Winemaker Profiles

July 19, 2016 8

THE STORY OF RÉGINE SUMEIRE’S “PÉTALE DE ROSE” ROSÉ

After I read the invitation to a winetasting of “Pétale de Rose” rosé back in spring of 2015, I was confused. The rosé bearing this name appeared to be made at two different domaines: Château Barbeyrolles and Château Tour de l’Évêque. Muddling the picture [...]

May 15, 2016 9

CHÂTEAU VIGNELAURE: “THE” RED IN PROVENCE BEFORE TRÉVALLON CAME ALONG…IS BACK!

In 1987, in his introduction to Provence wines in The Wines of the Rhône Valley and Provence, legendary wine critic Robert Parker described the newly created Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence appellation in four sentences [...]

May 4, 2016 12

Sacha Lichine Buys Winemaking Cooperative in La Motte

Sacha Lichine, Bordeaux-bred proprietor of world-renowned Château d’Esclans, has bought a coop in the village of La Motte, where the Château is also located. Apparently, the demand for Whispering Angel, the entry level rosé of the four pink wines he currently [...]

May 1, 2016 16

MARC PERRIN ON THE IMPORTANCE OF TERROIR, FAMILY, AND FUTURE GENERATIONS

We stood at the edge of his family’s vineyard at Château de Beaucastel, one of the most revered estates in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the most prestigious appellation in the South of France. Located in the flattest part [...]

April 2, 2016 34

Musings of a Wine Maven
HENRI BONNEAU, le DERNIER ADIEU

I arrived at No. 35 Rue Joseph Ducos just in time to watch five men, led by son Marcel Bonneau, carry the casket of legendary winemaker Henri Bonneau (1938 - 2016) from his long-time home to the 11th-century church Nôtre-Dame-de-l’Assomption, across the street. In moments, it seemed, the casket had been carefully placed in the center aisle in front of the altar. That was March 26th.

Just five days earlier, I had been in Châteauneuf-du-Pape with business associate Jacques Navarre; it was one of the stops on our ten-day visit to wine producers in Burgundy and the Rhône Valley. I had not anticipated returning to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, yet when I heard the news that Monsieur Bonneau had died, I immediately [...]

February 21, 2016 6

I HAD AN APPOINTMENT WITH CHÂTEAU BEAULIEU…AND DISCOVERED VILLA BAULIEU

We take the back roads to Lourmarin when we arrive in Provence. Whether we pull into the Aix TGV station or land in the Marseille Airport, we take the D568 a short distance and then head north along the meandering D543 (a favorite of bicyclists, too, making for some ticklish maneuvers occasionally). Between Éguilles and Rognes—on the narrow forested stretch known as the Route de Rognes—we pass by a [...]

January 17, 2016 8

CLOS DE L’OURS: A CONVERSATION WITH CO-OWNER MICHEL BROTONS

Barely three years old, this winery was recently included in “Les domaines incontournable en Provence” in [...]

October 17, 2015 50

THE PASTAGA OF LÉOUBE

In August of last year, Château Léoube’s Secret de Léoube was given a shout by Drinks Magazine, having placed in the gold medal tier of their 2014 Global Rosé Masters wine tasting competition with such local Provence favorites as Château d’Esclans and Mirabeau en Provence. Embarrassingly enough, having lived only an hour away for years, I had been blissfully ignorant of this domain. As Provence [...]

September 30, 2015 1

A Belated Salut to the Winemakers of Les Baux-de-Provence

This summer the winemakers of Les Baux-de-Provence celebrated their 20-year anniversary as an appellation. The winemakers group, Les Vignerons de Baux, hosted a party at the Carrières de Lumières in Les Baux-de-Baux (a medieval commune famous for [...]

July 19, 2015 11

CHEZ LES BRUN-CRAVERIS, VIGNERONS “BIO” CUEILLETTE DE… POMME AU JARDIN D’ÉDEN!

Dans un écrin d’authenticité, entre campagne et bord de mer, le domaine oéli-viticole “La Tourraque” est un joyau rare, et - grâce à la famille Brun-Craveris - ce qui pouvait arriver de mieux à ce site d’exception, à deux pas du Cap Taillat (l’endroit le plus naturel de toute la presqu’île - accès seulement à pied), et à quelques minutes du zoo de Saint-Tropez (on dit que sur le quai Suffren, il n’y a que deux genres d’animaux : ceux qui se pavanent, et [...]

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