2020 Domaine Chateau Lauzade Cotes de Provence Rose

2020 Domaine Chateau Lauzade Cotes de Provence Rose

2020 Domaine Chateau Lauzade Cotes de Provence Rose, From France

The Château Lauzade rosé is a blend of 50% Grenache, 20% Cinsault, 20% Tibouren and 10% Syrah. In the glass, the wine sits a pale salmon color with pink highlights. Aromas of white peach, red delicious apple and perfectly ripe cherry enticingly waft from the glass, intermingled with a wet-rock minerality. On the palate, the wine is focused with a zippy acidity and flavors of tangerine, grapefruit and alpine strawberry to complement the stone and orchard fruits on the nose. Long and mineral driven with a beautiful softness, elegance and drinkability, this Provençal rosé is the perfect companion for raw or chilled shellfish or seafood salads, as well as grilled or roasted vegetables drizzled with aioli. However, this wine is so delicious and easy to drink that it is also an outstanding aperitif. Anyway you drink it, there is almost too much to love about this rosé from Château Lauzade!

Côtes de Provence AOC is the largest appellation of the Provence wine region in south-eastern France. It covers roughly 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) of vineyards, which produce the vast majority of Provence’s rosé wine. This appellation includes most of the viticulture in the Var department – essentially the eastern half of the Provence wine region – apart from 2250 hectares (5500 acres) due north of Toulon which is set aside for the Côteaux Varois en Provence appellation. Although it also covers red and white wine, about 80 percent of Côtes de Provence’s output is rosé. This is made predominantly from Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsaut grape varieties plus the quintessentially Provencal red grape Tibouren.

In Provence, one is more likely to find fleshy rosés made by one of the locals rather than a creamy yet crisp, aromatic rosé made by a Burgundian. Since the Sénéclauze family hired in 2015 the energetic Dijon native and Burgundian-trained Gérald Damidot to run their historic family estate Château Val d’Arenc in Bandol and to vinify some of their Côtes de Provence rosé at Château Lauzade, they have aimed for the stars. Château Lauzade is idyllically situated outside the village of Luc-en-Provence, in the valley north of the Maures hills, among olive groves, garrigues and 40 hectares of vineyards.