For A Good Time, Call For An Italian Wine

Give me an Italian wine, and I'll be happy. Then, give me another, before I turn sad again. The local wine club to which I belong recently featured the 2022 Maccario Dringenberg Rossese Dolceacqua. It made me happy.

One of the wine's importers reports that "Giovanna Maccario is the daughter of one the pioneers of viticulture in Western Liguria, already bottling Rossese wines in the early seventies.” She has been making wine and tending vineyards for two decades. 

The grape is Rossese di Dolceacqua, called Tibouren in Provence. Due to drought in 2022, Maccario only produced 5,000 bottles of this gem, rather than the usual 25,000. It was fermented in stainless steel tanks. Alcohol rests at 13.5% abv and the wine may cost you upwards of $50 due to its limited production.

This wine has a nose full of cherry and herbal notes, with a hint of bell pepper. The palate brings red fruit and a savory streak of earth and black pepper with it. There is a strong acidity, and firm tannins for a food friendly wine. 

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Pink Wine From Under The Saint-Tropez Sun

Château Minuty promises their rosé wine contains all the good that's found "under the Saint Tropez sun."  The estate has been in the Matton-Farnet family for 80 years, overlooking the Saint-Tropez peninsula.

The winery says the grapes for 2019 Minuty Prestige Côtes de Provence - Grenache, Cinsault, Tibouren and Syrah - were grown in "a rigorous selection of the best Côtes de Provence vineyards."  Three of those grape varieties are familiar friends, but Tibouren - also known as Rossese di Dolceacqua in Italy's Liguria region - may not be on everyone's radar.  Tibouren has a highly aromatic quality which centers on earthiness.  It is believed to have come from Greece or the Middle East, introduced to France through Marseille or Saint-Tropez.  Alcohol is a restrained 12.5% abv and I see it selling at a lot of places for $18.

This barely-peach-pink wine is loaded with nose - cherries and berries for days with a hint of earth from the south of France.  The palate is also fruity, and juicy to boot.  Easy acidity will pair well with the usual salad and seafood suspects, but it's not exactly a mouthful of pins and needles.  Quite a nice Provençal pinkie, just what we expect.  It will play very nicely under the spring and summer sun wherever you are. 


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Provence Is For Rosé

Provence's Chateau Roubine is one of only fourteen wineries in the Cotes de Provence region which has earned the esteemed "Cru Classe" designation.  Vigneron Valerie Rousselle bought the estate in 1994 and now grows more than a dozen different French grape varieties in the chalky, clay-limestone soil.

Their 2018 La Rose features 50% Grenache grapes, 35% Cinsault, 10% Syrah and 5% Tibouren.  The latter grape is reportedly often used in rosés of the Provence region, but I've never run across it.  The grapes were macerated for a scant three hours to give the wine its soft pink hue.  Alcohol reports in at 13% abv and the wine retails for $24.  A sample was provided to me by distributor Quintessential Wines.

This Provençal rosé has herbal and floral notes on the nose, with fennel-laced strawberries and cherries.  The palate is gorgeous, with the red fruit abetted by a savory salinity.  The acidity is somewhat tame, but the flavor and finish are a real treat.

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