Discover These Three Unique Provençal Rosé Wines

Say ‘French Riviera’ and a tempting picture of a chilled glass of rosé comes to mind. Provence has become synonymous with its lovely pink wine which has gained huge popularity around the world in recent years. Today we explore three unique Provençal rosé wines that you may not already know of.

A Perfect Beach Rosé

Wine in cans have become quite trendy in the United States and England over the past few years but they still aren’t easy to find in France. Easier to chill and lighter to carry – it’s difficult to imagine a more convenient way to drink wine at the beach or poolside. If you tend to be more traditional when it comes to wine it may be time to start thinking (and drinking) outside the bottle! Leave the wine glasses and corkscrew at home and pick up a can of Mirabeau Pret-a-Porter Rosé instead.

Mirabeau En Provence, who collaborated with A.M.A Selections in the creation of 1956 Rosé, has designed a beautiful, quality wine to go. Their pale pink rosé will immediately charm you with its nose of cherry, raspberry and apricot. Mirabeau’s canned rosé is a crowd pleaser and pairs nicely with salads, picnics, street-food, roast chicken, fish, and a variety of summer Mediterranean dishes.

A Trendy Sugar Free Sparkling Rosé

Very few sparkling rosés are made in Provence – even less are made without added sugar. Sugar free or zero dosage sparkling wines are becoming more and more popular in part due to the trend of reducing carbs and calories per glass, in support of a healthier lifestyle. However another reason for their growing popularity is that in order to produce a sparkling wine, the winemakers have to use very good, quality wines as the base. Did you know that sugar can act as makeup – it can cover the imperfections?

Sparkling de Léoube is one of the best of its kind. This organic wine is made using the traditional method that is used in the Champagne region. This wine shows the barest blush of pink and offers subtle aromas of grapefruit and peach. According to Marion, the chef at Café Léoube – a lovely beach restaurant that is open from April to end of September – Sparkling de Léoube will pair especially well with strawberry cake. The only thing we would add to this tasty combination is a beautiful pool and a loved one to share it with!

A Gastronomic Rosé with Aging Potential

Provençal rosé has the reputation of being an easy drink that is great for happy hour and best consumed as young as possible – in all its vibrancy and freshness. This is true however, there is an appellation in Provence that demonstrates that rosé can be so much more.

Rosé from Bandol can be quite deep in color and have more complexity and richer character than its pale pink counterparts. Mourvèdre is the main grape variety in Bandol and is rarely used for rosé produced outside of this appellation. It is Mourvèdre that gives the wines an ageing potential over three to five years.

Domaine de la Bégude produces the organic L’Irréductible rosé, a wine that distinguishes itself by its attractive rich salmon color. Rosé wines from Bandol are known to be gastronomic wines and L’Irréductible is no different. It offers a delicious explosion of red fruit aromas and beautifully pairs with grilled fish, seafood, white meats, tapenades, ratatouille and most Mediterranean dishes.

Photos by Zoya Stafienko for A.M.A Selections. All images ©A.M.A Selections