All language subtitles for V.is.for.Vino.S04E03.Provence.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB

Welcome to Provence.

It's the French Riviera, the Cote D'Azur,

or as us winos simply
refer to it, Provence.

With miles of colorful landscapes,

ancient architecture and
stunningly bright blue waters,

it's no wonder artist like
Renoir, van Gogh and Picasso

called Provence home for some time.

What's even more impressive?

It's the birthplace to the wine

that's inspired a work
of art of its very own

here in the US.

I'm talking about rosé.

But forget everything you know

and may have heard
about this style of wine.

We're busting every misconception

about the delicious
pink wine from Marseille

all the way to Saint-Tropez.

And if this is your first rosé all day,

don't worry, I've got you covered too.

Welcome to Provence and
welcome to "V is for Vino".

We started our journey in the
second largest city in France,

Marseille, about 400 miles south of Paris.

It's here in this world famous port town

where the story of rosé begins.

This is Marseille,

or as it was known centuries ago, Massalia.

Today it's a rugged, big city
meets quaint fishing village.

Greek colonists first settled
here about 2,600 years ago

in the sixth century
BC and like colonists do,

they brought along with them many things,

including you guessed it, vines.

This makes Provence the
oldest wine region in France.

Back then, they were making
what they called red wine,

but it wasn't the red
wine we think of today.

Instead, the grapes were pressed quickly

with a lot less skin contact,

resulting in a pinkish colored wine.

And thus, the first rosé was born.

That's right.

Social media may say otherwise,

but turns out rosé was
not invented by millennials.

Unless you count last
millennium's millennials.

A few centuries later,

stories of the famed
pink wine from Massalia

had made its way through the ancient world.

Around 49 BC, the Romans
came and took control of the area

surrounding Massalia and
named it Provincia Nostra,

which simply meant "our provence".

They really put a lot
of thought into that one.

And just like that, Provence was born.

The Romans continued to
expand all along the southeast coast

and of course, brought
grapevines with them the whole way.

Provence spans along the
entire southeast coast of France

and has a fair amount
of medium sized cities

scattered across it.

Given their location,

most of these cities are
incredibly picturesque

and geographically diverse.

From mountain ranges and hills

to sheltered valleys and coastlines.

Soils in Provence are
nutrient poor and well draining.

Limestone in the west and
crystalline schist in the east.

This may sound bad, but
it forces the vines to stress

and dig for nutrients in water,

which makes for better grapes.

Then you have one of the
most important elements

of Provence, which can't even be seen.

The super strong mistral winds

that come from the Rhone valley.

They prevent disease and grape rot

by keeping humidity
low and push clouds away

so that you're left with a ton of sun.

We're talking almost
2,900 hours of sun per year.

Because of all this coastline and sunshine,

Provence is a huge tourist destination

for both foreigners and the French.

I'm here in Cassis,

one of the most visited
towns in the region.

It's the classic Provence style village

that's a great hub for
exploring nearby beaches,

Calanque National Park
and of course, drinking wine.

Wherever you may be in the region though,

you're almost certain
to find old world villages

tucked away in the
hills, breathtaking valleys

and dozens of beaches each
more stunning than the last.

Provence can be divided into
three main wine regions or AOCs

with a few sub regions worth mentioning.

To the west, you have
Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence

and in the central north,

you have the Coteaux Varois en Provence.

But by far the most well
known is the Cotes de Provence,

which produces 75% of wine in the region.

That's about 130 million bottles per year.

Some of the notable sub
regions within this area are Cassis,

which is famous for its whites and Bandol,

which is famous for its reds.

These places are
definitely anomalies though.

90% of wine made in the Cote de Provence

is good old fashioned rosé.

With the way rosé has taken
off over the past few years,

you'd think I'd have a good handle on it.

But the truth is that before this trip,

I too found myself repeating
all the old rosé tropes.

Rosé should be cheap.
Rosé should be drunk young.

Rosé's all the same and so on.

It wasn't until I met a man
who goes by Jean-François,

that my perception of
rosé was entirely changed.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Elton
John, Beyonce, Vince?

Okay, maybe I don't quite fit the bill,

but Saint-Tropez is the hottest spot

when it comes to actual celebrities.

You've got luxury villas, a
hundred million dollar yachts,

tons of clubs, five star hotels.

Name anything expensive
and you'll find it here.

Now while I tend to prefer
more mom and pop style joints,

I dare say one could get
used to a few days each year

visiting this Mediterranean paradise.

