Provence Wines

April 26, 2015 5

THE 2014 VINTAGE OF PROVENCE ROSÉ IS ON THE SHELVES…AND IN OUR GLASSES

I drink rosé all year ’round. I encourage others to do the same. Pourquoi pas? As regular readers know, I take every opportunity to bemoan the predictable purge of rosés from the shelves of wine stores come the day after Labor Day. [...]

April 21, 2015 5

WHISPERING ANGEL WINS THE BLIND TASTING BUT ALL EYES WERE ON GARRUS

ver the weekend another Provence rosé lover, Cynthia Fenneman, and I invited some friends over for a blind tasting of five Provence rosés. Research for Provence WineZine, of course [...]

April 4, 2015 4

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Upgraded to First Class

Imagine that you are at the airport ready to board your flight, having paid coach fare. You step onto the plane only to be surprised by the flight attendant; you have been upgraded to First Class. That is exactly how I felt when I took my first sip of this 2013 Château La Tour Sainte Anne rosé. The price was coach ($12.99) but the luxurious taste and velvety feel in my mouth told me I was in the First Class cabin. For my previous posts, I learned about the wine and then made a meal that I felt would be complimentary. This time, I needed a wine to go with a tricky dish: Oysters Rockefeller. Oysters, on their own [...]

February 15, 2015 19

DOMAINE DES TERRES BLANCHES IN THE PREDOMINANTLY ORGANIC APPELLATION OF LES BAUX-DE-PROVENCE

A bottle of Domaine des Terres Blanches wine was among the well-chosen bevy of refreshments my husband and I found in our lovely room at the gorgeous five-star hotel, Château des Alpilles, located on the outskirts of St. Rémy-de-Provence. This early 19th-century property, set [...]

February 1, 2015 3

IN THE DEPTH OF WINTER, I UNCORK A BOTTLE OF ROSÉ

The snow is over three-feet deep in some places around our home in coastal New England. The wind is howling, shaking the loose window panes of this 18th-century house and causing a shrill whistling noise. A “Winter Storm Watch” is in effect for tonight, when an additional twelve inches of snow may begin to fall. Even parts of Provence may see a dusting of snow by the end of the week [...]

January 18, 2015 14

YOU KNOW MIRABEAU ROSÉS, BUT HAVE YOU MET THE RED WINE?

Have you ever had a dream that you really wanted to follow? One that tugged so hard at your heartstrings that you resorted to cold showers to quell those feelings? Stephen Cronk did. And, now, after harboring this dream for some 25 years, this handsome man with [...]

December 20, 2014 8

PROVENCE’S VIN CUIT: WINE COOKED IN A CAULDRON, AGED IN OLD OAK, AND STEEPED IN TRADITION

Sometime in early October, after the harvest, winemakers—mostly located in a small area of Provence at the base of Mont Sainte Victoire, between Aix-en-Provence and Trets—begin the annual tradition of making “vin cuit” or “cooked wine." They each build a big fire [...]

December 14, 2014 0

Le Vin Cuit from Mas de Cadenet est Arrivé!

in Cuit is a "cooked wine" that is traditionally enjoyed during the Christmas season in Provence. Although most of this holiday dessert wine never makes it out of the small village in which it is made, it is made and sold to a wider audience by a handful of wine producers in [...]

December 10, 2014 12

RAW AND ROLLE

Oysters are everywhere in Provence this time of year. Often likened to the American turkey at Thanksgiving, oysters—along with foie gras and caviar—are an integral part of the holidays in France. Half of the country’s annual production of oysters is consumed between [...]

December 6, 2014 0

Stephen Cronk Feeling Sanguine about 2014 Mirabeau Rosés

This morning I spoke with Stephen Cronk, proprietor of Mirabeau in Provence, who told me that he and winemaker Jo Ahearne just wrapped up the final blending session of the Mirabeau 2014 rosés. Woo-hoo! [...]

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