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Château Lauzade, Côtes de Provence Rosé

Provence, France 2016 (750mL)
$20.00
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Château Lauzade, Côtes de Provence Rosé

You are in Provence, and after a couple days of sunning on Cannes’s beaches and eating bouillabaisse, you're ready to wander deeper. You hop into a rental convertible, zip past the coral and golden houses the lining the coast, and veer inland.
Halfway to Bandol, the land changes. Toasted brown mountains are dotted with olive trees and silvery shrubs with yellow flowers, and houses with terra-cotta roofs break up neat rows of lavender. A few miles down the road you reach Provence-en-Luc, where Chateau Lauzade, make this stunning rosé that jumps out of a twenty-dollar rosé line-up like gold medalist Simone Biles did from the beam at Rio.
We’ve sold a lot of blush in the past few weeks with “tis the season” as our slogan. But this is one of the year’s standouts. And at $20, it’s the most value for the buck— I bought all I could after tasting early barrel samples. Along the lines of Corsica’s Comte Abbatucci, and Bandol’s Terre Brune and Domaine Tempier, Lauzade supplies a whole another level of enjoyment (and slight addiction, I’m buying 3 to 4 cases myself). This is what I’m pouring for friend as soon as they walk through my front door. And then once again when we’re on my porch. 

Lauzade is tucked between the Massif des Maures and the Haut Vers mountains on clay and limestone soil. Here, its bush-pruned vines are protected from mistral’s harshest winds, and the chateau’s ancient stone fountain gurgles welcome to visitors. Though not certified biodynamic, the chateau is organic— the viticulturist uses sheep instead of insecticide keep intruders at bay, and only attempts to tame, not rid, the wild garrigue to preserve terroir in the bottle.

Since 2015 when Burgundian winemaker Gérald Damidot joined the team, this winery’s been in its best form. The “energetic” winemaker (said to inflict the wine with his liveliness) mixes 80% Grenache, 20 % Syrah from 30-year vines to create a leaner, lovable, yet layered wine. The rosé is pure Provencal yet sees no oak, instead aging on lées for three months for body. One crisp and charming sip brings you back to eating mussels with a glass of salmon-pink wine on the Côte d’Azur.

Hold a glass of this Lauzade to the light to revel in its classic, pale, Provencal salmon pink core with slight pink inflections on the rim. Swirl the glass and you’ll get pristine, iconic notes that are pretty near perfect— tangerine peel and orange pith, ripe yellow peach, watermelon rind, peach, slight accents of lemon blossoms, hints of wet rock and crushed pomegranate seed. On the palate you’re greeted with a beautiful softness. The wine starts concentrated then reveals soft mineral and fruit layers that walk the perfect line. Imagine the perfect Provence rosé. Here it is. Serve chilled, not too cold, around 45 - 50 degrees in all-purpose white stems or in glassware of your choice. Most rosés should be consumed within one year, but when built like this can be aged for years without tiredness, and develop complexity. 

You can sip this rosé with almost anything, including sushi or salad nicoise, but what I envision is all Provence. Like slowly roasted or grilled vegetables slathered with garlic aioli, perhaps made with the recipe from Domaine Tempier’s winemaker Lulu- enjoyed on a porch or surrounded by olive trees.
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Country
France
Region
Provence
Sub-Region
FranceCôtes de Provence
Soil
Stony Clay & Limestone
Farming
Sustainable
Blend
Grenache 80%; Syrah 20%
Alcohol
13.0
TEMP.
40-45
Glassware
All-Purpose Whites
Drinking
Now-2018
Pairing
Roasted Vegetables w/Aioli

France

Bourgogne

Beaujolais

Enjoying the greatest wines of Beaujolais starts, as it usually does, with the lay of the land. In Beaujolais, 10 localities have been given their own AOC (Appellation of Controlled Origin) designation. They are: Saint Amour; Juliénas; Chénas; Moulin-à Vent; Fleurie; Chiroubles; Morgon; Régnié; Côte de Brouilly; and Brouilly.

Southwestern France

Bordeaux

Bordeaux surrounds two rivers, the Dordogne and Garonne, which intersect north of the city of Bordeaux to form the Gironde Estuary, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The region is at the 45th parallel (California’s Napa Valley is at the38th), with a mild, Atlantic-influenced climate enabling the maturation of late-ripening varieties.

Central France

Loire Valley

The Loire is France’s longest river (634 miles), originating in the southerly Cévennes Mountains, flowing north towards Paris, then curving westward and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantes. The Loire and its tributaries cover a huge swath of central France, with most of the wine appellations on an east-west stretch at47 degrees north (the same latitude as Burgundy).

Northeastern France

Alsace

Alsace, in Northeastern France, is one of the most geologically diverse wine regions in the world, with vineyards running from the foothills of theVosges Mountains down to the Rhine River Valley below.

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