2020 Chateau Minuty Prestige Cotes de Provence 750 ml

There’s a reason Château Minuty can be found on countless wine lists at the world’s top French restaurants. With its sun-kissed vibrancy, crystal-clear red fruit purity, incredible subtlety and delicate floral complexity…In short, historic Minuty sets the standard for rosé worldwide. 

We’ve been fans for decades (more on that later), which is why we’re thrilled to offer 2020 Minuty Prestige Rosé. Wild raspberry and fresh watermelon, violet and lavender, coastal salinity and classic herbes de Provence—it’s all here and under $20, a remarkable price for a benchmark wine. 

Over the years we’ve enjoyed many white tablecloth dinners that have been elevated by the salmon-hued gem that is Minuty’s Rosé. But our most memorable experience with it took place far from the trappings of fine dining, on a rocky outcrop on a beach in the Cote d’Azur. 

It was in 2004, and we were on a buying trip to the south of France, traveling from Hermitage in the northern Rhône, through Châteauneuf du Pape and down to Provence. On the day before we headed back to Paris, we drove our Peugeot rental to the coast, intent on setting our eyes on the crystalline waters of the Côte. A few kilometers from Saint Tropez, we found a little secluded beach. There was no sign of Brigitte Bardot or Leonardo DiCaprio and that was fine with us. All we needed was the Mediterranean and the two chilled bottles of Minuty Rosé we had brought for the trip. 

That day, it just so happened that amongst the few other beachgoers were two locals diving for sea urchins. With our glasses in hand we walked to the shoreline to greet them, hoping to get an up-close look at their spikey bounty. Despite our imperfect French, the divers were kind enough to show us. Then, looking at the Rosé in our glasses, one of the divers asked, “Que bois-tu?” What are you drinking? 

“Minuty, of course!” we answered. 

Both divers smiled, and as if we had passed a test, they invited us over to their spot on the beach where one grabbed a lemon, a few spoons, and a sharp knife from a basket. Being careful of the spikes, our new friend took the knife and went to work. A few minutes later we were holding a spoon heaped with the fresh sea urchin drizzled with lemon. Washed down with the Minuty, it was one of the greatest gastronomic experiences of our lives. The intense umami of the sea urchin perfectly balanced by the mouthwatering, bright red fruit acidity; the Minuty’s sea-spray salinity and mineral edge melding perfectly with one of the greatest of ocean delicacies; the subtle notes of violet and lavender adding an elegant floral garnish to the entire experience.

Today’s bottling took us right back to that incredible day more than a decade ago. It was grown just a few kilometers from that very same beach in a sunny, seaside vineyard only half a mile from the Gulf of Saint Tropez. Grenache and Tibouren (a native grape in Provence) thrive here in schist-based soils that impart a fine minerality to the rosé of all rosés. 

Since 1936, when the Matton-Farnet family became owners of the estate, Château Minuty has been on a path of excellence. Named one of 23 classified Provence estates in 1955, Minuty paved the way for Provençal rosé and rosé in general to become the global phenomenon that it is now. 

Today’s release, shines bright like the Cote d’Azur with classic red fruit exuberance threaded with delicate floral nuance and wonderful freshness. Masterfully crafted by the next generation of the founding family, brothers Jean-Etienne and François Matton, the 2020 Prestige is a standard-bearing masterpiece—and the only wine that can get you fresh sea urchin in Saint Tropez.