This is where I met the man

who's a bit of a celebrity
himself in the wine world.

Jean-François comes from one of the oldest

and most famous wine
making families in the area,

Domaines Ott.

And he absolutely transformed
the way I think about rosé.

Needless to say,

he's the perfect guide
for my Provence journey.

You know what? I defer to
the man who made the wine.

I think that would
probably be a smarter idea.

All right, so it's I think 6:00 AM my time.

I'm jet lagged, so I think
that's a good a time as any

to start drinking.

Cheers, cheers.

Oh, yeah.

Is it good for breakfast or?

Actually if there was a breakfast wine,

I think rosé would be it.

Yeah. Why not?

Did you grow up here? - Yeah.

What makes Provence so special?

What makes this area just so special?

Yeah.

No, for sure the weather.

The sea, the food, the
wine. People are nice.

South of France, people are nice.

They are friendly, yeah.

Ah, proof.

I'm glad to see avocados
are as big a hit here

as they are in America.

Okay, so this is ceviche.

So fish cooked in the lime juice,

cooked in the citrus juice.

And then this is a salmon.

This is like a par cooked
almost, a little bit cooked.

There is something about Provence food

that is very, very special.

There's this paradox of, you
know, the French eat very well,

they drink very well
and they're still very lean.

And I think that's part of it,
is you eat very, very fresh.

Yeah. - Yep.

And you know, when it's hot like today,

you just don't want to
eat something really, yeah.

Well, bon appétit. Cheers.

- Merci. Bon appétit.
- Looking forward to the week.

Okay, so Domaines Ott.

You don't pronounce it,
but it's actually Domaines.

It's plural, there are three
estates within Domaines Ott.

Why are there three different estates?

Most wineries, they'll
have one grand estate.

The story started in
1912 in Château de Selle,

then Clos Mireille, and then in
1956 with Château Romassan.

I think any producer would have blend

the three estates together
and make only one rosé.

Because rosé is simple in people's mind.

I really want to have three different rosé

that come from different terrain

with a different expression.

And if you taste the three rosé

from each estate side by side, you will...

- You will see that.
- Yeah, of course. Obviously.

That's also a way for us to explain

that rosé is exactly the same as a red wine

that comes from a terroir, a place

and a white wine that come from a place.

And it makes sense,
why wouldn't there be, right?

They're just grapes at the end of the day,

they're still grapes. - Exactly.

Well, there is no region in the world

I think other than Provence
that is dedicated to rosé.

Period. They're all after
thoughts, a lot of time.

It's the afterthought of,

okay, we're gonna bleed off some of the red

or we'll make a rosé,

but it's a rosé that's
part of our portfolio

and we're really focused
on the reds or the whites.

- Provence is dedicated to rosé.
- Oh, absolutely yeah.

Which is why it is justly
known as the home of rosé,

the best rosé in the planet,

because everybody here, that's their focus.

Yeah.

I mean, we've been working
on rosé wine for a long time now.

Wow.

You have a lot of skill, sir.

When we talk about rosé with food,

you mentioned that you
like this with food a little more.

Why did you say that?

Most of the time people think

that rosé is an aperitif wine.

And I think with this type
of food, like the spicy one,

or maybe grilled fish without anything,

I mean, there is nothing on it.

It's really the fish and only the fish.

Well like you said,
clean dish, clean wine.

Exactly.

And the other thing is that rosé is,

I so disagree with people
who say rosé is an apéritif wine

or rosé is not a food pairing wine.

Between the acidity and the cleanliness

and the fact that it's got
maybe a little more weight

than some white wines
and less weight than reds,

it's a really nice in between.

For instance, this is a
meaty fish. It's perfect for that.

Rosé can't pair with food? Nonsense.

Rosé is a great pair with
those in between dishes

like meaty fish, hearty
salads like tomato salad

and even mildly spicy foods.

So no, rosé is not just an apéritif wine.

So how is the fish?

Oh my gosh.

This is clean.

There's almost a sweetness
to the fish just naturally.

Really, really stunning.

- What's happening right now?
- What's happening?

This is the smallest
dessert that we have.

What is rosé?

Well, let's get a few things out of the way

about what rosé is not.

There's no such thing as pink grapes,

so it's not made from those,
nor roses nor strawberries.

And it's also not made

by mixing red and white wine together.

At least not usually.

There's actually three
different ways to make rosé.

Maceration, saignée or blending.

Maceration is the most
common, so let's start there.

This can also be called skin contact,

limited maceration or intentional rosé,

because the grapes grown for this method

are grown exclusively to be a rosé wine.

