be 100, or closer to 1,000? Let’s just say that there are so many that when I enter a tasting room and see a slew of certificates, ribbons, trophies, etc. I totally ignore them. Surely the vineyard is proud of these accolades, or they wouldn’t be displayed. But what do they really tell me? Not all that much. I will know in short order after I start tasting and
[...]

Diary of a Master of Wine in Provence

La Maison des Vins de Côtes de Provence Reopens with Great Fanfare

While Provence has been making wine for over 2000 years, its wine has not always had the fame it has today. Wine needs to reach foreign shores to be recognised, to be drunk by people who will write and praise the wine, to be acknowledged. For 2000 years the wines of Provence have been consumed, largely by locals. During the past 200 years it has been appreciated increasingly by tourists and over the past 20 years, thanks to the boom in rosé sales, it is highly regarded internationally.
[...]

Diary of a Master of Wine in Provence

Côtes de Provence, Prowein, and Coteaux Varois

One region, one new vintage, two countries, three colours, three appellations, three departments, four fairs… Round one of my official tasting season is over, and now is time for a brief retrospective pause to think about them and the rosés tasted. Concentrating on research for my rosé book means that I often didn’t have time to taste all the reds and whites I want to – that is something to look forward to this autumn.

The one region is Provence with three of the four tasting events being for Côtes de Provence, Coteaux Varois and Coteaux d’Aix who together make up 95% of the region’s production, and held, respectively in the departments of Alpes Maritimes, Var and Bouches du Rhône. The fourth event at Prowein, in Germany, was for the three regions together. The two countries were France and Germany.
[...]

Musings of a Wine Maven

Lord Save Us, Martha Stewart is Selling Wine Again

Never a quitter, Martha has shaken off the debacle of her failed venture with Gallo a decade ago to come back at the unsuspecting wine consumer with a new wine marketing scheme. Unable then to successfully sell her Martha Stewart Vintage label at fifteen bucks a bottle, her name is now attached to a box of six of her favorite selections for $59.99, served up in a wine club framework. Hmmm, if a fifteen buck wine made for her by Gallo couldn’t sell, why then these ten buck finds (introductory price) from California, Spain, Italy and France?

There are at least two rosés from Provence, the region that has taken the U.S. by storm with its immensely popular pink wine
[...]

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

I’m No Fool!

When I saw a bottle of Château Léoube's "Rosé de Léoube" on sale, I bought it. I'm no fool. Yes, it's a little more expensive than our usual wine purchases, but I have heard from many people how good it is, and I wanted to know firsthand. Let me start by saying that I wish I had bought out their inventory! (So maybe I was a fool after all...?)

The first thing I did after getting the bottle was send a quick note to my Instagram friend Jérôme Pernot - a.k.a. Mr. Léoube - and asked him what he recommended serving with his wine. His suggestion? Roasted chicken

[...]
1 9 10 11 12 13 19
UA-53855671-1