2019 Chateau Pourcieux Cotes de Provence Sainte Victoire 750 ml

Classic, pretty, and surging with bright citrus fruit and red berry tartness, this 2019 Château de Pourcieux is everything you want in a rosé.

Absolutely packed with flavor, this star of Sainte-Victoire “explodes from the glass with bold aromas of tropical fruit, peaches and melon,” wrote Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate in a 91-point review lauding the “long, refreshing finish.”

It’s expressive of terroir in a way that’s rare for value-priced rosé, with the points to prove it. Pink in the glass and gracefully aromatic, you can almost taste the white limestone rock and hot Mediterranean sun that formed this wine—and that made for one of our tougher hikes in the South of France.

A true Provençal bargain with generations of family pedigree behind it, this captures all the structure and freshness of the 2019 vintage at a best-in-class bargain price. It’s a rosé that we’ll be reaching for long after the pools are closed, to accompany roasted chicken and classic fall fare.

Hunger is the best sauce, they say, so perhaps the pan bagnat our B&B host served us that scorching summer afternoon in Aix wasn’t as drop-dead delicious as we remember. But we’re pretty sure it was. We had just gotten back from stumbling along the rocky, exposed blue route trail of Montagne Sainte-Victoire for the better part of three hours, sweat dripping down our backs.

We must have felt as the vines here do, perched on the lower slopes of the mountain in well-draining soils, grasping for water with their root tips, relieved from the heat only by occasional breezes. The white dust of the crumbly limestone coated our boots, and we were as thirsty as the gnarled old Syrah and Grenache bushes that are apparently tougher than us.  

The classic Provençal tuna sandwich, known locally as a pan bagnat, served on our return looked mouthwatering: Italian tuna soaked in fresh olive oil, red onions, crunchy cucumbers, and red peppers, a tumbling of capers and olives, and garden-grown tomatoes all piled on a garlic-rubbed baguette.

But what took up the rest of our attention that afternoon was actually in the glass: a stunning Château de Pourcieux rosé, dry and beautifully balanced, filled with complex notes of exotic fruits, peach, and orange zest. A glance at the label and a quick chat with our host revealed that the estate was only a few miles away. A nap sounded good, but an allocation of this fantastic pink wine sounded even better.

Château de Pourcieux was founded in 1760 by Pierre Symphorien Pazery de Thorame, and his descendants still operate the estate today. Their 60 acres, boasting perfect southern exposure, are bordered by two mountain ranges, the Monts Auréliens and Sainte-Victoire, which protect the vines from harsh winters and the violent Mistral wind. Summers are hot and dry, winters cold, while the shallow, sloping, pebbly soils make vines work for moisture, contributing to the lively acidity.

Just one bottle will strike you as vividly as it did us, and send you searching for another—which you’ll find is a good argument for picking up at least a half-case or more.