“The word that most comes to mind when drinking this is satisfying.”
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Readers may remember how much I liked the 2021 vintage of this wine, and I am happy to report that the ‘22 is just as enjoyable. A few days ago, I ran into the current version stacked four cases high in the wine department of Holiday Market in Royal Oak for a very good price, and I didn’t hesitate to pick one up and drop it into a 6-pack for the 10% discount.
2022 Bieler Pere et Fils Sabine Rosé Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence, 32% Grenache, 23% Syrah, 17% Cinsault, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Rolle, 5% Grenache Blanc, 3% Counoise, 12.5% alc., $12.99: This may be a little less mineral-driven than the ‘21, but only a little; otherwise, it’s very much as I remember that last vintage. More than anything else, the wine is all about balance, with racy acids riding along with the mouthwatering watermelon, strawberry and mineral flavors in a harmonious whole. With no rough edges or flaws here, this hits all the right buttons for me when it comes to dry rosé.
This wine offers excellent QPR (quality-price-ratio) for what’s in the bottle, so I don’t know how long it will be around at this price. I’ll be going back for more right away, and you might want to try it yourselves, if you haven’t before. The word that most comes to mind when drinking this is “satisfying.” Find this wine
As the oldest wine growing area in France and the world’s largest Rosé specialty region, Provence is the gold standard in Rosé. There are 8 different appellations in Provence but only 3 that you need to know: Cotes de Provence, Aix-en-Provence, and Bandol. Most of the biggest Rosé producers are in the Cotes de Provence AOC, where the warmest growing regions in the flats of Provence produce higher yields and harvests tend to be quite early. For our part, we instead focused on the cooler, more rugged and higher elevation vineyards in the hills around Aix-en-Provence. The cooler nights in the hills around Aix-en-Provence means that we pick on average 2 weeks later than Cotes de Provence, allowing for a gentler ripening and more natural acidity, two critical attributes to make the kind of Rosé we think is best. The Southern Rhone and Provence are on the front lines of global climate change and these relatively cooler sites in the region have become more important than ever to make wines with balance and energy.
We don’t want singular big flavors, we want more nuance, energy, soul and personality. To achieve that we don’t have a single approach to each fermentation. Instead, we break up each vineyard into parts using different yeasts, juice solids and lees treatments so each tank is a little different and brings a unique perspective in the final blend. We have been loving the results of circulating juice solids pre-fermentation to build depth and concentration. For a delicate, fresh wine like Rosé, oxygen contact can be crushing, so we have made investments in nitrogen coverage such that from the moment the fruit arrives it’s never exposed to oxygen again until it’s eventually poured from a bottle in to your glass, resulting in a more vivid and precise expression of our Rosé than ever before.
Imported by Bieler Père et Fils, St. Helena, CA
Reporting from Day-twah,
Bastardo
