Selection Laurence Feraud Pink Pegau 2015
-
Wine &
Spirits
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Pale pink and salmon in color, with peach, floral and red fruit aromas. Bone dry, with a crisp, mouth-watering acidity leading to a long, spicy, mineral finish.
Enjoy as an aperitif, with seafood, or a wide range of lighter fare.
Blend: 70% Cinsault, 20% Grenache, 10% Clairette.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine & Spirits
A blend of mostly cinsault with 30 percent grenache and clairette, this grows at Château Pégau, an estate just a few miles south of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It tastes like a rosé a king might have drunk sometime in the distant past: Regal in its peacock-like display of spice, florals and peppery herbs; old-fashioned in its oxidized, orange-toned fruit, this is a rustic, palate-whetting wine that’s ready for smoked duck or rillettes.
Whether it’s playful and fun or savory and serious, most rosé today is not your grandmother’s White Zinfandel, though that category remains strong. Pink wine has recently become quite trendy, and this time around it’s commonly quite dry. Since the pigment in red wines comes from keeping fermenting juice in contact with the grape skins for an extended period, it follows that a pink wine can be made using just a brief period of skin contact—usually just a couple of days. The resulting color depends on grape variety and winemaking style, ranging from pale salmon to deep magenta.
A long and narrow valley producing flavorful red, white, and rosé wines, the Rhône is bisected by the river of the same name and split into two distinct sub-regions—north and south. While a handful of grape varieties span the entire length of the Rhône valley, there are significant differences between the two zones in climate and geography as well as the style and quantity of Rhône wines produced. The Northern Rhône, with its continental climate and steep hillside vineyards, is responsible for a mere 5% or less of the greater region’s total output. The Southern Rhône has a much more Mediterranean climate, the aggressive, chilly Mistral wind and plentiful fragrant wild herbs known collectively as ‘garrigue.’
In the Northern Rhône, the only permitted red variety is Syrah, which in the appellations of St.-Joseph, Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage, Cornas and Côte-Rôtie, it produces velvety black-fruit driven, savory, peppery red wines often with telltale notes of olive, game and smoke. Full-bodied, perfumed whites are made from Viognier in Condrieu and Château-Grillet, while elsewhere only Marsanne and Roussanne are used, with the former providing body and texture and the latter lending nervy acidity. The wines of the Southern Rhône are typically blends, with the reds often based on Grenache and balanced by Syrah, Mourvèdre, and an assortment of other varieties. All three northern white varieties are used here, as well as Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Bourbelenc and more. The best known sub-regions of the Southern Rhône are the reliable, wallet-friendly Côtes du Rhône and the esteemed Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Others include Gigondas, Vacqueyras and the rosé-only appellation Tavel.