Provence Rosé: wines for a sun-kissed summer

If this doesn't transport you to the south of France, nothing will. It’s an exciting new venture from the team at Châteaux Rauzan-Ségla and Canon in Bordeaux, owned by Chanel. It’s one of just two domaines on the staggeringly beautiful, and biodiversity unique, Porquerolles Island, just off the Provence coast. The schist soil and clement micro-climate here make for a delicate, sophisticated, and extremely elegant rosé. It captures everything we love about this part of France, and this style of wine.

Triennes is a long-time favourite, always reliably delicious, and just the ticket for the summer. It is a lovely red fruit-lead, thirst-quenching rosé from this ever-popular southern venture from two of Burgundy’s greatest domaines: DRC and Dujac. The de Villaine and Seysses families invested here many years ago, seeing the potential in the region to make great value and delicious, easy-drinking rosé. Perfect for summer drinking.

This is one of the Côte d'Azur’s most distinctive wines, with its recognisable bottle shape and pale onion skin pink. The domaine shot to fame after Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt invested in it, alongside the expert winemaking family, the Perrins, of Château de Beaucastel fame. It is lightly scented with sweet strawberry and bonbon notes, with an apricot flavoured and peachy palate, and a balanced, creamy finish.

This Bag-in-box Rosé is back by popular demand. It’s beautifully packaged, offers amazing value for money and has superb environmental credentials (with a much lighter carbon footprint than glass, and is 100% recyclable). Moreover, the wine itself is delicious: a dry, delicate rosé, with a fruity and fresh red berry nose and a salty freshness on the palate. You could easily mistake this for a bona fide Côtes de Provence. The wine will stay fresh and vibrant for at least a month from first opening. In this format, it offers unbeatable value for money. Dimensions: 19x19x19cm.

Château La Mascaronne in the picturesque village of Luc de Provence was snapped up in 2020 by Michel Reybier, owner of Château Cos d`Estournel, and he has set the bar sky high with his debut vintage. This organic, dry, delicate, complex and delicious rosé is quite literally Provence in a glass. It is exquisitely balanced and refined, and perhaps the most understated and elegant rosé on our list.

Bin-end sale: case price down from £72 to £65 per 6 in bond.
Château La Mascaronne in the picturesque village of Luc de Provence was snapped up in 2020 by Michel Reybier, owner of Château Cos d`Estournel, and he has set the bar sky high with his debut vintage. This organic, dry, delicate, complex and delicious rosé is quite literally Provence in a glass. It is exquisitely balanced and refined, and perhaps the most understated and elegant rosé on our list.

Domaines Ott* is the last word in Provençal sophistication, and their Clos Mireille rosé has become an emblem of the Riviera. But the truth is, this is equally at home enjoyed in the garden on a summer evening as it is on the white tablecloths of the chicest restaurants in St Tropez. The wine is made only from the "coeur de grain," the very purest juice of the berries. Its light, lithe body and detailed freshness make this one of the world’s most graceful rosés. Domaines Ott* can take a lot of credit for putting the now ubiquitous style of pale, dry Provençal rosé on the map.

Bin-end sale: case price down from £109.05 to £99 per 3 magnums in bond.
La Londe is unusual in the Côtes de Provence for warranting its own appellation, much like Bandol. It applies only to the best sites between Toulon and St Tropez, close to the coast, facing the dazzling Porquerolle islands. Here, the schiste soils and cooling sea breeze combine to make the most elegant and sophisticated of the region’s rosés. This is the top wine from the Combard family, made from the domaine’s organically-farmed grapes, selected and vinified by parcel with meticulous attention to detail. It is fine-boned and subtle, ethereal and enticing, and shows just what the best terroirs of Provence are capable of.