There’s a special irony, packing two bottles of South African rosé for a trip to Provence – the rosé capital of the world.

But I wanted to see what the Jean Roi tasted like in the region where the global trend was born, and that wasn’t going to stop me.

The premium SA rosé was the guests of honour at a soiree for 35 people at Bastide les Amis in the village of Menerbes. A small pig was cooked as the main course, while a variety of rosé was consumed.

This included Miraval, the wine from Brad and Angelina’s wine estate down the road. That’s how we roll.

The pig was lovely, thanks for asking.

“What’s that?” asked Robert, a British ex-pat who has lived in the area for the last 25 years. Fully fluent in French, as well as the ways of the Cote de Zur, Robert was pointing at the neck of a bottle of Jean Roi, poking out of a large metal bucket, filled with ice and a mix of rosé wine.

“That’s Jean Roi,” I explained. “From South Africa.” There was a good chuckle at the table, as I explained the necessity of bringing the two bottles to the Luberon valley, all the way from home.

We finished off the Miraval and moved swiftly to the Jean Roi. Besides the fact that it was the most impressive bottle and label, one cannot emphasise the speed at which those two bottles were consumed.

Robert exclaimed that it was the best wine of the afternoon and, before long, word had spread down the table. The guests turned into ravenous locusts, basically queueing down our end of the table to get a drop.

Chaos erupts over Jean Roi

It’s beyond ironic that a group of people that drink Provençal rosé on a daily basis would be scrambling for South African rosé, in Provence!

With Jean Roi coming in at a similar price to Miraval (€15), it’s a shame I didn’t pack more affordable Protea Rosé.

It’s also from Rupert Wines, but with the Rand to Euro exchange rate, you’re looking at €4 a bottle!

The locals would have plotzed!

Here’s your Jean Roi up front, for the uninitiated, with the Protea Rosé tucked in behind to its right. Even if you’re not trying to impress the Provence locals, it’s well worth bringing to a fancy luncheon.

Now please excuse me, as there is further exploration of the countryside to be done.