This also affects when
the grapes are picked.

Red grapes that are destined to be rosé

are usually picked earlier than red grapes

destined to be red wine.

So you can retain higher
acidity and brighter fruit flavors.

The first thing to know is
that all grape juice is clear,

even if the grape is red.

If there's color in a wine,

it comes solely from
contact with the grape skin.

In the maceration method,

step one is taking the red grapes,

destemming them and pressing them.

At this point, the juice is
allowed to sit and macerate

with the skins of the red grapes

for anywhere from two to
48 hours, depending how dark

and how much extraction
we want from the skins.

The longer they sit, the deeper the color.

Keep in mind, red wines are also made

using this exact same process,

but the maceration last weeks or months

instead of just hours.

But with rosé, after a few
hours of maceration are up,

the juice is removed from the skins,

the skins get discarded.

Now we have a pink wine
which can finish fermenting

by allowing the yeast
to eat all of the sugar

and make a bone dry wine.

The wine is stabilized
and voila, you have rosé.

While sure, some sweet rosés do exist.

Almost all rosé wine
is made dry to bone dry.

A few exceptions include
pink wines produced in bulk

like pink Moscato and white Zinfandel.

Pink yes, but not a true rosé.

There's a slight variation of this method

called direct press, in which
the red grapes are pressed

and rather than let
them sit for a few hours,

the skins are discarded immediately.

The breaking of the skins

provides just a hint of skin contact

and make a super light rosé.

Direct press wines will
be more citrus forward

than red fruit forward because the skins

are what gives wine
more red fruit character.

There are also two other methods,

less common, but still worth talking about.

Saignée, or the bleeding method

started as a way not to make rosés,

but instead concentrate red wines.

Winemakers bleed off
some of the juice of a red wine

at the start of the maceration.

You end up with a
higher skin to juice ratio

and a more concentrated red wine.

But winemakers can
also take the bled juice,

bottle it off and sell it as rosé.

You'll see this method done in regions

that produce high quality red wines,

Bordeaux or Napa, for instance.

Because the grapes
were intended for red wines

and thus picked later, these rosé styles

are richer and fruitier and to be honest,

the quality kind of tends to vary.

The last method is
blending finished red wine

and white wine together.

Remember how I blatantly
said that's not how rosé is made?

Well, there's an exception to every rule.

In most European
places, it's actually illegal

to make a rosé wine by
blending red and white wine,

except for one very famous
example, Champagne.

And the only reason this
is allowed in Champagne,

this method better preserves
the bubbles keeping 'em fresh.

And there you have it,
rosé production in a nutshell.

Now before we get to the final product,

let's take one more step back

to where the process
really begins, the vineyard.

Our first of the three Domaines Ott Estates

was Château de Selle,

which has a whole lot of history behind it.

This is the first property that
your family owned, correct?

Absolutely. Yep.

So at the beginning, my
grandfather, he was a student.

He just graduated from agronomical studies

and he wanted to make wine in France,

he didn't know exactly where.

In 1896, so just after
the phylloxera crisis,

everything in France was divested.

He came here in south of
France, replanting the vineyard.

At this point, he decided
to find an estate for himself

and he found Château de Selle.

He took time because
he wanted to make rosé.

Don't ask me why. Nobody
was making rosé at this time.

Oh, it wasn't like a popular
thing, rosé when he started?

No. - What year was this?

Between 1910 and 1920.

Okay. So about a hundred years ago.

And so now you're the third generation?

Fourth. Yeah. - Fourth generation.

So we are walking on, this is rocks.

Yeah.

So when you talked about
how hard it is to plant here,

I assume this is part of the reason why.

Yeah.

But you know, if we take the stone out,

the clay soil will be too
compact just after rain.

So again, it's a good balance
between clay and stones.

And this is also,
and I did not know this.

There is a Cru Classé, right?

Yeah. - Of Provence.

They were trying to find
ways to make Provence

more distinct and in the fifties,

they came up with the Cru Classé,

similar to maybe what
Bordeaux or Burgundy had.

And the Clos Mireille
and Château de Selle

were Crus Classé with
23 other estates in the area.

But it was also a way for the producers

that was focusing on quality
of the wines from Provence

to be recognized by the
government and also the consumers.

Like all red and white wines,

not all rosés are created equal.

These Cru Classé rosés
represent the best of the best

and are definitely worth seeking out.

So no, not all rosés are the same.

So we taste Château de Selle 2020.

