2022 Cotes de Provence Rose

Full bottle all of 1,726 g! Sacha Lichine, creator of Whispering Angel and 'architect of the rosé renaissance' according to his website, is especially proud of reducing bottle weights from 980 g to 800 g for his 2022 Les Clans and Garrus and will do the same for Ch d'Esclans 2023 (average bottle weight for wine currently is reckoned to be 550 g and an increasing number of bottlers and retailers are aiming to get this down to 420 g.) But to give him his due, he is abandoning wooden cases and now using cardboard cartons and 'additionally we are researching ways through which to produce our bottles from carbon-zero glass from the 2023 vintage'. This is a blend of Grenache and Rolle (Vermentino), some of it oak aged. See also my note on the 2020 version tasted at the end of 2023. Much yellower than Les Clans or Garrus 2022. Briney savoury nose. Broadly fruity palate with distinctly smoky and salty notes. It's certainly a lot more interesting than the average Provençal rosé. Quite a fruit impact on the palate and worthy of some attention. But so it should be for the price. (JR)

The 2022 Cotes de Provence Rose derives from parcels co-planted with Grenache and Rolle and was fermented only in stainless steel tanks. It’s fresh and elegant, with aromas of peach, lemon, grapefruit, rose and raspberry. Supple and round, juicy and fresh, the wine is medium-bodied with a delicate yet aromatic finish.