National Rosé Day (June 8th) is the perfect occasion to indulge in the elegance flavors of the world’s most luxurious rosé wines. Whether you’re lounging by the pool, hosting a chic garden soirée, or simply savoring a moment of tranquility, a premium rosé elevates every experience.
From Provence’s iconic pale pinks to bold New World expressions, we’ve curated a selection of exceptional rosés worthy of celebration. Here are the standout bottles to uncork this National Rosé Day:
Château d’Esclans “Whispering Angel” (Provence, France)
The Icon of Rosé Luxury
No luxury rosé list is complete without Whispering Angel, the wine that revolutionized the premium rosé market. Produced at Château d’Esclans, this blend of Grenache, Cinsault, and Vermentino is all about finesse—think ripe strawberry, citrus zest, and a whisper of herbs. It’s the ultimate crowd-pleaser. Perfect Pairing: Lobster rolls, truffle-infused dishes, or simply on its own, chilled to perfection.
For a successful weekend as a gentleman in Montréal from June 19 to 22, 2025
After a break for the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, Gentologie is back with another refined selection of activities and experiences. With a weekend that promises to be partly rainy and warm (finally), make the most of this elegant weekend of culture, gastronomy, style, and cinema during for a successful weekend as a gentleman in Montréal from June 19 to 22, 2025, 2025.
Marie-Claire Blais and Berthe Weil at Montréal Museum of Fine Arts
With gloomy weather on the horizon, why not take the opportunity to stroll through the galleries of the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts and discover the first major exhibition dedicated to the fascinating career of gallery owner Berthe Weill (1865–1951)?
This important but almost forgotten figure in the history of modern art was the first woman to support emerging “young painters.” She promoted some of the greatest artists we know today from the very beginning of their careers: Pablo Picasso, Raoul Dufy, Marc Chagall, Amedeo Modigliani, Diego Rivera, Henri Matisse, Suzanne Valadon, and many others.
On view until September 7, 2025.
Until January 4, 2026, artist Marie-Claire Blais is presenting her first solo exhibition in a Quebec museum. The exhibition unveils a completely new body of work, consisting of a monumental installation, paintings, and a sound piece. In this contemplative environment, the pictorial atmospheres, tinged with pink, blue, and orange, evoke the daily experience of sunrise and sunset. An exhibition that you must see.
Wines to to buy for a successful weekend as a gentleman in Montréal from June 19 to 22, 2025
Champagne
Moët & Chandon Impérial Brut
Tasted at the Canadian Grand Prix and at Maison Territo last weekend, it is still a magnificent, elegant champagne. Fresh, elegant, fine bubbles.
SAQ Code : 453084
Rosé
Château d’EsclansWhispering Angel
Also tasted at the Grand Prix, this rosé is a gourmet rosé. Elegant with 1.2 grams of sugar per litre, it will quickly become one of your favourites.
SAQ Code : 11416984
Provence rosé: This summer’s best buys
By Elizabeth Gabay MW
Elizabeth Gabay MW picks 30 of her favourite Provence rosés from the 2024 vintage, finding plenty of classic character but also a growing number of producers making small experiments.
The main challenges of this year’s rosé tasting appear to have been balancing climate change’s increasingly hotter and drier summers with consumer demand for lower alcohol and white wine.
2024 in Provence included a relatively wet spring, and a rather hot summer, but winemakers seem to agree that it was, overall, a good vintage.
Generally, the quality was good, with scores clumping around 88-89.
Provence seems to be a safe bet, with homogeneous style and consistent quality.
This seems to be the major strength of the region, especially the gap between mid-range and premium seems to be narrowing.
The famous names are good, but the gap is narrowing. There are now many newcomers or lesser-known producers making excellent rosé in similar styles, often at very competitive prices.
Paler than ever
More than ever before, the 2024 rosés were extremely pale, verging on the white with a tinge of pink.
A number of wines showed evidence that they were harvested early to retain fresh acidity, the pale colour, and achieve lower alcohol, but this unripe fruit often resulted in green, acidic wines lacking in charm or character.
