The story of Clos Cibonne represents not just the history of coastal Provence, but also of one family's stubborn belief in their traditions.

It has resulted in one of Provence's most iconic cult wines, often regarded by other Provence winemakers as not being Provence-like because of its atypical style.

Over 200 years of history

The estate traces its origins back to the late 18th century, when naval captain Jean-Baptiste de Cibon, based in nearby Toulon, built a hilltop bastide (a type of fortified manor) with a direct view of the sea, and called it Château Cibon.

Upon Cibon’s death in 1797, the property, a symbol of elite ownership, was taken over by France’s new Republic after the French Revolution, divided into small lots and sold to the general public.

A portion was sold to the Roux family, although not the Château Cibon bastide.

Provence's fortunes grow

The 19th century saw the development of the coastal industry. In 1857 the Cap Garonne sandstone quarry was opened on the hill just to the south of Cibon.

Copper and lead were discovered in 1862, and by the 1890s the copper was being used for Bordeaux mixture – a fungicide used on grapevines to prevent downy mildew.

The advent of the railway from 1859 revolutionised Provence, opening up the region to trade and to tourists seeking the summer sun.

The Roux family profited from this prosperity, planting citrus groves, vineyards and other horticulture to supply tourists and hotels.

Following the devastation of phylloxera in the 1880s, many vineyards were re-planted with high-yielding varieties, and Tibouren, Provence’s only indigenous variety, was abandoned.

Tibouren’s susceptibility to powdery mildew, uneven ripening and oxidative characters made it unpopular, endearing it only to those who loved its rich apricot flavours.

Early rebels, the Roux family was one of the few to replant the grape.

Part of the landscape

By the 1930s, Marius Roux (1875-1958) had developed the estate’s wine production. He bought large 5,000-litre beer barrels from southern Germany and, like the Otts at nearby Clos Mireille, started to sell his wine in bottles.

The current label design dates from this era.

Marius was followed by his son André (1905-1989), who changed the name from Château Cibon to Clos Cibonne.

André was active in getting Clos Cibonne recognised as a cru classé in 1955. The key requirements were that the wine was sold in bottle and could prove its ageing potential.

By the time the appellation rules were being written up in the 1970s, they had a clear precedent allowing them to continue selling their wines with Tibouren on the label – no other Côtes de Provence wines are permitted to label their wine varietally.

Following André's death in 1989, his daughter Jacqueline took over the estate with her husband, Emile Mourchou.

Emile restructured the estate by buying land, replanting Tibouren and developing a new cellar, choosing to retain some of the 5,000-litre foudres.

Their daughter Brigitte and husband Claude Desforges took over the estate in 2003, bringing the cellar up to date with modern technology.

Clos Cibonne catches the attention of sommeliers

It was around this time that local sommeliers were increasingly talking about Clos Cibonne’s exceptional wines.

Faced with the growth in popularity and fame for Provence rosé, there was considerable pressure on the family to change from their traditional dark glass bottles to a clear glass bottle, and to adapt to a modern image of pale, fresh Provence rosé.

Instead, they resisted this pressure, and the wines have retained their unique rich and concentrated style, and are still bottled in dark glass.

Clos Cibonne today

Some of the wines go through malolactic fermentation, and some develop a layer of flor while in foudres, although any oxidative flor character is barely noticeable.

As Claude acknowledges, their aim is to make good wine, not just rosé.

Claude continued to buy adjacent parcels that once made up the original Château Cibon property, bringing the estate to its current size of 24ha – except the original bastide, which still has numerous owners.

Although close to the sea, the vineyards nestle behind a range of low, coastal hills (on the other side of the hills lies the coastal region of La Londe).

The vineyards are located on the Colle Noire massif, and erosion has given rise to a mix of soil types.

Tibouren has different flavour profiles depending on its location and soil type: high up, the schist gives spicy flavours; in the middle there is clay-limestone and loam, with the more silty soils giving citrus freshness.

The warmer, sandier soils on the lower slopes are used for red wine.

The surrounding flat land is criss-crossed with drainage channels, lined with canes and reeds, and has a high water table – a problem for mildew-susceptible Tibouren.

Nevertheless, Cibonne has been cultivated organically since 2012, and certified since 2020.

Tibouren buds early, but luckily spring frosts are not a problem, and it achieves good sugar levels, even when one of the first grapes to be harvested.

