Château Gairoird Rosé, Côtes de Provence 2025

Appearances can be deceptive and while this has the delicately pale colour of all good Provençal rosés, there's more going on underneath the bonnet. It starts off with bright red fruit and a whiff of sun-baked herbs, then settles into something rounder and more substantial, finishing with real staying power. Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault form the backbone, topped up with a handful of other local Provençal grapes for extra depth. It comes from organic vines grown on the stony, chalky soils that give the region's rosés their character. It looks the part of a delicate rosé, but then overdelivers.

Good with the classics — grilled fish, salads, that sort of thing — but it's also got enough backbone for lamb skewers or a rich fish stew.

A few kilometres northeast of Toulon, Château Gairoird has been owned for generations by the Counts of Pierrefeu, the current custodian being Olivier Deydier de Pierrefeu, who took over the estate in 2005. Once an estate that sold its wines in bulk, Olivier has been responsible for bringing operations back in-house and converting to organic agriculture across their 45 hectares of vines. Their terroir is classic Provence with free-draining, chalky-clay soil dotted with limestone pebbles known locally as galets and their wines, the rosés in particular, are made in distinctly Provençal style.