2020. This bottle is a
very interesting shape.

Tell me about the bottle shape.

My great-grandfather and his son,

they said, okay, in Champagne,

they have their own shape of bottle.

In Burgundy, they have one,
in Bordeaux they have one,

we need to have one for Provence wine.

We need our own. - Exactly.

So he designed this bottle.

It's like a Greek amphora.

And also, it's a good way for us

to be recognized by other people.

It is very distinctive.

So he designed it,

he found a supplier able
to make it, to produce it.

And he went to his colleagues around here

saying, okay guys, if you want,

we can all use this bottle
for our wines from Provence.

And the bottle was a
little bit more expensive

than a classical bottle shape.

So they said no.

I guess he got a little
bit upset about that.

So he said okay, if you don't want it,

I'm gonna keep it for me.

And since then, it's our bottle.

It's iconic.

So Château de Selle. - Merci.

So first thing off the
bat, beautiful, fragrant,

semi-aromatic nose,
peaches, grapefruit, melon.

Really, what's important for
us when we start the harvest

is to make sure that the balance is good

between the fruit taste, sugar, obviously.

'Cause we don't want
the alcohol to be too high.

The balance between
the acidity and the sugar

that at the end, give
you a really sharp taste

without any bitter taste at the end.

No, clean, still round while being fresh.

About the color, very, very pale.

How long do you macerate with the skins?

We don't macerate at all.

None? - No.

Direct press? - Yeah.

So you get the grapes in, press it

and the color extraction

comes from that very quick amount of time?

Exactly.

Now what makes
Chateau de Selle, this wine,

different from a flavor profile

than the other two estates
that we're gonna go to later?

The place for sure.

Here we are 300 meters high altitude.

It's always a little bit windy, it's dry.

The soil is tough.

At the end, it gives you
the finesse, the minerality.

Beautiful wine.

I mean, it gets me so excited to try

the other estates, essentially.

It just makes me want more, honestly.

Cheers. - Cheers.

Rosé isn't just one thing.

So talking about the grapes
that make it up is a bit tough.

It's like a Dr. Seuss book,

heavy grapes, light grapes,
dark grapes, bright grapes.

Any red grapes from anywhere
can be used to make rosé wine.

I've had rosés from Pinot noir to Malbec,

from California to Spain.

But Provence is by far
the epicenter of rosé,

the place that so many other regions

model their wines after.

Therefore, let's stick to the basics.

We're talking classic grapes
and styles of wine made here.

There are five principle red
grapes in Provence used in rosé

and a whole slew of other secondary grapes.

Rosés here are always
blends because that's the law.

To be called a Provence wine by the AOC,

at least two of the five
principle varieties must be used

and they must account for
at least 70% of the blend.

Also, no single grape can
make up over 90% of the blend.

They really wanna ensure
you're making a true mixed bottle.

In practice, most
winemakers will use Grenache

as their main grape
followed by a few of the others

to add depth to the wine.

Grenache is a great base grape.

It's yields are high, so it's easy to grow

and it provides beautiful
spicy red fruit flavors,

along with most of the
body and the alcohol.

Think of Grenache like a pizza dough.

It's the go-to base that
ensures your finished product

is balanced and delicious.

Other grapes are added
similar to how you add sauce

or toppings to a pizza.

In rosés, you add Mourvedre
for tannin and color,

Cinsault for aromatics and freshness,

Syrah for dark fruit and Tibouren,

a local variety for finesse and bouquet.

Every house has its own
style based on their plantings.

And they change from year
to year based on the vintage.

Don't let its fun pink color fool you.

Making rosé is serious business.

It's not leftover wine that's
thrown together haphazardly.

The blending process takes
a whole lot of skill to master.

Another myth busted.

Provence rosé tends to be light in body,

bone dry, crisp, and acidic.

An easy way to remember
most of its tasting notes

is to, well, think pink.

Pink grapefruit, strawberry,
watermelon and rose petal.

Stone fruit like white peach or red fruits,

like cherry and raspberry are also common.

And you'll even get fun
notes like white flowers,

spice, cucumber, or melon.

It really all depends on
the blend and the grapes.

And almost all rosés from Provence

have a solid core of minerality

running right through the wine.

No trip to the South of France is complete

without a beach day.

We hopped on a boat and
headed to Iles d'Hyeres,

an island 45 minutes from the coast.

This was the paradise
lifestyle I was waiting for.

Nothing for the crew and I to do

but relax in the Mediterranean sun.

At least for a moment.