The combination of ripe fruit and oak gives the wines great concentration.

Defiant wines

Clos Cibonne remains a family-owned domaine, increasingly rare in Provence, and Claude’s son Olivier is currently taking over.

He says he has no intention of changing the style of the wines. He also aims to continue the tradition of making special cuvées to honour family members: cuvées Caroline (his sister), Olivier, Marius, as well as new cuvées to mark the birth of Olivier’s children: Simon (born in 2023) and Valentin (born in 2019).

The rosés remain the standout wines in the range. Their ageing potential means they can be cellared and can accompany complex food pairings.

The wines may be idiosyncratic, not always perfect, defy market trends, and show more vintage variation than most rosés, but they definitely stand out from the crowd.

Clos Cibonne through time

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Heather Dougherty, Lionel Periner and Daphne Teremetz tasted 111 wines, with 5 Outstanding and 37 Highly recommended.

Provence rosé: Panel tasting scores

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 5

Highly recommended 37

Recommended 59

Commended 10

Fair 0

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their latest-release rosé wines from any of the APs Côtes de Provence, Coteaux Varois en Provence, Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence, Les Baux de Provence, Bandol, Bellet, Cassis, Palette or Pierrevert

'The Bandol region stood out to me'

Provence rosé is a feast for the eyes as well as the tastebuds, and this tasting treated us to wines ranging in hue from barely coloured, palest blanc de noir, through ‘onion skin’ colour to deep coral pink, reflecting the breadth of styles available.

Nevertheless, the classic Côtes de Provence rosé paradigm of wines that are pale in colour accounted for most of those in this tasting.

When done well, these delicate wines still deliver in terms of flavour. Daphne Teremetz encapsulated what she was looking for as ‘pure, wild strawberry fruit, a creamy-textured palate with a crisp, fresh finish, as well as some delicate fruit flavour on the finish’.

All three judges were expecting consistency, in a style that has come to define the rosé category.

‘Provence rosé has a remarkably consistent identity,’ said Lionel Periner. ‘When people imagine pale, dry rosé, they’re usually picturing Provence.’

A touch of age

Although most Provence rosés are generally destined to be drunk in the summer after they’re made, the fact that four out of five of the wines we rated Outstanding were older vintages shows that, at a certain quality level, there are fine wines being made that age beautifully.

Bandol excelled in this, accounting for two of those five wines scoring 95 or 96 points, flying the flag for often more deeply coloured, ageworthy, gastronomic styles.

Periner expressed his enthusiasm: ‘The Bandol region stood out to me as the most interesting: the wines we tasted showed great freshness in a medium-bodied style, and they would pair beautifully with food.’

The success of Château d’Esclans’ flagship blend Garrus also demonstrated that neither Mourvèdre nor deep colour is a requirement for Provence rosé to age well.

At the other end of the scale, too many wines from the appellations of Coteaux Varois and Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence underperformed, showing either a lack of flavour or tartness. In terms of value for money,

Teremetz summed it up: ‘The pricing is far above average – and the best wines absolutely merit that.’

See all notes and scores from the Provence rosé panel tasting

The judges

Provence rosé panel tasting results

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Imagine there was a French region twice as big as the southern Rhône, growing largely the same grape varieties, producing reds and whites of great personality and often remarkable value for money.

As a Rhône lover, you’d want to explore it, right?

Well it turns out you can: it’s called Provence. Have you, like so many Rhône lovers, been accidentally ignoring it?

If so, it’s time to put that right.

Lay of the land

The vineyards of the Rhône and those of Provence smile at each other from either side of the Durance River.

There are appellations on both sides that feel like they could belong on the other.

Les Baux de Provence is technically in Provence but it’s just a stone’s throw from Avignon. Luberon sits at the Rhône table, but its wines have a distinctly Provençal accent.

But while much of the southern Rhône has been moulded by the meandering river, Provence isn’t shaped by waterways in quite the same way.

There’s no drawn out coastal plain; often the land simply stops and drops to the waves below.

Provence is essentially the space between the Alps and the Mediterranean that runs from the Rhône River to the Italian border, composed mostly of dramatic limestone hills and mountains.

Even when the sea is out of sight, the theatrical, portentous clouds remind you of its proximity.

Understanding Provence appellations

Although the appellation system of Provence lacks unity and cohesion, it can at least be fairly easily explained.

