Au Petit Bonheur Les Pallières Rosé 2022
WINE SPECTATOR – KRISTEN BIELER – DÉGUSTATION MARS 2024
Pale and polished, offering smooth flavors of mango and honeyed pear that glide through on a silky palate. Shows impressive weight yet stays fresh, with salty mineral notes nicely offsetting the supple, full feel. This distinctive style finishes with bitter pithiness and a smoke detail. Grenache, Clairette and Cinsault. Drink now. 450 cases imported.
JAMESSUCKLING.COM – AVRIL 2024 – JAMES SUCKLING
A pleasant, mellow and delicious rosé. It has aromas of dried lemons, wild herbs and honeysuckle. Medium-bodied with a fresh core of yellow fruit and plenty of energy. Round and textural. A blend of grenache, clairette and cinsault. Drink now. 91 pts
TERRE DE VINS – MARIE-PIERRE DELPEUCH – DÉGUSTATION LE 1 FÉVRIER 2024
Un blanc de noir composé de clairette, grenache, cinsault, vinifiés et élevés en foudre de 20 hl et en demi-muids venus de Châteauneuf. La robe est blanche, à peine rosée. Bien ouvert, c’est un paysage de fruits secs, d’herbes folles, de foin d’été, de fleur d’acacia où la touche subtile du bois est rémanente. Sa bouche mêle légère tension et rondeur.
JEB DUNNUCK.COM – AUG. 27, 2023
90. The 2022 Au Petit Bonheur Rosé is another beautiful rosé and one I always love. Mulled cherries, orange, and savory herb notes all define the aromatics, and it’s medium-bodied, with a salty, slightly nutty style ans outstanding lengh. Brought up all in wood, it’s mostly Grenache and Cinsault.
JAMESSUCKLING.COM – STUART PIGOTT – 18 Avril 2023
92 pts. Very distinctive nose of quince, ripe pear, orange blossom and rose. Mouth-filling richness and a wonderful creamy texture pull you onto their magic carpet and take you for a ride. Then the restrained tannins come through and give the finish a wonderful tension in spite of the soft acidity. A blanc de noirs made from grenache and cinsault, fermented and matured in 600-liter wooden casks. Drink now.
JAMESSUCKLING.COM – STUART PIGOTT – 7 MARS, 2022 – DÉGUSTATION SUR CUVE
91-92. This pale rosé from the Gigondas appellation is all about textural complexity and elegance. Delicate peach and melon character. Long and supple, but clean finish.
JEBDUNNUCK.COM – 6 OCTOBRE, 2020
90. A beautifully little rose, the 2019 Vin De France Au Petit Bonheur Rosé reveals a lighter salmon hue as well as a great nose of cotton candy, dried spices, and loamy soil. With lots of minerality, medium-bodied richness, and a great texture, as well as a dry, clean finish, it’s going to shine on the dinner table and is ideal for drinking over the coming year.
KERMIT LYNCH NEWSLETTER: LE VIN EN ROSE – SEPT. 2019 – JANE BERG
If you’re feeling résistant to any policy makers these days, stock up on the sandy blond Au Petit Bonheur from Les Pallières. The INAO, the certifying body for France’s winemaking regions, believe that Gigondas’s eponymous rosé, despite being made naturally from organic grapes, may not identify as such if it does not look pink enough. Vexed by this rule, Kermit and the Bruniers decided to part ways with the Gigondas AOP and make their rosé as Mother Nature intended, in a vin gris style. Equal parts Clairette, Grenache, and Cinsault, this bottling is salty, discreet, and full of brambly fruit and soft citrus notes. Vive le freedom of le Vin de France.
JAMESSUCKLING.COM – 11 OCTOBRE, 2019 – JAMES SUCKLING
93. This offers such complex and sophisticated drinking with a lightly toasted thread to the ripe, rich fruit. Grilled-peach flavors abound and the length is exceptional. Drink now.
JEBDUNNUCK.COM – AUG. 16, 2019 – JEB DUNNUCK
90. Based on Clairette, Grenache and Cinsault from Gigondas and vines near Ventoux, the 2018 Vin De France Au Petit Bonheur reveals a salmon color as well as notes of dried strawberries, orange blossom, and salty minerality. Rich and layered, it has good freshness and purity and will be incredibly versatile on the dinner table.
DRINKRHONE.COM – OCT 2018 – JOHN LIVINGSTONE-L.
*** has an ochre tinted robe; quince, floral notes feature in a gentle aroma, en rondeur. Attractive plum fruit with a fine delivery on the palate. This is a gentle terrace wine, nicely grapey. It’s not called rosé, and some years can be grey-yellow from the Clairette rose. 13.5°. To 2020
WINE ADVOCATE – #227 – OCT. 31, 2016 – JEB DUNNUCK
90. A smoking rosé that means “a little piece of happiness” in French, the 2015 Au Petit Bonheur Rosé is one-third each of Clairette, Cinsault and Grenache that’s brought up in foudre. It’s a sensational rosé that spans the gap between the light, simple Provence rosé and a richer, larger style from Tavel. Orange blossom, salty minerality, spice and crushed rock aromas and flavors literally make you salivate, and it has texture and freshness. Drink bottles through next summer.
INTERNATIONAL WINE CELLAR – JOSH RAYNOLDS
Pale orange-pink color. Intriguing aromas of white peach, vanilla, pear, lees and lily of the valley. Smooth in texture, with rich pit and orchard fruit flavors, a touch of nougat and a kick of smoky minerals. Creamy and only hinting at red fruits, but displays striking depth. Finishes with impressive punch and lingering sweetness. If I had tasted this from a black glass I would have called it a white Burgundy. Really wild stuff. (Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA) 91 points – ($13.33)
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