I hadn't tasted the rosé for a while until I encountered the recent 2018 Gran Caus Rosat. It's a much darker style than what you find nowadays, keeping the Mediterranean expression of red fruit combined with power and structure, more like a light red. It's produced with Merlot grapes that saw a maceration of 18 hours and a slow fermentation of 40 days. The color is that of a Poulsard from Jura, a bright ruby, but the nose is very different, with tons of strawberry preserves. The palate is round and lush, with a bitter touch in the finish. Some 16,695 bottles were produced. It was bottled in February and March 2019.