Domaine de l'Anglore Tavel Vaucrose 2023

Vaucrose is one of Éric Pfifferling's most singular single-plot selections, and the site itself is genuinely remarkable: it sits directly on the geological fault line where an ancient, long-fossilised sea once met the Rhône millions of years ago, leaving behind a rare, layered soil profile of red iron-rich earth, Astian sand, rolled Villafranchian galets, and Urgonian limestone — four distinct substrates in a single plot, each lending its own mineral signature to the finished wine. Farmed organically and biodynamically, the blend of Grenache, Cinsault, and Clairette (with a touch of Carignan in some vintages) is whole-bunch macerated and given an unusually long élevage for a rosé — up to 22 months in tronconic vats or concrete, an extraordinary act of patience that most producers would never dare apply to pink wine. It's part of what's made Pfifferling's Tavel wines so radical: he's fundamentally redefined the appellation from a simple summer rosé into something genuinely age-worthy.

The result shows exactly that ambition: a hazy, natural robe gives way to a perfumed, gourmand nose of peonies, lilac, iris, wild strawberry, and crushed lavender. The palate is medium-bodied and round, sappy and textural, built around a juicy, fruit-laden core framed by bright acidity and gentle phenolic grip, finishing long, ethereal, and lifted with floral and red fruit notes.