One could be forgiven for assuming that the wines behind France’s Les Halos de Jupiter brand may be ultramodern in style, or perhaps a little lacking in soul. After all, the labels don’t feature a fancy castle with a dense assembly of Olde Tyme lettering and foreign words.

Nope, the labels are rather contemporary: an image of the planet Jupiter accented by a halo as reference to the orbit of its closest moon. The only words you’ll spot (in clean font), besides the proprietary name, are those referencing the Rhone appellation from where the grapes hail and the year they were grown, and Par Philippe Cambie.

It is because of Cambie, the veteran enologist and founder of Les Halos de Jupiter, that these wines are far from one-dimensional but terroir-driven odes to the various crus they champion. Along with fellow veteran winemaker Michel Gassier, Cambie has created a project that does an exemplary job of bringing these sunny French vineyards to the bottle.

So what’s the deal with the Jupiter thing? I asked him that during a small trade tasting he led recently at downtown Vancouver’s Rosewood Hotel Georgia.

“For me, Grenache is the king grape; it is the Pinot Noir of the Rhone,” he responded. “So with Jupiter as our solar system’s biggest planet, to me it is the Grenache, with halos which are the orbits of its moons representing the different appellations and how they each have a different relationship with Grenache and express it differently.”

Indeed, it is Grenache that dominates most of Cambie’s wines. Even his Châteauneuf-du-Pape bottling, a blend that with others can be composed of upwards of a dozen varieties, is 90 percent devoted to Grenache, with small splashes of Syrah and Mourvèdre. His Les Halos de Jupiter Châteauneuf-du-Pape Adrastée 2012 is available locally in private stores for just under $100, and it is loaded with earthy, brambly, black-and-purple fruit, along with umami notes of things like hoisin and sun-dried tomato, with a solid mineral undercurrent.

Far more available and easier on the wallet, however, is Les Halos de Jupiter Côtes du Rhône 2013 ($22.49, B.C. Liquor Stores). This high-altitude blend of 85 percent Grenache, 10 percent Syrah, and five percent Mourvèdre is first sorted in the vineyard, then with a second set of eyes in the winery. It’s aged in concrete for a year, and without fining or filtering. The charm here is in the mineral-rich density of blackberry, currant, and Italian plum among tomato-plant aromatics, bringing some lovely freshness to keep things nimble.

For those looking to shell out a few more bucks, Les Halos de Jupiter Vacqueyras 2012 ($42 to $47, private liquor stores) intertwines the fruit of old Grenache and Syrah vines from pebbly, red-clay soil into a tight bunch of purple flowers with a good dose of black licorice, a little dried plum, and a smattering of dark cocoa throughout. (Recently spotted at Firefly Fine Wines and Ales on Cambie.)

If you are looking to dive a little deeper into the offerings of Les Halos de Jupiter, follow up with their importers at the Wine Syndicate.

Keeping with a French theme, but heading a little southeast: a flock of fresh Provence rosés have arrived on shelves, and I have three of ’em to share. What I like about the pink wines from Provence is that they are farmed, harvested, and vinified with the full intention of making some of the best pinks on the planet. In other parts of the world, rosés are the occasional default result of a red-grape harvest that didn’t hit quality expectations, or a byproduct of red wines “bled off” during the winemaking process so the eventual red will be more concentrated (also known as the saignée method). Here, they’re the high-quality intention from start to finish, and it shows.

Racine Côtes De Provence Rosé 2015

$18.99, B.C. Liquor Stores
This 100 percent Cinsault is from Bruno Lafon, whose Burgundian heritage shows in both weight and elegance here. There is a beeswaxy emollient character that’s woven with juicy pink grapefruit, Rainier cherry, and nutmeg. With a pulled-pork sandwich in hand, I could do some serious damage to a bottle.

Le Grand Cros Côtes de Provence Esprit de Provence 2015

$31.99, Liberty Wine Merchants, various locations
There’s a remarkable amount of effort and care put into this blend of 60 percent Grenache, 25 percent Syrah, 10 percent Rolle, and five percent Cinsault, one of Decanter’s top 50 wines of 2014. The fruit is handpicked, with each parcel vinified separately. Look for bursts of orange blossom, an array of apples, lemon pith for a little texture, and a pinch of white pepper on the finish

Domaine Saint Ferréol Les Vaunières Côteaux Varois en Provence 2015

$17.99, B.C. Liquor Stores
A Grenache, Cinsault, and Syrah blend—but really a bucketful of jasmine, lemongrass, red currants, green table grapes, and a spark of anise. Pour liberally, with another bottle chilling on ice.