Wine

May 28, 2017 2

April Frost Damages 25% of Château Vignelaure Vineyard

“We are lucky the damage was not worse,” Philippe Bru, Directeur Œnologue of Château Vignelaure, said of the April 29th frost that hit his vineyard, located in Rians, just north of Aix-en-Provence. “I hear that the Center of the Var was hit much worse, especially around Correns.”

That devastating frost, considered the most destructive since

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May 22, 2017 5

Diary of a Master of Wine in Provence
Judging, Celebrating, Researching, Tasting

As with any business, living and working in Provence is not all sunshine lunches…. well, only a few…..

The past couple of weeks have been very busy. In late April, I was based in London, which, surprise, surprise, was cold grey and damp – although it did warm up a little by the end. I was there to judge in the Decanter World Wine Awards. This year the number of entries topped 17,000 wines

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May 14, 2017 32

IS ROSÉ A SERIOUS WINE?
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SUBJECT

“Rosé does not merit serious tasting”

…Such were the recent words of a fellow wine writer, one very knowledgeable about wine, and one whose opinion I respect immensely on

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May 7, 2017 31

Musings of a Wine Maven
Alternative Facts and the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition

It would seem there is nothing unequivocal in the tag line to the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition (SFCWC) logo proclaiming it to be “The Largest Competition of American Wines in the World.” So you can imagine my surprise when I was reviewing its listing of medal winners of the 2017 event held in January and started noticing clearly foreign-sourced wines copping some

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May 6, 2017 8

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Flight of Fancy

Three wines; flight of fancy or fancy flight? I say it's both.
It has been a good year in Provence… most specifically, in Cotignac. Jeany and Stephen Cronk, founders of Mirabeau en Provence, situated in Cotignac, sent me the full flight of their rosé wines to create food pairings. All three of the wines won gold medals this year: Pure and Étoile received the 2017 Médaille d'Or in Paris and, in addition, Étoile scored an impressive 92 points form the Wine Enthusiast. The Mirabeau Classic won the 2017 Médaille d'Or at the

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April 21, 2017 8

Musings of a Wine Maven
Most Laid Back Wine Competition of the Year Award Goes to “Rosé Today”

I guess I am beginning to become a little numb when considering all the wine competitions held around the globe each year. Could there be 100, or closer to 1,000? Let’s just say that there are so many that when I enter a tasting room and see a slew of certificates, ribbons, trophies, etc. I totally ignore them. Surely the vineyard is proud of these accolades, or they wouldn’t be displayed. But what do they really tell me? Not all that much. I will know in short order after I start tasting and

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April 16, 2017 7

Diary of a Master of Wine in Provence
La Maison des Vins de Côtes de Provence Reopens with Great Fanfare

While Provence has been making wine for over 2000 years, its wine has not always had the fame it has today. Wine needs to reach foreign shores to be recognised, to be drunk by people who will write and praise the wine, to be acknowledged. For 2000 years the wines of Provence have been consumed, largely by locals. During the past 200 years it has been appreciated increasingly by tourists and over the past 20 years, thanks to the boom in rosé sales, it is highly regarded internationally.

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April 15, 2017 11

Château Barbebelle’s Cuvée Madeleine Arrives in New Hampshire

I am psyched to report that one of my go-to rosés from Provence has just arrived in New Hampshire -- for the first time. Château Barbebelle Cuveé Madeleine (2016) debuted in six of the State Liquor Stores just a couple of weeks ago; it sold out quickly in most of the stores but, fortunately, more is on the way.

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April 9, 2017 7

Diary of a Master of Wine in Provence
Côtes de Provence, Prowein, and Coteaux Varois

One region, one new vintage, two countries, three colours, three appellations, three departments, four fairs… Round one of my official tasting season is over, and now is time for a brief retrospective pause to think about them and the rosés tasted. Concentrating on research for my rosé book means that I often didn’t have time to taste all the reds and whites I want to – that is something to look forward to this autumn.

The one region is Provence with three of the four tasting events being for Côtes de Provence, Coteaux Varois and Coteaux d’Aix who together make up 95% of the region’s production, and held, respectively in the departments of Alpes Maritimes, Var and Bouches du Rhône. The fourth event at Prowein, in Germany, was for the three regions together. The two countries were France and Germany.

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April 7, 2017 5

E & J Gallo Quietly Launches Provence Rosé, Fleur de Mer, into the U.S. Market

Knowing that Americans are thirsty for Provence rosé, E & J Gallo has hooked up with Les Maïtres Vignerons de la Presqu’île de Saint-Tropez in Provence to make a rosé for the U.S. market. After introducing two rosés, both produced by Les Maïtres Vignerons, to several test markets in key U.S. areas (e.g., Los Angeles, Florida, and New England), Gallo selected

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