The best embraced riper fruit, albeit with a touch more alcohol at around 13.5%, sometimes with a touch more colour, and increasingly including some older vintages.
Oak-aged rosés, once outliers, are now a staple in the range of many, if not most, Provence rosé producers.
But, what was once a singular category of ‘oaked rosé’ is now a range of styles and choices, ranging from almost imperceptible to deep, complex, and age-worthy.
Oak is no longer the main indicator of premium quality rosé, even if many of the very best did spend some time in barrel.
Provence appellations and their hectarage under vine.
Adventurous styles emerging
Just being pale pink is no longer the prime consideration when buying rosé, particularly for younger, more adventurous consumers.
Even in Provence, there are plenty of wines for those happy to embrace darker colours and more adventurous styles.
It was exciting to see a growing amount of diversity in winemaking, ranging from reductive fresh and fruity wines to rosés in oak, amphora and eggs as well as different varieties, such as Viognier and Muscat, contributing further to the range of different styles.
These aromatic varieties worked best when carefully handled and not used as a substitute for fruit in more unripe wines.
Terroir conversation
With increased conversation recently about the different terroirs around Provence, the higher quality rosés often stood out for their use of local grape varieties and their regional expression, working with terroir rather than against it.
Bandol again stands out for its structured, concentrated Mourvèdre-heavy rosés, most of which do justify their slightly higher price tags.
The Côtes de Provence sub-appellations (La Londe, Sainte Victoire, Fréjus, Pierrefeu and Notre-Dame-des-Anges) are still good options for slightly higher quality rosé, with Notre-Dame-des-Anges standing out this year.
The Luberon is a good place to look in 2025 for some really excellent value-for-money, especially from slightly fuller-bodied, more concentrated wines than the pale delicacy found elsewhere in Provence this vintage.
With such a large region, the scope for a variety of styles is large. This also highlights a divide in the range of wines being produced.
The majority of rosés conformed to the classic Provence blueprint in various degrees of success: dry, mineral, delicate peach and redcurrant fruit and fresh acidity.
As ‘Provence-style’ is adopted ever more widely across the world, Provençal producers need to do more to emphasise local terroirs, and move away from the lowest common denominator of pale colour.
Château d’Esclans, Les Clans, Côtes de Provence, France 2023
This is quite a powerful rosé that should not be drunk fresh from the fridge; it definitely benefits from decanting when drunk young. Pale pink and strongly oaky with notes of spice and vanilla opening up to notes of pretty bergamot, elegant elderflower and some exotic fruit. On the palate the initial closed oaky character opens to reveal a lovely intensity of ripe exotic fruit and a sweet oaky structure. The complex combination of exotic fruit and a twist of salinity creates a rich and unctuous wine to be drunk now or for ageing.
Points 92
My Photography & Travel Guide to Provence, France
Capturing the Lavender Fields
By Vito L Tanzi
Capturing the Lavender Fields
There’s a certain kind of light in Provence that feels almost mythical—soft, golden, and endlessly flattering. It’s the same light that drew Van Gogh to Arles and Cézanne to Aix, that spills across lavender fields in July and casts long shadows through olive groves in the Luberon. But you don’t have to be a painter to fall for it. For photographers and travelers alike, Provence offers a canvas of color and texture unlike anywhere else in France. Plus, the food in the south of France is simply amazing.
Lavender Fields of Provence
This is a place where time seems to stretch. Mornings begin with the slow bustle of open-air markets, afternoons drift past vineyards and ochre-hued villages, and evenings end with golden hour glowing on stone façades. I would definitely stop at every open-air market that you run into. You will buy incredibly delicious fresh cheese, wines, and the best produce.
Sunrise in Gordes
Provence, in the southeastern part of France, is renowned for its picturesque villages, rolling vineyards, and, most famously, its stunning lavender fields. Each summer, these fields burst into bloom, painting the landscape with hues of purple and attracting visitors from all over the globe.
