Wine Down Thursday: Southern France
August 20 from 6 to 7:30pm
Sampler: $20/person

Southern France offers rare alchemy: relentless sun, storied soils, and a culture that has honored wine for centuries. This tasting brings together three expressions of that harmony.

We open with a Sauvignon Blanc from Pays d'Oc in the Languedoc, crisp and aromatic, full of citrus brightness shaped by Mediterranean warmth and coastal breeze.

Next, a Bandol rosé from Provence, grown on sun-baked terraces above the sea. Structured and dry, with red berry and garrigue herb notes, it reflects Provence's deep-rooted rosé tradition and the discipline of old Mourvèdre vines.

We close in the western Languedoc's Haute Vallée de l'Aude, where Atlantic winds meet Mediterranean heat in the Pyrenees foothills. Here, altitude and clay limestone soils produce a red of remarkable freshness and depth, a quieter, cooler climate counterpoint to the coast.

Together, these wines trace a journey through sun, soil, and centuries of winemaking culture, an invitation to taste southern France at its most expressive.

Featured Wines:

2025 Château Massiac Sauvignon Blanc
At Château Massiac, Sauvignon Blanc trades its usual crispness for something bolder. Grown on limestone and clay in the foothills where the Massif Central meets the Mediterranean, the grape ripens under relentless southern sun while cool morning harvests preserve its nerve. The result is vibrant citrus and green apple laced with tension and minerality, more energy than restraint. It's a Sauvignon Blanc that argues for the south: structured, sun-driven, and unmistakably alive. A must try.

2025 Domaine de la Bastide Blanche Bandol Rosé
Mourvèdre-driven and organically farmed on clay-limestone soil, this 2025 rosé is fuller and more structured than typical Provence pink, with wild strawberry, blood orange, garrigue herbs, and a saline mineral finish. Staff return to it every vintage because it delivers Bandol's signature weight and precision at a fair price. Structured, food-friendly, and unmistakably Provençal, it's a true benchmark rosé.

2024 Domaine Les Hautes Terres Panorama Rouge
Grown high in the limestone hills of Haute Vallée de l'Aude, this organic red blends Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon into something all lift and no heaviness. Altitude-cooled fruit and gentle, native-yeast winemaking give supple tannins and bright, juicy red fruit. Easygoing but never simple, it's a red that dances rather than sits, made for warm-weather sipping without sacrificing character.