Description
Château du Carrubier, “Cuvée Ingénue” Rosé
Warning: Once you taste today’s mind-bending rosé, high-end Provençal labels like Domaine Tempier ($50+), Château d’Esclans “Garrus” ($100+) and Domaine Ott “Étoile” ($200) may be reduced to obsolescence. There’s a reason Carrubier’s “Cuvée Ingénue” is 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, bordering-on-legendary rosé that blows away 99.9% of its competition. But there’s no reason whatsoever for us being the first to introduce this to America—it feels as if we’ve discovered the next “big thing” right under everyone’s nose. Taste any $20-$40 Provence rosé and Carrubier’s superiority will stand out like The Great Wall of China from outer space. Taste it alongside the above-mentioned luxury labels and you, too, will swear you’ve just discovered the savviest rosé investment of 2020.
While its exclusivity certainly adds to the allure—nobody else in the States has access to it—what’s inside the bottle really matters. This is an outrageously delicious, region-elevating Côtes de Provence that has simultaneously stormed to the top of my ever-growing rosé list and become my favorite rosé discovery of the year. And that’s not gross exaggeration, either: as I write this, I have a separate tab open with a host of bottles in my cart. These will be going straight into my weekly rotation, and although summer is nearing its end, I’d wager they won’t survive the fall. The wine is that addicting: Bone-dry, intensely flavorful, deeply thirst-quenching—this is the finest rosé $30 can buy, and the absolute pinnacle of Provence! If only we had enough for everyone to buy a case…
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 today. Its singular mineral imprint, sun-kissed fruit, and impossible-to-put-down deliciousness led to our first-ever Provençal rosé import—it’s a big day for us!
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.
If this doesn’t become your favorite still rosé this year—or top two at the very least—I’ll be absolutely shocked. Provence rosé may sound easy in principle but I assure you it is incredibly hard to seperate 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, enjoy often, and if a bottle does somehow escape 2020 unscathed, you’ll be thrilled to discover an extra year of aging has elevated it even higher. Cheers!
