Hecht & Bannier, Coteaux d’Aix en Provence (Provence, France) Rosé 2023 ($24, Vineyard Brands)

This is among the very best of well over 100 rosé wines I’ve tasted in 2024, though it is significantly less expensive than many of its higher-end counterparts and much less ostentatiously packaged, which suits both my ecological sensibilities and my aesthetic taste. It suits my wine taste too—and then some. With significantly more physical density and depth of flavor than 95% of the rosé wines now on the market, this really delivers the goods for enjoyment with food. (Indeed, I’d bet that many experienced tasters would mistake this for a light red if they tried it from a black glass, which is a surprisingly humbling device used mostly by researchers.) However, the wine’s very soft palate feel makes it seem as though the grapes were very lightly pressed, enabling this to perform as well as a stand-alone sipper as a wine for food. Made form organically grown grapes, this is an exemplary wine in its category in all respects.
93 Michael Franz