Provence whites: Panel tasting results
A dozen Outstanding wines and a good number of other high scores showed that there is an abundance of quality to discover amongst the white wines of Provence.
Elizabeth Gabay MW, Natasha Hughes MW and Joanna Simon tasted 115 wines, with 12 Outstanding and 44 Highly recommended
Provence whites: Panel tasting scores
115 wines tasted
Exceptional 0
Outstanding 12
Highly recommended 44
Recommended 36
Commended 23
Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their latest-release white wines from any part of the Provence region and at any price
Scroll down to see the top-scoring wines from the Provence whites panel tasting
Stepping out of Provence’s rose-tinted shadow
Provence white wines aren’t (yet) well known outside the region, notes Natasha Hughes MW, but they’re growing in popularity. This tasting showed enough potential to make it a category of interest.
With the rosés of Provence becoming increasingly pale, white wine could be seen as a natural progression; there was even one blanc de noir in the tasting.
Some producers claim that technological knowledge gained from making rosé (such as temperature control and more reductive winemaking) has improved the region’s white wines. However, it wasn’t evident from the tasting that white wines inspired by rosé were the best way to go.
Joanna Simon felt that producers needed ‘to stand back and look at their white wines in the context of other white wines’, noting that ‘many of them are applying rosé winemaking to the wines as if they’re going to sell them to the same consumers as their rosés’.
A hotbed of cellar experimentation
The best wines in the tasting showed richness, intensity, greater ripeness and ageing potential, while just over half were white versions of their rosé siblings, with young, reductive, crisp, crunchy white fruit.
The least successful provoked comments that they tasted as if picked underripe, resulting in green acidity, and were driven by a yeasty character. Simon felt that in ‘a region of this size, there is room for two styles’.
We would have liked to see more evidence of terroir or regional character in the wines that were based on the Rolle grape (known in Italy as Vermentino).
In terms of regions, Bandol stood out as the most exciting, and by default marked Clairette as an interesting variety. Cassis, the white wine appellation of Provence, was something of a disappointment.
The use of oak, amphorae and cement containers created complexity and texture, noted Hughes, who felt that ‘it was not individual regions or varieties that stood out, but the producers who had enough confidence in their terroir and their winemaking to create wines with a real sense of identity’.
See all recommendations from the Provence whites tasting
What to eat with Provence whites, by Fiona Beckett
Why drink Provence whites when you could drink Provence rosé? Maybe food is the key. Despite being in many instances pale and crisp enough to do duty for a white, rosés don’t have quite the same synergy with seafood.
If you’re cooking a bouillabaisse or a bourride, working your way through a plate of langoustines and mayonnaise, or assembling a grand aioli – especially with salt cod – Provence whites would have the edge.
Thinking of the kind of dishes, too, that would go with Vermentino over the border in Italy, they’d work with pasta dishes such as spaghetti vongole (spaghetti or linguine with clams) or a spring vegetable risotto. And the creaminess and slight almond bitterness of a Provence white is a better match than rosé for pistou, the French version of pesto.
Older vintages and wines that are dominated by Grenache, Roussanne or Marsanne behave more like a Rhône white, so think more in terms of roast or grilled veal, or a whole roast fish, such as a turbot. Both styles would be perfect with the local goat cheeses.
Provence whites panel tasting results
Wines were tasted blind
The judges
Elizabeth Gabay MW is a wine writer, educator, speaker and consultant, with a focus on the wines of southern France. Her second book Rosés of Southern France (£22 Amazon, 2022) was co-authored with her son Ben Bernheim
Natasha Hughes MW is a freelance wine consultant, educator, judge and writer, with a focus on wine with food. Her writing has appeared in titles including The Observer, jancisrobinson. com and timatkin.com, and she’s currently working on her first book, about Beaujolais
Joanna Simon is an awarded wine writer, editor, presenter and judge based in London. She spent 22 years as the wine critic for The Sunday Times and has authored several wine books
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