I have this theory that the
closer you get to the equator,

the more laid back life becomes.

Think of New York versus Miami,

or London versus Southern Italy,

or pretty much anyone in the Caribbean.

I just never picture those people in suits.

I mean, I know they have to work sometime,

but in my head, it's
like for two hours a day

between siestas, surfing and eating.

It's this mentality that
I think draws so many

to Southern France.

Somehow even just knowing
there's crystal clear beach waters

within striking distance and
a bottle of rosé in the fridge

just waiting to be popped,

just makes the work day move quicker

and the sun set a little slower.

Domaines Ott's second vineyard is unique.

It's in Bandol, one of the
only AOCs in Provence

known for its red wine.

It's also the area that's known

for some of the most age worthy rosés,

because its primary grape, Mourvèdre,

has a higher tannin structure
that helps preserve the wine.

While we were there,

I was hoping to try both
a red and an older rosé.

Bandol. - We are here.

So this is Château Romassan.

Yes.

Bandol's kind of a unique
place in Provence, is it not?

Yeah.

Bandol is a part of Provence,

but it's a very small operation.

It's only 60 producers.

We have mountains here and we have

the sea on the other side.

So the mountains kind of
block the influence of the sea.

Of the wind. - Yeah.

And that makes exactly the
best place to grow Mourvèdres.

Because Mourvèdre
is a late ripening grape.

It needs a lot of sunlight,
it needs a lot of heat.

And so when you block
the wind with the mountains,

you can do that. - Exactly.

If a wine says Bandol,

you can be confident
that it's Mourvèdre, right?

Yes. For sure. - For sure.

There's a lot of Mourvèdre
in rosé wines and in red wines.

And in red wines. And
this is one of the only places.

You know, everybody,
when they think of Provence,

they think of rosé.

But this is a place that
makes some pretty tremendous

red wines, big red wines,
big rich, powerful red wines.

'Cause Mourvèdre is
Monastrell in Spain, I think, right?

Exactly, right.

It's the only other
place they really make it.

And Spain is hot. - Yeah. It is hot.

And what does that give to
both the rosés and the reds?

What does that give to it?

The structure, for sure.

Structure. - Yeah.

When you say structure,

you mean it's got some weight, some power?

And it gives you the fruit, the finesse,

and at the same time, the
deep taste and the structure.

So you'll get a little more
of those red fruit flavors

from these type of
rosés versus the citrus-y.

Absolutely.

I did my research and I
learned that if there is a place

where rosé can age, this is the place.

And as I did my scouting,
my Googling for myself,

I looked up one of your older vintages

and I go through some of
the tasting notes of comments

and somebody simply
wrote, "best rosé ever".

They had an old vintage

and they said it was the
best rosé they've ever had.

So that being said,

we should probably start
with the young vintage.

Okay. - Okay.

Merci.

Off the nose to me,

this is a different style
than the other ones.

It's still fresh, but it's more savory,

meatiness to this wine that you do not get

from the other wines. - Yeah.

Dense, ripe, big berry
rather than small under-ripe one.

It's nice.

For sure I like the structure.

I mean, it's exactly the type of rosé

that you can have with a meal, with lunch.

So I brought a 2009.

I had it when it was
young. But since then, no.

Oh, since then you haven't had?

No.

So this will be for both of us?

Yeah, yeah. A surprise.

Okay. - There you go.

Made it. - Saved it.

Well, thank you for sharing this

'cause I also know that there's
probably not a lot of these

floating around. - No.

There are very few. - Yeah.

So right away, the color.

The color is way darker, right?

It almost gets into that orange hue.

The first sniff is always
the most exciting.

Oh, dude!

It's waxy.

I think maybe 'cause we
probably had some honey notes

in the first wine, so
now it's turned into like.

You get the orange
note, the citrus notes.

Like you would expect,
right? The acidity's toned back.

There's a roundness, a
richness, almost to an oily sense.

Like I said that maybe that
waxy. It is even more savory.

Some of that really bright
fruit is gone and it's rich.

So imagine you're
blind and you taste this.

What do you think it is?

If I taste this blind,

it is completely unique
from anything I've ever had.

Maybe it's like another
older white wine I've had,

but because it's got
the red fruit character

also playing in there,
there's a meatiness to it

that you would never
get from an older Riesling

or an older Chenin.

It's long, I mean the flavors

are staying in your mouth for a long time.

No, I wouldn't
recommend laying down

all your rosés, but it's great to know

that some of the best
ones can age beautifully.

