Wine · Medium strength
Provence Rosé
Pale pink, bone dry, dangerously easy. Summer's official beverage.
How to order it: Strawberry and citrus zest. Serve ice cold, repeat as needed.
Flavor profile
The proper serve
- Chill to 45–50°F — properly cold
- Any glass; outdoors preferred
- Drink the current vintage
- Pairs: everything on a patio
- Magnums for gatherings
The story
Wine arrived in Provence with the Greeks who founded Marseille around 600 BC, which makes this France's oldest wine region — and its rosé arguably the oldest French wine style of all, from an era when reds were pressed pale by default. For centuries it stayed a local pleasure, drunk cold and young within sight of the Mediterranean. The modern empire is recent: in the 2010s, pale, bone-dry Provençal pink became a global lifestyle category, helped along by celebrity estates and a million terrace photographs. The region now devotes the overwhelming majority of its production to rosé, and the ghostly salmon color has become shorthand for an entire season. Not bad for a 2,600-year-old idea.
Adjacent pours