On the one hand, there is a collection of small, long-established appellations that encircle the region: Bandol, Cassis, Bellet, Palette and Les Baux de Provence.

Their strength lies in red or white wines rather than rosé, and their collective output is small in volume – but highly distinctive.

Then there are the ‘Big Three’ appellations at the heart of the region that make up around 90% of Provence wine production, bottling mostly rosé.

Of these three newer appellations, the biggest is Côtes de Provence (73% of Provence's production), then Coteaux d’Aix en Provence (18%) and finally Coteaux Varois en Provence (9%).

The largest of these, Côtes de Provence, contains five small sub-regions within it: Fréjus, La Londe, Notre Dame des Anges, Pierrefeu and Sainte-Victoire.

Think of the first four as the ‘Named Villages’ of Provence; Sainte-Victoire has just been elevated above the others and nominated a cru.

The small appellations in the first group, such as Bandol and Cassis, have more stylistic definition; unsurprising given their compact nature.

When it comes to the Big Three, identifying individual overperforming estates, rather than looking for regional styles, can be the most fruitful approach for Rhône lovers.

Two regions, one culture

In places, the vineyards of the Rhône and Provence blend into each other – it’s not always obvious to the naked eye which side of the border you’re on.

And although one wine region bears the name Provence, Provençal culture spreads well beyond its borders and into the southern Rhône too.

It’s only natural that many of the wines share a similar profile.

Since Provence embraced rosé, for which it’s now rightly renowned, it has become increasingly associated with this one specific style.

But let’s not forget about the wealth of other wines that have existed here since long before this trend for pale pinks.

If you’re a fan of the Rhône, you’ll find much to enjoy.

The Provence wines to try if you're a Rhône wine lover:

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Roger Taylor has become the latest name to enter the celebrity wine game, with the launch of Queen Côtes de Provence Rosé.

The Queen drummer has taken an active part in the creation of Cuvée Rock n’ Roll 2025, a blend of 70% Grenache and 30% Cinsault.

‘We’ve always believed in doing things properly, and that was the starting point here,’ said Taylor.

‘I’ve spent a lot of time around rosé over the years, and I wanted to create something that felt consistent, expressive and genuinely enjoyable in partnership with good friends. It needed to have that sense of joy to it – something that brings people together.’

He added: ‘This isn’t about putting a name on a bottle; it’s about creating something with real integrity.’

The new rosé is a collaborative project with investment from Sony Music, Watermill Wines, Rupert Clevely, former UK MD of Veuve Clicquot, and Provence winery Les Caves du Commandeur.

‘When we met the team at Les Caves du Commandeur, we knew straight away it was the right partnership. They’ve been making wine in Provence since 1913 bringing together 60 growers who live and breathe the craft. Their respect for the land, attention to detail and their integrity, all aligned perfectly with what we wanted to create,’ said Taylor.

The wine was made by head winemaker Valérie Courrèges (above). ​​’We tried to have elegance, structure and freshness. In Provence it’s not always so easy, because it’s very sunny,’ she said.

Courrèges worked directly with the various growers, visiting the vineyards and deciding the dates of picking to ensure good natural acidity and freshness.

‘I think wine is like music. It’s about emotional connection and balance,’ said Courrèges, who also makes her own wines in Cahors.

Taylor was closely involved in creating the blend, as well as the overall vision and style of the wine.

‘I wouldn’t claim to be an expert about wine, but I would claim to be a lifelong lover of it, having consumed quite a lot of it,’ quipped Taylor at the London launch, where he was in conversation with comedian Paul Whitehouse.

Les Caves du Commandeur is a cooperative based in Montfort-sur-Argens, whose members manage 650ha of vineyards there and in nine surrounding communes, including Carcès, Correns, Cotignac, Salernes and Villecroze. Over 90% of their vines are certified organic or High Environmental Value (HVE).

So how does it taste? Cuvée Rock n’ Roll 2025 is a classic pale pink Provence rosé, with red berry and citrus aromas. There’s plenty of juicy strawberry fruit on the creamy palate, which finishes crisp and fresh.

The elegant pyramid bottle is labelled with the Queen logo in pale blue. ‘The bottle is beautiful. I would use it as a water bottle afterwards with a nice glass stopper,’ said Taylor.

