Domaine Hauvette Petra, 2019
Domaine Hauvette Petra, 2019
Dominique Hauvette wants little to do with the Provençal rosé craze. Note the color of this rosé—unlike many, hers is not an attempt to simulate water. Next, the aroma: deep and vinous, this bears little resemblance to the grapefruit-and-Febreze-scented wines inoculated with lab-processed “aromatic” yeast strains. What you smell here stems from the grapes (Cinsault, Grenache, Syrah), the stony soil into which the vines dig their roots, and the wild herbs, flowers, and pine forest of the sun-soaked Provençal countryside. Broad and structured, it could replace many a red wine at table should you crave to drink something a bit cooler. Treat Dominique’s rosé as you would any serious wine, and you will be rightly rewarded.
15% Syrah
15% Grenache
Producer's Profile
Dominique Hauvette
'Pour vivre heureux, vivons cachés’ (to live happy, live hidden) is Dominique Hauvette’s motto, without a shadow of a doubt.
In her estate nestled on the northern slope of the Massif des Alpilles, the discreet Dominique Hauvette has become a key figure in Provence. In 1988, she settled in the village of Saint Rémy de Provence and she has not ceased to craft magnificent red, white, and rosé wines in a very singular style. They are pure, resplendent and almost touching.
Dominique Hauvette is a Parisian girl whose father was an engineer. In the 1970s, he purchased a hotel in Val d’Isère, which his wife ran. Each winter, Dominique spent time in the Alps. She even became a ski instructor. However, she had a thirst for colours. In 1980, she went on holidays for a month in Provence. She never returned to the Alps.
Her father purchased a mas (small farm) of 2.5 hectares and told her: ‘We will live here and you will make the wine.’
She began to study oenology. At the same time, her enraptured passion for horses made her take the decision to devote her life to them.
Throughout her life, she encountered people who inspired her, including Eloi Dürrbach, her mentor from Domaine de Trévallon, in the neighbouring village of Les Baux de Provence.
Discreet, charismatic, and sensitive with a strong and personality, Dominique doesn’t take any shortcuts with the farming of her vineyards, nor in the cellar. She has managed to create her very own style.
Domaine Hauvette covers 17 hectares, scattered across different Provence appellations. The vines are surrounded by a rocky and wild landscape, and the clay and limestone soil retains moisture for the summer months. The conversation to biodynamics started two decades ago, and it certainly added precision to her already organic practices.
Dominique Hauvette’s standards are uncompromising. With incredible care, she respects the soil and the authenticity of the terroir. Yields are desperately small. The work in the vineyards and in the cellar is measured with very little intervention. She is one of the pioneers in the natural wine movement and her wines are impressive.
Each bottle produced by Dominique brings out a certain emotion. The reds are perfumed with a remarkable finesse, with an indisputable ageing potential. The white is structured and could easily be compared with a fine wine from the Rhône Valley.
Nowadays, Dominique Hauvette shares the life of the domaine with two young associates, Jéromine and Cosme-Marie. This soon-to-be septuagenarian lady lives in complete symbiosis with her terroir and her thirty horses. She is an artist with uncompromising standards, and it shows in her majestic and almost spiritual wines.
