Provence Wine – Star whites

Clear out your rosé now, advises Provence wine critic Perestrello Geller, or you will be left with bottles of wine as luminous as a fake-tan drenched tourist.

Is there such a thing as too much of a good thing?

Sex? I’m pushing 70 and still can’t get enough.

Foie Gras? I could eat it for breakfast

Cars? The Aston has just been swapped for a Maserati.

Rosé? If I see another glass of pink wine I’ll gag. Yes, there is a moment for that twinkle in the sunshine glass of coral pink delight, but it’s passed. It’s now September and we should all show some respect to our taste buds and rosé-sluiced innards.

So, my advice is as follows. Invite your friends around and in one last binge of summer excess, plough through all the weird and wonderful colours of rosé you’ve accumulated during the summer. The stuff doesn’t keep and by next year it’ll be as luminous as a fake-tan-drenched tourist on a Benidorm beach.

My esteemed editor at Provence Guru thinks Provence doesn’t do white wine. Rubbish…here’s a selection to grace any table:

Domaine des Masques – Chardonnay Exception. I recently did a blind tasting of this wine with a Montagny premier cru. Same grape, just one wine is made some 350 km further south. Yet thanks to the unique microclimate at Domaine des Masques I couldn’t confidently tell one wine from the other. Price €12

Chateau La Canorgue, Viognier – Once famous for being the location for the Ridley Scott adaptation of Peter Mayle’s book A Good Year, now rightly better known for its wine. The Viognier is deep golden in colour and a wonderful taste sensation as an aperitif or later in the meal with smoky cheeses. Price €12

Domaine Milan, Grand Blanc– Henri Milan is a ground breaking wine maker. He uses natural fermentation techniques in his vineyard just outside Saint Remy de Provence to produce stunning wine. His Grand Blanc, a blend of Chardonnay, Rolle, Grenache Blanc, and Muscat petit grains, is listed on fine restaurant tables around the world. Price €26

Laurent Tardieu, Bec Fin, Cote du Rhone – I know some might consider this a bit of a geographic cheat with barrels of wine shipped from the Cote du Rhone for blending in the Luberon, but the Tardieus make some of the best wine in Provence. And their robust white Cote du Rhone goes brilliantly with almost any meal. Price €8