In this guide, I’ll share some of my favorite places to stay, eat, and photograph across the region. Whether you’re coming for the lavender or the rosé, the Roman ruins or the Mediterranean light, Provence offers inspiration for everyone.
5. Rosé Wine
More a lifestyle than a drink in Provence. Light, dry, and perfect with basically anything you eat in the region. Try a bottle from Château d’Esclans
Château d’Esclans: The château that elevated rosé to the Olympus of wine
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From centuries-old vineyards high in Provence, Château d’Esclans has reinvented rosé wine with elegance, character and vision, creating a category of its own: luxury rosé.
Just an hour from the glamorous Côte d’Azur, between Saint-Tropez and Cannes, hides a place where rosé wine has reached new heights of sophistication: Château d’Esclans. This winery, located in the heart of the Var, is not only a pioneer in the creation of luxury rosés, but has completely redefined the perception of rosé in the world.
A HISTORY WITH MILLENNIAL ROOTS AND A VISION OF THE FUTURE
The Château d’Esclans vineyard sits on land that has been cultivated for more than 2,500 years. On top of a hill, the ruins of an ancient Roman watchtower that guarded the Gulf of Fréjus still remain. But it was in 2006 that the real change began: Sacha Lichine, son of the legendary Alexis Lichine, acquired the château and decided to revolutionize rosé, giving it the category of the great wines of the world.
A PASSIONATE AND EXPERT TEAM
The success of Château d’Esclans would not be possible without the figure of winemaker Bertrand Léon, heir to the savoir-faire of his father Patrick Léon, one of the great names in French wine. Bertrand has perfected the balance between tradition and modernity, working with surgical precision to maintain excellence in each vintage.
At his side, cellar master Jean-Claude Neu, who has been at the helm of the process since 2006, ensures that each bottle is the result of craftsmanship, from the optical selection of the grapes to the aging in oak barrels.
HARVESTING BY HAND, TECHNOLOGICAL PRECISION, SENSORY EXCELLENCE
The grapes, mostly Grenache and Rolle (Vermentino), are hand-picked at dawn to preserve their freshness. Subsequently, they go through a rigorous system of manual and optical selection, followed by vinification at a controlled temperature and without maceration, which extracts only the purest juice.
In the winery, the process is meticulous: fermentations in stainless steel and in 600L oak demi-muids, Burgundy-style “bâtonnage” and barrel aging for the high-end wines. All with a single objective: to create rosés that are fine, complex and absolutely memorable.
A LUXURY ALLIANCE WITH LVMH
International recognition was not long in coming. In 2019, the luxury giant LVMH acquired 55% of Château d’Esclans, betting on this project as a global benchmark for high-end rosé wine. This strategic alliance has boosted its expansion into key markets in Asia, America and Europe, positioning Château d’Esclans as a new emblem of French lifestyle.
WINE AND GASTRONOMIC DESTINATION
Château d’Esclans is not just a winery, it is an experience. Its natural environment, its thousand-year-old history and its architecture make each visit a journey through time and the senses. An ideal destination for lovers of wine, culture, design and gastronomy.
Château d’Esclans propels Provençal rosé wine into the international elite with innovation and tradition.
The French winery combines modern techniques and historical heritage to position its rosés among the most highly valued in the world.
Château d’Esclans is located in La Motte-en-Provence, in the Var department in southern France. This winery is located an hour from the French Riviera, between Saint-Tropez and Cannes. The site has an agricultural history dating back more than 2,500 years, as evidenced by the ruins of a Roman tower that still stand atop the hill where the vineyards are located.
In 2006, Sacha Lichine acquired the property. Sacha is the son of Alexis Lichine, a renowned figure in the French wine world. Since his arrival, Sacha has driven a profound change in the production and perception of Provençal rosé wine. His goal was to place rosé on a par with the most internationally appreciated wines and distance it from the seasonal or summery image it had previously held. To achieve this, he relied on modern techniques and an approach focused on quality and exclusivity.
