Les Clans Chateau D'esclans 2006 Rose. Cotes de Provence Domaine Sacha Lichine

Les Clans from Chateau D'esclans 2006 Rosé from the  Cotes de Provence ( 80% of the wine produced in Provence is rosé) made by Domaine Sacha Lichine, this is a bottle that had hidden at the back of some boxes and we had not intended to leave it so long!
The bottle of this delightful wine is a beautiful sight on its own, clear glass to admire the wonderful salmon/onion skin colour, and an impressed emblem on the front.
Once poured and admired we commented on its viscosity, it has a 'thickness' to its flow, this alone made us want to dive in, but once we had popped our noses in the glass, we were sold again!
It has a nutty pear aroma with a slight herbal note, the grapes in this blend are Grenache ( 48% are 80 year old vines) and  Rolle.
The texture of this wine along reinforces the fact that this wine has been carefully and beautifully made, the acidity is freshning keeping the fruit remaining fresh and clean, it has a fattness too it and without the acidity it may tend to flabbiness - which this wine definetly does not! The alcohol is warming but in balance and adds structure to the blend, the tannins are very low, ripe and silky. There is a spicy note encapsulating the pear, peach and pithy citric, herbal flavours. The finish is good and long having a pithy bitter end which runs alongside lemon.
This is a truly beautiful wine, the lack of fruit is a shame, we had tasted this for the first time 2 years ago (it is aged for 2-3 years before it is released) - and it was singing - but this had a  certain maturity and some savouriness that has emerged that adds to its complexity, so maybe somethings are meant to be and the accident was to our benefit.
Sacha Lichine purchased Chateau d'Esclans in 2006 and brought in Patrick Leon (formerly of Mouton Rothschild) as winemaker to start making the world's best rosé ( Jancis Robinson) and also to prove that rosés can be wines to be taken seriously. Ch d'Esclans make four roses; their signature cuvee 'Whispering Angel' ( which is stunning - and I actually prefer it) vinified in stainless steel, the slightly weightier 'Esclans' which is part vinified in oak which adds to both its weight and structure and then the two seriously punchy efforts in the 'Les Clans' and micro-cuvee 'Garrus.' Les Clans, fermentation in new and second year demi muids (600 liter barrels) for 10 months in Burgundian style, and production limited to only 7 barrels, and   Garrus  limited to only 3 barrels per vintage, scored 91 from Wine Spectator . They all come with a fairly hefty price tag - with the Les Clans coming in at around £50-60.