I'm a big Rose fan and have been for many years and since the 2010 vitage always held a Rose day on Memorial Day gathering. The idea of #RoseAllDay is nothing new, and while summer is clearly over, the idea of Rose in the fall or winter shouldn't be taboo. Yessterday I popped two Chateau Sainte Rosaline Cuvee Lampe de Meduse Roses from 2016 and 2017. There was hardly any difference between the two bottles. The 16 was a bit more round while the 17 was far more zesty.
Both had similar fruit layers and taste, but the 17 showed its' youthfulness but the 16 didn't lack in the smooth, fruit, dry and crisp department either. Candidly if poured blind it would have been hard to tell the difference between the two vintages as both were fruity.
As a fan of Provence Rose wines, I have been enjoying the lesser known producers like Sainte Rosaline and Chateau Leoube. Those two, along with Chateau de Roquefort have become standards from Provence whenever I can find them as they provide the type of freshness and fruit I look for in Rose regardless of the time of the year. Those are all from the Provence/Cote d'Azur part of the coastal part of France.
Not far away in the area known as the Coteaux d'Aix en Provence I've always longed for the wines of Chateau Vingelaure. That winery, and the second label of Bandol producer Chateau Pradeaux, the past few years have rivaled the best of Bandol. There, look for Domaine Tempier, Pradeaux, Vannieres, Bastide Blanche and Pibernon.
Up north in the Rhone my favorites are always Chene Bleu, Mourchon and Fondreche while the Tavel producers like Domaine de la Mordoree, Château de Trinquevedel and Prieuré de Montézargues.
There's many a choice in Rose from France…next time the Loire, Languedoc and Roussillion.