The technical team is led by Bertrand Léon, a winemaker with experience inherited from his father, Patrick Léon, who was also a leading figure in the French wine industry. Bertrand works alongside Jean-Claude Neu, cellar master since 2006. They oversee every stage of the process, from the harvest to bottling.
The grapes, primarily Grenache and Rolle (Vermentino), are harvested by hand at dawn to preserve the freshness of their grapes. After harvesting, the grapes undergo a double selection process: first by hand and then by optical selection. The must is obtained without maceration and fermented at a controlled temperature in stainless steel tanks or 600-liter oak barrels, depending on the wine. The most exclusive wines receive special treatment with Burgundian-style bâtonnage and barrel aging.
Château d’Esclans produces several internationally renowned wines. Whispering Angel is the winery’s most popular wine and one of the world’s best-selling rosés. Rock Angel offers greater structure and minerality. Les Clans is a barrel-fermented rosé that seeks complexity and culinary versatility. Garrus represents the château’s most exclusive wine; it comes from old vines and is aged for a long time in new barrels.
The estate boasts 240 hectares of its own vineyards and is located in a protected natural setting. The technical and commercial management have ensured that the château’s wines appear on the menus of internationally renowned restaurants and are collector’s items among wine enthusiasts.
Wine tourism is an important part of the current project. Château d’Esclans welcomes visitors throughout the year to show off its facilities, explain its working methods, and offer guided tastings. The visit provides an insight into both the site’s ancient history and the modern processes that have made the château a world leader in rosé wines.
The transformation driven by Sacha Lichine responds to an international trend toward exclusive products and differentiated experiences within the wine industry. The commercial and media success achieved by Château d’Esclans has influenced other Provençal wineries, which have followed suit to improve their processes and position their wines in international markets.
The case of Château d’Esclans shows how a combination of historical tradition, technical innovation, and entrepreneurial vision can change the perception of a specific type of wine. This commitment to quality has allowed Provençal rosé to gain presence beyond the local level and be appreciated by discerning consumers in different countries.
Happy French Wednesday at Happy Wednesday
Courtesy Hong Kong Jockey ClubCourtesy Hong Kong Jockey Club
Time Out says
French May is in full swing, and Hong Kong is bustling with all sorts of Francophile happenings, including the highly anticipated return of Happy French Wednesday. Throughout this month, the Hong Kong Jockey Club is collaborating with the French Arts Festival and French GourMay Food and Wine Festival to present a French soirée at the Happy Valley Racecourse – it’s the place to be!
In addition to weekly back-to-back live horse races and the Sauternes Cup on May 28, the racecourse’s French parties will feature live music performances from sensational acts. Be blown away by MsLolo’s powerful stage presence on May 7, get hyped with the live band Deluxe on May 14 and 21, and don’t miss Leanne Jackson’s velvety vocals on May 28. Each week will also showcase mesmerising dance performances; expect to see playful Moulin Rouge outfits chic 1960s Saint-Tropez stylings, and dancers decked out in retro costumes.
Time Out Hong Kong in partnership with Hong Kong Jockey Club
Time Out says
French May is in full swing, and Hong Kong is bustling with all sorts of Francophile happenings, including the highly anticipated return of Happy French Wednesday. Throughout this month, the Hong Kong Jockey Club is collaborating with the French Arts Festival and French GourMay Food and Wine Festival to present a French soirée at the Happy Valley Racecourse – it’s the place to be!
In addition to weekly back-to-back live horse races and the Sauternes Cup on May 28, the racecourse’s French parties will feature live music performances from sensational acts. Be blown away by MsLolo’s powerful stage presence on May 7, get hyped with the live band Deluxe on May 14 and 21, and don’t miss Leanne Jackson’s velvety vocals on May 28. Each week will also showcase mesmerising dance performances; expect to see playful Moulin Rouge outfits chic 1960s Saint-Tropez stylings, and dancers decked out in retro costumes.
