Best Provence Rosé wine: 15 award-winning bottles to try

Looking for the best rosé? Look no further than Provence. Rosé is made all over the world, but Provence has captured people’s imagination like no other with its delicately hued wine that encapsulates al-fresco drinking. We’ve put together a list of the best Provence rosé based on the finest bottles from this year’s IWSC.

Rosé’s popularity has soared over the past decade, particularly in the US, and Provence has been at the forefront of the charge. Its light onion-skin shade, presented in tall, elegant ‘skittle’ bottles have given it huge appeal to the Instagram crowd, too, helped along by a number of celebrities launching their own rosés, most famously Brad Pitt who bought Château Miraval, located in Var.

Rarely heavy and full-bodied, Rosés from Provence are known for vibrant and easy-drinking, made with classic southern French varieties Grenache and Cinsault, helped now and again with the addition of white grape Vermentino to freshen up the blend.

One of the star Provence performers in this year’s IWSC was Villa Moncigale Cicada La Légende 2023, which scored 95/100 and earned a Gold Medal. The judges described the wine as offering ‘a great sense of place’, with red fruit, crunch and minerality.

Mirabeau Pure 2023 was another star of the show, also awarded 95/100 and a Gold Medal. A Grenache-forward blend, the wine delivered ‘strawberry and citrus’ on a rounded and juicy palate. And the final Gold went to Château Saint-Maur’s L’Excellence 2023, a wine with a floral nose and expressing watermelon and sweet peach on the palate.

These award-winners, along with every other Provence rosé entered into this year’s IWSC, were tasted blind by an expert panel led by Dirceu Vianna Junior MW. He was assisted by wine writer and Provence rosé expert David Kermode, Off-Piste Wine’s sourcing and supply manager Maria Elener and Poppy de Courcy, a wine buyer for Waitrose.

If you’ve yet to discover the delights of Provence rosé, the following selection should convince you. Here is our pick of the best Provence rosés from this year’s IWSC.

provence rose wine glass and lavender field

HOW DO WE JUDGE THESE WINES?

We run a tightly structured, rigorous wine tasting process. That means that each wine sample is pre-poured into numbered glasses and assessed blindly by the judges. Most importantly, our IWSC wine judges are experts in their field, who work across all sectors of the wine industry. For evidence, see our full list of judges.

HOW DO WE SCORE THESE WINES?

Only the best wines sampled receive a Gold or Silver award. For example, to win Gold, wines have to score between 95 and 100 points. Meanwhile, Silver wines range from 90 to 94 points. Click here to read more on our scoring system.

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