Very good. Okay, so last
but not least we have the red.

Of Provence, I think this is probably

the most famous place that makes red.

For sure. - Yeah.

It's also a way for us to be recognized

as the wine makers or wine growers.

It's a different viticulture.

We need to have small
grapes, we work on the skin.

The ripeness is so different,
the balances are different.

We need to have fruit taste.

And I think you get fruit
taste in this red wine.

And in the same time, I
think you have the deep taste

of Mourvèdre, a ripe Mourvèdre.

Dark, dark fruit land.

This wine has a lot of the
character from the rosé,

but in a different way.

So I get the dark fruit
land, I get some smokiness.

The structure is firm.

The tannin structure is there,
which leads me to believe

that this also would age very well.

Well thank you for, this
was a special one to me.

Like I said, I was excited about this one

and it did not disappoint.

Welcome to the "V is for Vino" nerd lab,

where we take complicated
wine topics and make 'em simple.

Today, we're talking
about wine temperature.

Wine temperature.

Do you ever notice that
wine sometimes tastes amazing

at a restaurant or a tasting room,

but not quite as good in your own home?

There's a lot of factors
that may contribute to this.

Things like using the proper glassware

or even the simple psychological effect

of being somewhere fun
and beautiful, like a winery

versus your boring old living room.

But I would argue that
there is one simple secret

the winery is doing that has
the most effect on the wine.

They serve it at the proper temperature.

Before we get into what
the proper temperature is,

let's talk about why it's important.

See, most of us are
guilty at serving our wine

either too warm or too cold.

The reality is that red and white wines

should be served at a much
closer temperature to each other

than you may think.

If a wine is served too cold,

the wine will taste tart,
reds will taste overly tannic

and you won't get any of the flavors.

I call it the college beer effect.

Beer me, bro.

When you were in college,

you wanted your beer as cold as possible

because it was cheap
and you didn't really like

the taste of beer yet anyway.

So you would drink it ice cold

because things that are
ice cold lose their flavor.

If the wine is too hot, the
alcohol is overemphasized

and the wine will taste
syrupy and heavy, not fresh.

So what is the right temperature?

Well, if you only have two
temperatures you serve wine at,

fridge and room temp, you're
either over or undershooting.

A refrigerator is too
cold at around 37 degrees

and the red at room temperature adage

referred to drafty old castles in Europe,

not your well insulated home,

which is far too hot at around 70 degrees.

See the chart below for
your ideal temperature

for each style of wine.

Generally, the lighter the style of wine,

the cooler it should be served.

But this information doesn't
really help us, now does it?

Without opening the wine and
measuring with a thermometer,

what is a practical way to get our wine

to proper temperature?

A great solution is
one of these little guys.

This is a wine fridge,

with two zones for two
different temperatures

that you could set at
the medium temperatures

for whites and reds,
50 and 60 respectively.

I do highly recommend them.

And if you have the
space, they get even larger,

which are great for the
long term storage of wine,

which I would set to 55
degrees, or cellar temperature.

But perhaps you were
hoping not to have to buy

any new equipment.

The chart below gives the amount of time

in a standard refrigerator

it takes a room
temperature bottle to chill,

but timing this with when
you want to drink the wine

can be a bit of a challenge.

So if you wanna keep it simple,

and this is my number
one advice of the video,

you can get really close
by following this general rule.

Put red wines into the fridge

25 minutes before you wanna serve them

and take white wines out of the fridge

25 minutes before you wanna serve them,

provided they were stored in there.

The exception is sparkling wine,

which can be served fridge temp,

because it helps preserve the bubbles.

And if you need to chill the wines quickly,

the freezer will get a sparkling
wine cold in about an hour,

provided you lay the
bottle on its side, not upright

'cause science I don't
wanna get into right now.

You can cut that number down even further

by wrapping the wine in a wet dish towel

before you put it in the freezer,

which should get it
chilled in about 40 minutes.

Just don't forget it or you'll
end up with a ruined wine

and potentially an exploded mess.

Even quicker, the ice bucket.

There's a reason it's used at restaurants.

Lots of ice, water and
a good amount of salt,

which lowers the water's freezing point

and gets it cooled quicker.

Less than 10 minutes for
reds, 15 to 20 for whites.

Really desperate?

Put the wine in a ziplock bag

and into ice water for two to five minutes.

Or worst case scenario, just kidding folks.

Save the ice for your
sodas and your cocktails

as to not water down the wine.

I hope you enjoyed today's
nerd lab on temperature

and as always, keep geeking out.

