M.Chapoutier Domaine Tournon ‘Mathilda’ Rosé Grenache 2017 Victoria, Australia 75cl

Domaine Tournon is the wholly owned Australian arm of M.Chapoutier, the celebrated Rhone Valley house with a long history of biodynamic farming and expressive southern French wines. Drawn to Victoria’s cooler corners, the family established estates in the Pyrenees and began making wines that carry their Rhone sensibility into a very different landscape. The Mathilda name is a warm nod both to Michel Chapoutier’s daughter and to the unofficial anthem Waltzing Matilda, a signal of how at home the family feels in Australia.

This rosé is pure Grenache, made in a dry, delicate style closer to Provence than to anything sweeter or more confected. The grapes are gently pressed to draw pale, high-quality juice with very little colour, then fermented cool to protect the freshness and fine fruit that define the style. It is a serious, food-friendly pink rather than a poolside afterthought.

The 2017 vintage gives the wine its poised, savoury character, ripe enough for generous fruit yet retaining the acidity that makes a rosé refreshing rather than soft.

Expect a pale salmon colour, aromas of raspberry, pomegranate and a hint of citrus and white flowers, and a clean, fresh palate of red fruit carried by crisp acidity to a dry, savoury finish. Serve it well chilled as an aperitif, or alongside salads, charcuterie, grilled fish and lighter summer cooking.

If you enjoy dry Provence rosé but want something with a little more presence and a French hand behind the fruit, this Victorian Grenache is a natural choice. It is quiet proof that a serious Rhone producer can bring the same restraint and precision to Australian fruit, and it drinks best young and cold, in its first flush of freshness.