Les Fleurs du Mal Rosé $16

I’d been buying this inexpensive French rosé for years before realizing what a weird name it has. The label may be all floral and sweet but correct me if I’m wrong€” doesn’t “Les Fleur du Mal” mean the Evil Flowers? If so….that’s awesome. (It turns out it’s title from a Baudelaire poem€”boy, am I a hillbilly!)

This wine is a bit of an outlier in other respects, too€”namely its colour is quite a bit darker than the standard Provençal rosé and its oh-so-delicate (Atlantic) salmon hue. This wine is from Cévennes, the mountainous wild east of France, and as such, it has a deeper pink that looks a wild Pacific salmon (which everyone knows is the king of salmons). And that boldness extends into the glass€”it’s not subtle on the palate, but has a solid blast of supermarket strawberries and cherry that’s backed by some tannins. What saves this wine is a nice line of sharp acidity that brings it some bounce from start to the medium finish. 

But even more outlier-y is the price. French rosé has been creeping up in price such that I rarely buy it anymore. The Okanagan slays it for value, the Italian for interest. It was one thing when legitimate Tavel or Bandol was $30€”those are serious, interesting wine worthy of some study. But $39 for Whispering Angel? I’ll pass, merci. But this evil li’l fella at $16€”sign me up.