La Coqueluche 2018 Rosé, Pays D’Oc

Can a $6 rosé deliver taste as well as value? We uncork a Trader Joe’s special to find out.

To Quench A Thirst

Last night I got together with some friends for 18 holes of disc golf. We had a great time and maybe frightened a few drivers in Middle Creek Park with some errant throws.

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The humidity was withering. At the end of our match, my shirt was wringing wet. That’s the type of weather we’ve had this summer in the Old North State.

Summer heat means lighter, chilled wines. Usually we opt for a nice rosé or chilled Sauvignon Blanc. A couple weeks ago I decided to stock up on some everyday white and rosé wines and happened to be in Trader Joe’s.

This bottle caught my eye first because of the shapely bottle and second because it met the criteria of being cheap. In fact, La Coqueluche is dirt cheap at less than $6. This is a Trader Joe’s exclusive. I figured it would either quench my thirst or I could lambast it in a wine review.

Can Cheap Also Be Good?

The bottle for La Coqueluche is similar, if not identical, to the squat yet elegant bottle used for the high end Miraval rosé. Miraval is the winery owned by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Their highly-praised rosé comes from Provence and sells for $28.

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The bottle brings a cool aspect to La Coqueluche, which is French for “favorite.” The packaging makes it look like a far more expensive wine.

It doesn’t come the Provence, the epicenter of rosé, instead it is from the Pays D’Oc region in the southern coast of France. The “pays” wines are in a category  a step lower than the AOC wine regions like Provence. The grapes aren’t specified, but Syrah, Grenache and Carignan are the main red varieties in the region.

We’ve had great experience with Pays D’Oc wine and were anxious to try La Coqueluche. The verdict is two thumbs up. The flavor has clean and straightforward strawberry notes with juicy melon.

It teases some Provence-style flavors but doesn’t have the fullness or complexity of an outstanding rosé. Still, we rate it as very good. We’ve paid three or four times more for rosé that wasn’t nearly as good. Another area where the wine falls short is the finish. It’s a delightful drinker, but the finish closes shop too early.

Perhaps the best statement on the quality of the wine is that when my wife returned from Trader Joe’s yesterday, she had another bottle of La Coqueluche in the shopping bag. At this price you can buy a case, which might tide you through the scorching summer.

Technorati Tags: rosé,French wine,wine tasting,wine

Côté Mas Offers Duo Of Winning French Rosé

Ready or not, spring is here—with unpredictable rainstorms, fragrant flowers and delicious French rosé.

Rosé Aurore from Côté Mas - Photos by Dave Nershi

Wine From The South Of France

Domaines Paul Mas is a leading wine producer in Sud de France, with nearly 2,000 acres of vines in this southern region that hugs the Mediterranean. Jean-Claude Mas is considered a pioneer of new French wines from this region and his domains feature 45 different grape varieties.

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We recently tasted a pair of rosé wines from his Côté Mas label, the Crémant de Limoux Rosé and Rosé Aurore 2018. Côté Mas is the well regarded restaurant of the Domaines Paul Mas and exemplifies their credo of Luxe Rural, or rural luxury.

The Côté Mas Crémant de Limoux Rosé was opened during a particularly frustrating evening. We were working to put together and install a new chandelier. With myriad chrome and crystal pieces, it was one complicated task. My wife and I decided to set aside the work until tomorrow and uncork the Crémant.

A Crémant Sparkler

This is a spirt-lifting wine that is 70% Chardonnay, 20% Chenin Blanc and 10% Pinot Noir. Grapes come from the Limoux wine region, located in the eastern foothills of the Pyrénées in southern France. Nearby is the St. Hilaire Abbey, where in 1531 the monks discovered sparkling wine – preceding Champagne by more than a century.

Côté Mas Crémant de Limoux Rosé

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The Crémant is created in the traditional method, the same as Champagne, with a second fermentation in the bottle. In fact, we’ve found that French Crémant is an excellent alternative to Champagne, usually costing far less. The Côté Mas Crémant costs about $16.

The Côté Mas Crémant de Limoux Rosé offers everything you could want in a sparkling wine. The perlage is frothy and the wine an orange-tinged pink in the glass. This is finished in the Brut style, not sweet, but not excessively dry. On the palate, there are flavor notes of peach and citrus. Lovely!

Luxe Rural

The Rosé Aurore features an artful rendition of a country picnic on the label. Rural luxury indeed! The casual vibe continues from the bottle to the glass.

The blend is a traditional one for southern France, Grenache (50%), Cinsault (30%) and Syrah (20%). The appellation is the wide-ranging Pays d’Oc. The wine is aged on lees for 40 days in cement vats with regular stirring.

In the glass the Rosé Aurore has a deep salmon color. We’ve found this wine to contrast with the rosé from Provence. The Côté Mas has more body and complexity, perhaps due to the lees aging. It is richer by comparison flowing with cherry and floral flavors. We really like this wine and it is quite a value at about $11.

Both wines pair wonderfully with food, especially lighter dishes, seafood and cheeses. The wines of Paul Mas continue to impress with flavor and quality at reasonable prices.

Full disclosure: These wines were received as a marketing sample.

Arrogant Frog Delivers French Taste And Value At Dizzying Heights

Pays d’Oc is a picturesque region in the south of France that has low hills, rolling land – and great values in wine.

Simple Pleasures

Arrogant Frog is part of the wine portfolio of Domaines Paul Mas. These are French wines from the Languedoc region where "country wine,” also called IGP wine, is produced.

The wines are crafted to highlight the “Luxe Rural” spirit of the south of France. We recently sampled the 2016 vintages of Arrogant Frog Cabernet-Merlot and Chardonnay. Each retails for $9.99, making them outstanding values.

Climbing to New Heights

We packed the two Arrogant Frog bottles on a recent rustic cabin trip to West Virginia’s Seneca State Forest. The highest point in this remote park is the Thorny Mountain Fire Tower, at a height of 3,458 feet. Recently the Division of Natural Resources converted the fire tower building into a sleeping accommodation – three of our friends opted to spend the night there.

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Our entire group went to the hilltop for a cookout and to check out the scenery. The Arrogant Frog climbed to the top of the tower with me and enjoyed a magnificent mountain panorama. Down at the base of the tower, friends were putting together a bison burger cookout.

Value And Fun

The Arrogant Frog Chardonnay is actually a blend of 85% Chardonnay and 15% Viognier. This adds some white flower notes to tropical fruit and peach flavors. The bottle has a screw closure for easy opening when you are on top of a fire tower – or a more day-to-day setting.

Thirty percent of the Chardonnay grapes get three months aging in oak barrels before being blended with the rest of the grapes, which are finished in stainless steel tanks. This keeps the brightness, but allows for a dash of complexity.

The red Arrogant Frog is a blend of 55% Cabernet and 45% Merlot. This was an ideal blend with the bison burgers. Like the Chardonnay, the Cab-Merlot blend gets a light oak treatment with 25% of the wine being aged four months in oak. The result is smooth with rich blackberry flavor and spicy notes.

As the sun went down we reveled in the changing colors from our spot high in the West Virginia hills. We didn’t have high end crystal glasses, but we enjoyed other luxuries – comradery, stunning surroundings and some pretty good bison burgers.

Arrogant Frog provides an easy-going, elegant style. This is one form of arrogance we can readily embrace.

Full disclosure: This wine was received as a marketing sample.