Domaines Ott's other Cru
Classé vineyard is Clos Mireille.

And it was here that I
learned just how much

goes into the harvest and
production of these rosé wines.

All right, we have arrived.

The final vineyard, Clos Mireille.

Absolutely. Clos Mireille.

Now, what makes it special?

Clos Mireille for us is pretty special

because it's really close to the beach.

So we have all the influence on the soil,

but also with the weather of the sea,

the salty taste in the wines.

More personally, it was also
the house of my grandmother.

Oh, wonderful.

We spent so many
times during summer here.

So tell me about the harvest

and I guess everything
leading up to the harvest as well.

The harvests are made by hand.

So that means 250 people on every vintage.

So a small army of people? - Yeah.

To make rosé wine. - A small army.

A small army that that
is able to sort the grapes.

So we are going to
have only the best grapes,

the best quality grapes in the winery.

That makes the difference at the end

with the juice and with the wine.

By hand picking everything,

the quality is obviously way, way better,

but it also takes a lot more time.

From a time perspective,
how much time do you spend

in the vineyards compared to other regions?

The biggest part of the time
we are using for the vineyard

is during spring, between
the beginning of May

until the middle of July,

we are preparing the grapes
to get ripe for the harvest.

So we spend every year,
600 hours per hectare.

Okay.

Which is exactly the
same as the best viticulture

that you can have all over the world

for red and white wines.

The same amount of time
as they would do in a Burgundy,

a Bordeaux, a Napa,

is getting put into your rosé production.

Which is really cool.

So don't tell me that
making rosé is easy.

Is easy. - No, it's not.

Are there a lot of sub $10

mass produced rosés out there?

Sure.

Good for hashtagging on
social media, but not much else.

But now that I know just
how much work and effort

goes into actual quality rosé,

I have a newfound
respect for the pink wine.

So this is pretty special

'cause this is your grandmother's house.

Absolutely.

That was essentially turned
now to part of this estate.

So out of all the blend,
would you say that this blend,

the Grenache Cinsault
blend is kind of the classic

Provence rosé blend? - Yeah, yeah.

Grenache gives you the fruit,

Cinsault, the finesse, softness,

and a little bit of
structure with the Syrah,

it's typically the blend
of rosés from Provence.

Yep.

The Clos Mireille might
be a little bit more crispy

or a little bit more
fruity than the other two,

so it's gonna be the
perfect match for an aperitif

or before a meal.

Interesting, okay.

Maybe with the beginning of a meal.

Very nice. And we also
said too, maybe a little salinity.

Absolutely.

Just like that. I mean
the salinity is there.

That minerality is there right away.

And just what you said,
very, very, very bright.

As you mentioned, citrus.
Lots and lots of citrus.

Not a super ripe strawberry, very young.

That's Syrah.

That's the Syrah.

Yeah. - Yep.

Yeah, I'm bringing this with
me and we'll taste 'em all.

Provençal cuisine has such an allure to me.

It's how we all wish we could cook at home.

It's not ultra modern,
nor is it so traditional

it feels rustic.

It's hyper fresh, high quality ingredients

and simple recipes that
let these components shine.

Olive oil instead of butter,

fresh tomatoes instead of cooked ones,

wild herbs and lots of garlic.

If I sound like I'm gushing, I am.

The only thing that gets
me as excited as wine

is good Mediterranean food.

So we got a few ingredients from the market

as well as a few from the
garden and got to work.

Okay, so we have our sea
bass we got from the market.

We have our langoustine,
which looks like shrimp

if they only did forearm workouts.

What are we doing with these?

So we are going to
make a crudo with them.

Only cooked with the lime.

Great. So we're
using, we're doing it raw?

Yeah. - Beautiful.

That's one of my favorites.

Okay, so you instruct
me, I'm gonna watch it.

You just take the head, I'm sorry.

Are you apologizing to me or to him?

Oh, sure.

It's okay, it works?

Take it off. Great.

Let's just say I struggled a bit

trying to get my crustacean
to come out of its shell.

You have to be gentle.

- Just back and forth?
- No, right and left.

I almost got
him. Think I got him.

Come on, baby.

He's a little spikey. - Yeah.

But eventually
I got the hang of it.

Ah. - Okay.

We are just going to cut it.

Now what?

Now we put lime.

Because the acidity is so high,

it's going to kind of cook that.

Exactly. Salt. - Okay.

Pepper. - Pepper.

And at the end, this is, in Provence.

Olive oil, always. Always and forever.

