Outstanding Provence rosé

Remember how much I liked the delicious Fleurs de Prairie Languedoc Rosé that I told you about in the previous issue? Guess what: This week’s featured wine, La Bernarde “Les Hauts du Luc” Côtes de Provence Rosé, is even better.

Buy me a glass of wine

Now you can buy me a “glass of wine” to chip in $5 toward our expenses. I don’t accept free wine, so every small donation helps support our expenses. Click to learn more! buymeacoffee.com/RobG

Browse the world’s ten best value wines on Wine-Searcher.com!

Subscribe to The 30 Second Wine Advisor!

La Bernarde is imported by Skurnik Wines of New York City, one of the handful of U.S. importers whose portfolio I find so trustworthy that I’ll grab a wine off the shelf on the basis of their name on the label alone.

What’s so more, it’s a rosé from Provence, the lovable region of Southern France that’s widely regarded as a consistent source of the world’s best rosé wines. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of sitting down to an alfresco meal in the Provence countryside or a sidewalk café table in Avignon with a glass of rosé in your hand, you won’t need me to convince you that this is true.

Rows of lavender grow around La Bernarde's Provence winery. (Photo from Skurnik WInes.)

Rows of lavender grow around La Bernarde’s Provence winery. (Photo from Skurnik WInes.)

Next time in Provence I’d love to visit La Bernarde. Skurnik’s loving description of the property and its wine makes the importer’s affection obvious. Here’s the report on Skurnik’s web page:

“There may be no wine region on Earth that is more picturesque than Provence. This ruggedly beautiful region in the South of France produces what many people consider to be the standard for rosé in the world, along with some gorgeously perfumed and layered whites and reds. In the village of Luc, in the heart of the Côte d’Azur, La Bernarde and their organically farmed, traditionally made wines are quietly staking their claim as one of the finest in this famed region.”

“La Bernarde is an historic certified organic property in the Côtes de Provence appellation. The winery and their vineyards sit on a rocky limestone hillside at about 300 meters above sea level, making it one of the highest properties in the entire region. The cooler micro-climate of this area – it snows most winters! – allows them to make the kind of rosé we dream of, yet so rarely find; crisp, mineral-laced, bright-fruited, and with the complexity to drink on its own or with a variety of light or grilled fare. … This oasis of limestone and cool temperatures that La Bernarde finds itself in is an incredible asset, as it sets them apart from many of the domaines that sit in the hot, low-lying flatlands near St. Tropez.”

I sat with this wine on its own and then over a simple risotto lunch and marveled at its complexity and balance. Layer after layer of aroma and flavor revealed itself in turn: red berries, tangerine, lime zest, and an intriguing back note of stony minerality, on a base that’s firm and refreshing but not painfully tart. It makes a delicious apertif and a fine food wine, at very fair price in the teens. I highly recommend this wine. If you can’t find it locally, you should be able to find a shop that will ship to you at this Wine-Searcher link.

You’ll find my tasting notes below.

 

Support The Wine Advisor:

“Buy me a glass of wine”

 Buy me a glass of wine for just $5 to chip in on our expenses.

Hi, everyone! As many of you know, I don’t accept free wine or other gratuities from the industry, so small donations and a select group of carefully chosen advertisers make this publication possible. Now you can lend a hand directly and cheaply: Buy me a glass of wine for just $5 to chip in on our expenses. Every ten contributions adds up to $50, enough to buy wine for review in at least two editions of The 30 Second Wine Advisor.
Click to learn more! buymeacoffee.com/RobG

 

Today’s Tasting Report

La Bernarde 2021 “Les Hauts du Luc” Côtes de Provence Rosé ($18.99)

La Bernarde

La Bernarde “Les Hauts du Luc” Côtes de Provence Rosé is a typical Provence blend of certified organic Cinsault, Grenache, Mourvedre, Rolle, and Syrah grapes. Fresh and delicious, it is an exceptional rosé with an appetizing, fresh and complex aroma of red berries, tangerine, and lime zest. Mouth-filling and fresh, its red-berry flavors and stony minerality that linger in a very long finish. 13% alcohol. U.S. importer: Skurnik Wines, NYC. (June 9, 2022)

FOOD MATCH: Its subtle but distinct flavors were delicious with a dish made to match, green risotto loaded with onions, garlic, and chives, celery and green peppers and a broth made of all those things.

WHEN TO DRINK: It won’t fall apart any time soon, but its delicious, subtle freshness will never be better than it is right now. Drink up!

VALUE:
This excellent rosé is well worth its price in the upper teens price. which is consistent with Wine-Searcher.com’s $16 average U.S. retail price for the 2021 vintage.

WEB LINK:
Here’s a link to importer Skurnik’s fact sheet.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Check prices and find vendors for La Bernarde “Les Hauts du Luc” Côtes de Provence Rosé on Wine-Searcher.com.

Wine-Searcher’s link to “crisp and dry rosés” will lead you to dozens of other good, dry, pink wines primarily from Provence and Languedoc.

Wine Focus June 2022: Rosé All Day!

International Rosé Day is June 24, so we are going pink for the entire month. Rosé from anywhere is part of the Focus. Provence, California, South Africa, Colorado, New York, Spain, Italy, wherever, even Champagne. Rosé is s warm=weather and outdoor-dining friendly. If it gets too hot outside, just put an extra chill on it.

Join the conversation in Rosé All Day month, June 2022!

 

Today’s Sponsor:

Wine-Searcher.com

Explore Wine-Searcher

Wine-Searcher.com is the place to go online if you want to find where to buy a particular wine that interests you. What’s more, Wine-Searcher.com offers so much more. It’s well worth a visit just to discover its many features, including its popular list of the world’s Top 10 Best Value Wines.

 

Good wines we’ve tried under $10.99!

Want tips to still more good, inexpensive wines? Here are Wine-Searcher links to vendors and prices for a bunch more wines for $10.99 or less that I’ve told you about in recent years. In some cases the prices may have risen over the $10.99 mark since I reviewed them, but they should still be excellent bargains. Please tell us about your favorites!

 

Sponsor the Wine Advisor.

Thirty Second Wine Advisor

We appreciate your support

Support The 30 Second Wine Advisor and help us pay the rent while reaching 25,000 dedicated readers with your sponsorship message in this space, at the top of this E-letter, and on our social media. If you’re an established business in wine, food, and similar ventures, there’s no better way to focus your message toward an audience that comes here for just those topics. See our Sponsorship Page, or email Robin Garr for more information.

 

Wine Forum and Social Media

If you have questions, comments or ideas to share about today’s article or wine in general, you’re always welcome to drop by our online WineLovers Discussion Group, the Internet’s first and most civil online community.

Discussions are open for public viewing, but you must register to post. If you’re a Facebook user, you can join our forum with a single click! All you need to do is visit the forum and click “Social Login” at upper right.

We’d also be delighted to have you visit and “like” our WineLovers Facebook Page. This way you can get Facebook notifications when there’s a new The 30 Second Wine Advisor issue or a topic of particular interest on the WineLovers Discussion Group (WLDG).

Bookmark the permalink.

Read more articles from The 30 Second Wine Advisor


Comments are closed