He added that there were currently no plans to make other Cuvées and create a Queen wine range.

The wine will retail for £18, with stockists due to be announced on the website queenwinesoffical.com on 5 May.

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As we wade through the sticky, sultry dog days of summer, the allure of cool and refreshing drinks becomes not just more tantalising, but necessary.

And perhaps you’re currently feeling a little jaded by just the one style of wine you’ve been drinking over the past few weeks, too hot and bothered to muster up the brain power to try anything else.

A long, hot summer can be an awfully long time to constantly drink just the one rosé after all.

So if you’re stuck in a summer rut, here are three top tips to find something else to shake up your summer evenings and languid days by the pool.

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1. Wines made by the sea

It sounds obvious or perhaps rather silly, but wines made from coastal regions really do seem to have the juice when it comes to the best styles of wines for summer sipping.

Is it the varieties’ intrinsic nature? Does proximity to the sea really give them a salty tang?

Are winemakers in these areas just more clued-in to the style of wines that work best with your feet in the sand and the roar of the surf in your ears?

Maybe a mix of it all?

Either way, there’s no doubt that if you want a great wine for the summer, think of places beside the sea as a good starting place.

There are loads of wines which just scream summer and beach holidays, accompanied by fresh seafood.

There’s Vinho Verde from northern Portugal, Txakoli from Spain’s Basque country, Muscadet from the Loire.

Heading into the Mediterranean we have the refreshing salty lick of Manzanilla Sherry, the herbal freshness of Xarel-lo in Catalonia, brisk Picpoul de Pinet and pale rosé from the southern French coast, stony Vermentino from Sardinia and Tuscany and the kaleidoscope of varieties from the Greek islands.

2. The faraway Mediterranean

And that’s just Europe we’ve been talking about. But don’t forget that much of the winemaking world operates on the same principals and proximity to the ocean in the warmer climes of the Americas, Africa and Antipodes is often essential to help moderate the temperature.

As such, a great many non-European regions are also seaside wines par excellence.

This is particularly true when many of these Mediterranean-esque regions are also producing wines made from grape varieties you’d expect to find in Europe, such as Albariño – which has seen an increase in worldwide plantings in recent years.

Large chunks of California, the Chilean littoral, the Cape in South Africa, Western and South Australia and the islands of New Zealand are great places for crisp and refreshing whites made from Sauvignon Blanc, Albariño, Semillon and so forth.

3. Beyond Provence

Finally, a word on rosé. Provence set the bar years ago with its brilliantly pale and limpid pinks.

These boosted rosé from being one of the has-been afterthoughts of global viticulture to a runaway hype-train of luxury labels and copycats.

But popularity comes at a price and Provence is now at a premium. However, you don’t have to look far to find wines that are essentially identical.

Both the nearby Languedoc and Roussillon produce extremely delicious rosés in much the same style as Provence and with the same grapes but for a fraction of the price.

Indeed, such has been the impact of pale Provence rosé, that around Europe and the world, you can now find your desire for chillable pink fulfilled by pretty much every country and region mentioned above.

Remember that Liz Gabay MW gives us a rundown each year not only of her pick of the latest Provence rosé releases, but her selection of the best rosés from around the world.

Below is a selection perfect summer white and rosé wines that have been tasted recently by the Decanter team or one of our esteemed experts.

With any luck it’ll give you some extra inspiration for something new to put in the fridge before the summer is through.

Decanter Cellar: 25 white and rosé wines for summer

Wines are listed white then rosé in score order

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Far from being limited to just Provence, exciting rosé is found around the world.

This proved to be an extremely diverse tasting, both in terms of quality (from very ordinary to outstanding, with quite a few terribly-made along the way), and with colours and styles ranging from practically white to light reds.

This diversity begs the question: can we define rosé? There is no legal definition and accepting that almost anything can be a rosé (apart from blanc de blanc, red and orange wine) allows for an even greater panoply of styles.

It can be challenging to identify the good wines, especially as no one region is universally the best.

Scroll down for Liz’s choice of the best rosés from beyond Provence for this summer

Strong regions included northern Spain with wines from Rioja and Ribera del Duero (better known for their red wines) and Navarra, with its strong rosé heritage, producing a wide range of styles and quality, ranging from fresh easy drinking to more serious ageworthy wines.

Examples from Italy showed that it is still more ‘know your producer than know your region’, with little consistency across a region.

