Crossword Genius

Judge in Provence is to atone for missing wine (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

esteem

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'judge' is the definition.
(I know that esteem is a more specific form of the action believe)

'provence is to atone for missing wine' is the wordplay.
'provence' becomes 'est' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'is to atone for' becomes 'redeem' (I've seen this in another clue).
'missing' is a deletion indicator.
'wine' becomes 'red wine' (red is a type of wine).
'redeem' with 'red' removed is 'eem'.
'est'+'eem'='ESTEEM'

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for esteem that I've seen before include "gain respect" , "Honour - regard" , "Set a high value on" , "Floor covering" , "Favourable regard" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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