Rosé Season, Explained: A Guided Tasting From the South of France on Lake Avenue

August in France is rosé season, which sounds like a marketing line until you look at the numbers. In Provence, roughly 90% of everything bottled is pink. It is not a side project or a summer novelty there; it is the main event, and the region is widely considered the original home of the style.

Alliance Française de Pasadena is putting that argument in a glass Thursday at 6 p.m. Les Rosés du Midi is a guided tasting organized in partnership with Topline, with a wine expert leading participants through rosés from the South of France — the range of shades, the production methods that distinguish them, and why the dry, restrained Provençal style became the global reference point.

Charcuterie and Provençal-inspired snacks accompany the pours.

The host organization is not a newcomer. Alliance Française de Pasadena marked its 100th anniversary in 2024 and operates as a nonprofit French language school and cultural center, running classes for adults and children, DELF, DALF and TCF certification testing, a lending library and a steady calendar of lectures, tastings and film events. Its cultural programs are open to members and nonmembers alike, though members typically pay less.

Two policies are worth knowing before signing up. No refunds are issued for non-attendance at cultural events. And credit card payments carry a nonrefundable 3.5% processing fee, which the organization notes can be avoided by paying with cash or check.

Registration is required in advance through the Alliance Française de Pasadena website.

Les Rosés du Midi will run on Thursday, August 6 at 6 p.m. Alliance Française de Pasadena, 232 N. Lake Ave., Suite 105 in Pasadena. For more information, call (833) 386-3911 or visit afdepasadena.org. Registration required.