2017 Commanderie de la Bargemone Rose Coteaux d' Aix en Provence 750 ml

Parker’s “Quintessential Provencal Rosé”

Make room for a case of one of spring’s most anticipated wines! The 2017 Commanderie de la Bargemone Rosé Coteaux d' Aix en Provence, which just hit U.S. shores, is “a perennial favorite” of Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, which regularly gives the Commanderie 90+ points. The Advocate calls it “quintessential Provencal rosé” that “continues to be a terrific value that always delivers.” Get it now, before this freshly arrived 2017 vintage is scored. The gorgeous and zesty salmon-colored rosé hails from stony clay and limestone soils just miles from the breezy Mediterranean. As Parker’s publication said of a previous vintage: “Outstanding on all accounts, and just what you’re looking for when you need a dry rosé for a hot summer day or to kick off a meal.” Elsewhere $20, today from Wine Access just $16.99 per bottle.

Almost everything at the eight-century-old Commanderie de la Bargemone seems out of the past. The gnarly vines rising up out of rocky soils. The farmhouse whose walls were built by hand, stone by stone. This is the part of France where locals smoke Gauloises and while away the afternoon at cafés, and life moves at the kind of pre-Twitter pace that makes one wonder whether achieving happiness is really any more complicated than a spot in the shade and a glass of rosé.

The Bargemone estate has passed through many hands since being founded by the Knights Templar in the 13th century. Most consequentially, the property was purchased in 1968 by industrialist Jean-Pierre Rozan, who rehabilitated the slumping estate and returned it to its former glory. When Rozan died in 2006, the baton was handed to family friends Christian and Marina Garin, who have Provence in their blood and Bargemone’s best interest in mind.

The Garins haven’t changed an iota of Bargemone’s Old World charm — but behind the scenes, they have worked miracles. They have invested in the cellar by installing modern winemaking equipment, and in the vineyards by replanting struggling vines and ushering Bargemone’s 160 acres of vines toward organic certification. Bargemeone’s future is looking just as glorious as its storied past, and at present, the estate is in its best shape in years, producing a quintessential Provençal rosé — bright and fruity, with beautiful herbs and acid. Claiming a case is the perfect way to start off the spring.