Okay, just a drizzle, right?

Yep. - A lot. That's okay.

That's okay. - For the next one.

Also too, yeah, I was
gonna say good olive oil.

I never know.

Then we take the
langoustine, we put it on the plate

and we do that for all of them.

We are going to put them in
the fridge for about an hour.

An hour. - And it's gonna be okay.

And let the lime juice
do a very little cook?

Exactly. - Great.

And in the meantime we
have to prep our big guy.

Yes.

For the fish, it's gonna
be very, very easy.

On this part, we are just
going to cut a little bit here.

Because it's thicker than the tail.

So then we are gonna put olive oil inside.

Of course we are.
Give it a little rubdown?

Just a little, huh? - Yeah.

Lots and
lots and lots of olive oil.

Yeah. - Which I love.

One of the best things
about Provence cuisine

is the gratuitous
amounts of olive oil used.

I'll salt and pepper it up. - Yep.

Outside,
inside everything, right?

Yep.

Now? - Lemon.

Lemon. - Yep.

Squeeze it on? - Yes.

All right. Tomatoes.

Are we doing it on the grill

or are we putting the oven? - Oven.

Oven, we're doing it in the oven

so we're gonna lock in all that flavor.

Exactly. - Great.

Look how wet, and of course I dropped it.

But look how juicy the
tomatoes, it's like candy.

All right. - How long did it last?

How long what, to do this?

Yeah. - Like five minutes.

- Five minutes.
- Five minutes. Super simple.

And now you cover
or no, you don't cover it.

No, this one is two kilos

and we are going to cook it 35 minutes.

And see what's going on.

Fish cooked,
the sun started to fade

and JF and I sat down
for one last glass together

before dinner.

Okay Vince, before we eat,

I really need you to taste
the last cuvée, this cuvée.

There's another? - Yes.

I talked to you about
the different personality

of each estate, of each terrain,

the expression of each terrain.

And we wanted to make a blend

of what is most typical on
each estate in this cuvée.

And we call it Étoile.

And what is Étoile?

Étoile, it's many things,

but after Domaines Ott,
you have a small star.

The word in English is a star.

The word is star. - Okay.

So that's the star that you
can see on Domaines Ott name.

It's also when my
great-grandfather was signing

the two T after O for Ott,
he was making like a star.

So it was the beginning and
it's also the star of the range.

So it's exactly what we
think rosé they should be.

It is symbolic of everything,

your grandfather's legacy, the brand.

And like you said, the top of the line.

Yep. - I am very, very excited.

We try it.

Do we taste it?

We want to have finesse
of Château de Selle,

the structure of Château Romassan

and the minerality and
the crispy and fruity taste

of Clos Mireille.

Got the roundness that we
talked about with Romassan.

Yep. - And structure.

But it's got the brightness
as both of the other estates.

Grapefruit, melon, all
the things that I want,

the pink flavors, the citrus flavors,

they all come beautifully
together in harmony,

which is just really, really fun.

What I love is as much as I love the wine,

I love the story that it started

with your great, great grandfather

writing a star on his name.

And his signature which
turned into the brand,

which turned into your legacy.

When you come to
Provence, you expect the food,

you expect the wine, you expect the light

that so many famous painters
have come here to paint.

You expect those things.

They're always stunning,

but you know they're here, the beach.

But there's a serenity about Provence

that is very, very special.

And there is a lifestyle to Provence.

We joke there's a rosé
all day in America, right?

Rosé is a lifestyle.

But when you come here,

it's not this Hollywood
firecracker pink lifestyle,

it is a serene tranquil, just
really feeling like this place

can be encapsulated in a wine.

So I am so honored to have
spent this week with you.

Thank you very, very much.

Thank you.

We all sat down
to our final meal of the trip.

The crew, my wife, new
friends and Jean-François.

In the courtyard of the house

where he spent his summers as a kid,

we ate, drank and laughed.

I thought to myself all
I'd learned about rosé,

about Provence, about
Jean-François and his family

and about the gratitude I had

for the opportunities afforded to me.

Provence is the type of
place you visit and say,

why don't I live here again?

I once came here 12 years ago,

a young kid very far away from retirement.

And I remember saying to myself,

this is where I'm gonna retire.

That feeling hasn't changed.

I see myself sitting on a beach

with a glass of rosé in my hand,

reminiscing about that
time I hosted a TV show

and thinking to myself, remember that?

I hope you enjoyed Provence
and we'll see you next time,

next place on "V is for Vino".