Domaine Gavoty Cotes de Provence Cuvee Clarendon Blanc 2008

Domaine Gavoty, run today by Roselyn Gavoty—the eighth generation of Gavoty to helm her family’s domaine since her ancestor Philémon acquired it in 1806—encompasses 50 hectares of vines on a Roman-era farm in the commune of Cabasse called Campdumy (“harvest fields” in old Provençal), situated along the snaking Issole River in the northwestern sector of the Côtes de Provence appellation. Surrounded by oak and pine forests and bordered by the Issole, Gavoty is a polycultural farm encompassing 110 hectares in total, and the family has worked the land without synthetic chemicals for decades, obtaining organic certification in recent years. Whereas much currently trendy Provence rosé gets by on being light enough in color and innocuous enough in flavor, Gavoty’s are first and foremost wines—refreshing in spirit as befits the appellation, to be sure, but resonant and thought-provoking as well, with notably gorgeous textures. In fact, Roselyn considers texture to be the most important element in great Côtes de Provence rosé, and her wines uniformly hit bullseyes in that department. A lot of rosés dash quickly down the throat, sprinkling a few candied red fruits along the way; Gavoty’s caress the palate, with rich but nimble fruit fused to an underlying salinity, and finishes that blossom and linger.