Les Vignerons de Tavel

Les Vignerons de Tavel

It's easy to miss the village of Tavel as a village. It passes by as you shift from second to third gear, and anyone who misses the shift and finds themselves wandering into the village streets during the winter months will be caught in a lugubrious atmosphere that the faint of heart might even find slightly Hitchcockian - though in summer, it's quite a different story. But it's harder to miss the appellation Tavel. No other French appellation is as self-assured and bold - and as you can imagine, that's saying something. Forget Bourgogne, Bordeaux, Champagne, and the rest. Here we're talking about the Appellation with a capital A. At least if you believe the local wine producers. Signs everywhere proclaim that you have arrived at the Mecca of rosé wine and that here you can behold both the history and the future of rosé. It is certainly permissible to discuss how the area's various soil types affect the wines and whether this or that producer perhaps ought to macerate a bit less or ferment at a higher temperature, but heaven help anyone who questions that this is where the world's far superior rosé wines are made - and no, we're not about to question it. And trust us: it's not hard to love the situation. Most of all, we love the situation at Les Vignerons de Tavel, who have the good taste to make fine rosé wines from all the appellation's different sites and soils. In short, a complete producer that knows how to handle a wine press.