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Château du Carrubier, “Cuvée Ingénue” Rosé

Provence, France 2019 (750mL)
Regular price$30.00
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Château du Carrubier, “Cuvée Ingénue” Rosé

The allure of Provençal rosé knows no bounds: There is a pronounced energy and vivid sense of identity to the top bottlings and Carrubier’s “Ingénue” is our current favorite discovery. There’s a reason it’s emerging with top awards in Paris and Provence, and that Wine Enthusiast has rated it right alongside the region’s most expensive and renowned bottlings: it’s an extraordinary rosé that blows away 99.9% of its competition.


But there’s no logical reason for us being the very first to export/introduce this into America—it feels as if we discovered the next “big thing” right under everyone’s nose, which is why we immediately phoned the winery and pleaded for more after watching our first tranche get gobbled up last year. While its exclusivity certainly adds to the allure, it’s the nectar inside that has us raving. This is an outrageously delicious, region-elevating Côtes de Provence that has stormed to the top of my lengthy list of elite rosés. The wine is that addicting: Bone-dry, intensely flavorful, deeply thirst-quenching—this is the finest rosé $30 can buy right now, and the absolute pinnacle of Provence! This second batch marks the end of the vintage for them, so although there won’t be any more 2019s to come, I guarantee your bottles will keep dazzling for years to come. Enjoy!


[NOTE: We couldn't help ourselves from snagging a few dozen magnums as well. They are available for $65 each. Please reach out to info@sommselect.com if you'd like to acquire some.] 


We’ve repeatedly said that the vetting process for all of our wines is fairly intense, but we judge rosé to an even more extreme degree since innumerable legions of it flood the market each year. That’s why we were so stunned to learn that Carrubier’s mouth-watering “Ingénue” Provence rosé had never been imported into the US before us. Its singular mineral imprint, sun-kissed fruit, and impossible-to-put-down deliciousness led to our first-ever Provençal rosé import last year—and we liked it so much, we ordered it again. 


Although Domaine Carrubier has been family-owned for just 46 years, they have already mastered the art of Provençal rosé—and I say this confidently despite having tasted one vintage. This is no fluke, no beginner’s luck: Carrubier is the real deal and their “Cuvée Ingénue” is poised to overtake the famous old guards of the region. They own 25 hectares of classic Provençal varieties that are planted just miles from the sea, in the sloping foothills of Massif des Maures. As a result, their vines enjoy both the intense, rot-preventing Mistral winds and the intense sunlight/warmth of the Mediterranean. 


They ensure that all of their vines are farmed without chemicals and, in a region that is heavily mechanized come harvest, the Carrubier team chooses the strenuous path by meticulously sorting and picking each cluster by hand. In the winery, their Grenache, Syrah, and Rolle (Vermentino), are de-stemmed and gently pressed after a very brief maceration. Fermentation and six months of lees aging occurs in stainless steel vessels before a quick bottling to preserve every ounce of freshness. 


Provence rosé may sound easy in principle but I assure you it is incredibly hard to separate yourself from the masses. In that regard, Château du Carrubier’s 2019 “Cuvée Ingénue” is operating far beyond the generic labels, and has reached the absolute highest level of quality. Accordingly, this is not a pop-and-pour wine: I found it performed best after 30 minutes of air in my glass, and from there, the wine never looked back. This explodes with ripe, fleshy red fruits like wild strawberry, Honeycrisp apple, watermelon, and raspberry that are enhanced by intense, high-toned notes of grapefruit pith, orange zest, citrus peel, wild herbs, rose petal, crushed rock, white flowers, and a touch of spice. On the palate, each exuberant sip brings long-lasting, mouth-watering layers that reverberate with vivid minerality. Enjoy now and enjoy often. If any of your bottles somehow remain unscathed by the end of 2021, you’ll be thrilled to discover an extra year of aging has elevated it even higher. Cheers!

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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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