Come hungry, as there’ll be plenty of food trucks offering French gourmet options as far as the eye can see. Pick up glasses of rosé from Whispering Angel’s dedicated food truck…
Whispering Angel unveils a lighter bottle and new vintage
By Sybil Mulcahy
Whispering Angel has unveiled a step forward in its sustainability journey with the lightweighting of its 2024 vintage bottle.
The new design, which now weighs 500g compared to the previous 600g, marks a 20% reduction in glass use in support of Château d’Esclans’ pledge to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 50% before 2030.
This change extends far beyond aesthetics. By reducing the bottle’s weight, Whispering Angel is helping to significantly lessen its environmental footprint—not just in production but across the entire supply chain.
Whispering Angel wine. Pic: Supplied
The shift is estimated to save approximately 3,795 tonnes of CO₂ emissions, contributing meaningfully to global efforts in lowering energy consumption, waste, and transportation-related emissions.
Alongside its sustainability advances, the 2024 vintage of Whispering Angel has been released, offering a rich yet bone-dry character.
Harvested between sunrise and midday, the grapes used in Whispering Angel are optically sorted before undergoing fermentation and ageing in temperature-controlled stainless steel.
Pic: Whispering Angel
Now available for €26.65 (RRP), Whispering Angel 2024 can be found at independent wine retailers including Mitchell & Son, D Six Wines, The Parcel Concierge (Meath), and O’Driscolls (Cork), as well as nationwide in Avoca Stores, Brown Thomas, O’Briens, and Molloys.
DeWine Fest: The festival that put Bar on the wine map of the region
by Vino.rs Editorial Team
The rvi DeWine Fest , held on April 26, 2025 at the Princess Hotel in Bar, immediately showed that it has the potential to become a key point in the region’s wine calendar. More than 60 exhibitors from Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia presented a rich selection of wines – from orange and sparkling wines, to powerful red coupages and refreshing white labels.
An extensive list of participants announced the gala performance at the pool of a prestigious hotel, but the storm played with the organization. Dark clouds over the largest Montenegrin harbor decided to move the festival to a large hall overlooking the sea.
From small and large domestic winemakers, through exclusivity from the region, to the giants Plantaža, Imako, Tikveš, from regional orange and sparkling wines, to the top wine delicacies of the Jerman winery or the far-famed Whispering Angel rosé in multi-sized bottle editions, everything had its own meaning and logical sequence. So let’s start from the beginning.
24 of the best London outdoor restaurants and rooftops to enjoy this summer
Make the most of the dreamy weather at one of these al fresco spots
By Zoe Shenton, Dusty Baxter-Wright and Lydia Venn
Summer in London means one thing and one thing only, drinks outside. Easily the best way for pints (or cocktails) in the sun is to do it on a rooftop or terrace overlooking the stunning city views, and London is full of them. From fancy restaurants where you can get a full three course meal while gazing over the Thames, to casual hangs, the city is stacked with great rooftop bars and restaurants, as well outdoor terraces, perfect for grabbing a table outside and ordering a bottle of rosé and small plates while you watch the world go by. In the mood for a drink alfresco? These are our favourite locations in London for a rooftop or outside terrace.
12 Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane, Hyde Park
Courtesy of merchant
An elegant oasis next to Hyde Park, On The Terrace at the iconic Four Seasons has a mixture of fun things taking place this summer, including a live music offering alongside its fancy Dom Pérignon Pairing which allows you to pick one of three vintages alongside a sweet or savoury canapé. Oyster lovers will also appreciate that you can get two free when ordering a glass of Cloudy Bay or Whispering Angel. And if you need to cool down (who doesn’t rn?), there’s an ice cream parlour pop up where you can enjoy the likes of a Matcha Cookie filled with Earl Grey ice cream.
15 Yauatcha, Broadgate Circle
Justin De Souza
Whispering Angel and outdoor dining fans will be all over this Yauatcha combo. This summer everyone’s favourite rosé brand has teamed up with the City location to give the terrace a pink floral makeover. But let’s not forget the food – dine on some of Yauatcha’s well-loved dishes including thee Scallop Shui Mai with prawn and tobiko caviar or the Wagyu beef puff with cumin.
