Twenty years ago, rosé was reserved for beach clubs in the South of France—think Nikki Beach or Le Club 55—and strictly during summer. In America, “blush wine” was anything but chic.
Then Whispering Angel arrived, and suddenly “rosé all day” became a lifestyle and trending hashtag. What was once seasonal and provincial became aspirational and global.
Launched in 2006, the pale Provençal rosé didn’t just enter the market, it redefined it. Rosé, and specifically Whispering Angel, became the drink of socialites, ladies who brunch, CEO moms, the yacht set—and the friend who always says, “Let’s order another bottle.”
This year, Whispering Angel celebrates both its twentieth anniversary and its twentieth vintage—and it was only fitting that the brand’s founder, Sacha Lichine, chose the South Beach Wine & Food Festival to mark this milestone moment with a splashy soiree at Villa Casa Casuarina, the former Versace mansion. The evening featured free-flowing Whispering Angel, an abundant sushi station, live music spilling into the courtyard, and several Real Housewives of Miami posing with oenophiles.
I’ve been drinking Whispering Angel almost since its inception, smitten by its clean, crisp, and bright flavor profile and drinkability. It’s easy to quaff countless bottles over lunch without noticing.
My connection to the brand deepened when I was invited to spend the night at Château d’Esclans in La Motte, Provence, the estate where it all began. Set amid rolling hills northeast of Saint-Tropez, the château is the beating heart of what many now call the rosé revolution.
Being so close to where the magic happens was a thrill and a privilege. Fewer than 2,000 visitors pass through the estate each year for private tastings and vineyard tours. Only a handpicked few are invited to stay on property. Waking up next to 80-year-old vines is the kind of access even money can’t buy.
The château itself, inspired by a Tuscan villa and constructed in the mid-nineteenth century, carries centuries of history beneath its stone walls—including ancient caves from when the Count of Provence controlled much of the valley. In the chapel, carved angels appear to whisper to one another, the very figures that inspired the brand’s name and now serve as its global ambassadors. Seeing the stone cherubs in person felt like a rosé pilgrimage, proof that this pink phenomenon began somewhere sacred.
I stayed in the petit château, complete with its own private pool, cozy bedrooms, and stunning views. The curated decor blends Provençal style with pink accents, thoughtful nods to the estate’s signature hue: pink towels draped over loungers, a pink billiards table, pink couches, and, of course, Whispering Angel–filled wine refrigerators.
Château d’Esclans sits within a 1,200-hectare valley, with more than 140 hectares planted for Whispering Angel and its top-tier cuvées, including Les Clans and Garrus. The terroir is serious. Chalk and limestone slopes deliver mineral precision and structure. A 10-acre parcel of old vines—some nearly a century in age—forms its own ecosystem near the forest, roots digging deep for complexity. Younger vines planted in clay produce a rounder profile.
Visiting in late summer, just before harvest, I saw the estate at its most cinematic: vines heavy with fruit, lavender in full bloom, cicadas humming in the heat, the Provençal light casting everything in a soft, golden haze. It’s the kind of landscape that makes you appreciate why rosé tastes the way it does. The atmosphere is seemingly an extra ingredient.
Walking the vineyard at sunset, glass in hand, I understood why Whispering Angel endures. It isn’t just the color. It’s the history paired with Lichine’s dedication to create the world’s best rosé. And while Moët Hennessy, the wine and spirits division of LVMH, acquired a majority stake in Château d’Esclans in 2019, Lichine still runs the brand.
In honor of the twentieth anniversary, Lichine released a special Whispering Angel vintage with a commemorative label—his signature alongside the château’s iconic whispering angels, a design that honors both heritage and modernity. “I am pleased to say that this is among the best vintages of Whispering Angel we’ve made,” Lichine says of the 2025 release. “Both delicious and aromatic.”
Winemaker Bertrand Léon describes the anniversary vintage as “expressive and precise, balancing ripeness with freshness, with delicate citrus and red fruit notes.”
Judging by the incredible reception the new vintage received at SOBEWFF, it’s poised to be another hit for the brand—and proof that the next 20 years of Whispering Angel will be just as impactful.
We’re living in our rosé era, and from Saint-Tropez to South Beach, the whisper is anything but subtle.
Facebook Comments