2020 Les Clans

The 2020 Cotes de Provence Rose Les Clans is mainly old-vine Grenache, with a splash of Rolle (Vermentino). A ripe, barrel-fermented style that sees more time in oak than most of its counterparts, it offers hints of toasted cereal grains, delicate raspberry and cherry shadings and a backdrop of white peaches and tangerines. Plump and generous, it's a bit fuller-bodied than many other Provence rosés, yet charming and silky in texture, with a long finish accented by hints of crushed stone and toasted coconut. Tasted twice (once blind), with consistent notes.

Full bottle a ridiculously heavy 1,728 g. That means that the bottle alone weighs almost a kilo! Pale salmon pink. Quite a muted nose – less aromatic at this stage than the regular Ch d'Esclans 2020. Quite substantial and beefy on the palate. Texture a tad aggressive. This does taste like the product of a hot, dry vintage… (JR)