Languedoc continues to offer good value for money and there were a number of very pretty fresh pinks. Greece, Mallorca and Georgia offered an interesting selection of unique grape varieties.

Colour wheel

The question of when is a rosé a rosé, was certainly raised in this tasting with colours ranging from white to red.

The palest rosés came from Reuilly. This central Loire appellation allows for 100% Pinot Gris which can be white or, with some skin contact, a pale blush.

The darkest came from Tavel and Navarra, famous for their maceration or saignée wines respectively.

It was also encouraging to see a growing number of rosés submitted with some age. 2023 may not seem old, but when taken into account that some retailers still panic if rosé is less than a year old, this is good news.

A considerable number of 2021 vintage rosés received high scores, making it interesting to see how different rosé have aged.

It felt like a struggle to fit so many wines from different regions and divergent styles into a 20 wine recommendation, not just because there are now too many good wines but because there is growing confidence in producing a wide diversity of styles, offering consumers the chance to discover a rosé which suits their taste.

A growing number of producers also submitted two or three different levels of rosé.

High altitude, oak, amphora or jars and old vines added an intriguing extra layer of complexity and it was good to see that oak was not the only method used to create a premium wine.

There were far fewer ‘Provence-Style’ rosés in the tasting, and it was good to see both a growing number of wines showing regional diversity and high quality wines.

Greater regionality

Navarra rosé is always made using the saignée method, traditionally bled off its red wines, and has suffered in recent years from the strongly held belief that direct press rosés are the best.

A growing number of stellar saignée rosés are showing that they have an important role in the range of rosé styles.

The use of white grapes in rosé also gives a distinctive style. While white grapes are often present in Provence rosés, it is often only in small percentages.

However both Tavel and Rioja can boast much higher proportions of white grapes which contribute to both colour and freshness.

Confidence in embracing these regional styles and traditions seemed to result in better and more interesting wines.

Diversity was certainly the key, which made this tasting challenging, but also exciting.

It is no longer possible to dismiss rosé as a single style and there is certainly a wine for all tastes, occasions and budgets.

Best rosés from beyond Provence

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Mentioning the name Carla Bruni at the Hoxton Hotel in Paris had a magical effect. The previously cool receptionists all jumped to attention and quickly pointed me upstairs; a sign of what an important figure Bruni is in France.

Former model, singer, former First Lady of France and to that remarkable resume we can add winemaker, or at least wine impresario.

In 2020 Carla Bruni and her husband, former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, bought Château d’Estoublon in Provence with Jean-Guillaume Prats, previously of Bordeaux’s Cos d’Estournel, and businessman Stéphane Courbit, the 56th richest man in France.

I was ushered into a room where Bruni sat wearing an olive green jumpsuit, like a chic paratrooper, while Prats was the very definition of the ‘arrogant Bordelais’ – his words not mine – in a pink monogrammed shirt.

Bruni and Sarkozy first visited the estate in 2021 during the Covid pandemic and fell in love with it.

‘The property is just incredible. There’s a vibration to the whole place,’ said Bruni.

At the same time they met Jean-Guillaume Prats through Courbit, a mutual friend, and the rest is history: ‘I don’t believe in coincidence. It was good timing,’ she said.

It was ‘a bold move,’ she added, ‘buying and selling wine at a time when the whole economy was destroyed.’

Provence was a natural fit for Bruni: ‘I feel very close to the south of France. My parents bought a house in 1959 in the Côte d’Azur. At the time it was a 14 hour drive from Torino [Turin],’ she said.

Château d’Estoublon is located in the hills next to renowned estate Domaine de Trevallon. Historically the wines didn’t have the reputation of this illustrious neighbour, but it was famous for the quality of its olive oil.

This isn’t just a beautiful boutique wine estate, however. ‘Our ambition is to be the biggest and best, with 2.5 million bottles of our own production. We are about half of that today’, said Prats.

There are 350ha in total, meaning they have the second largest vineyard holdings in Provence after Pernod Ricard, according to Prats.

They launched Roseblood rosé with the 2021 vintage, which was made largely from sourced wine. Since then they have been on a spending spree, acquiring Domaine de Cantarelle in Coteaux Varois en Provence for the rosé, and Villa Beaulieu in Coteaux d’Aix en Provence which produces the premium wines under the 1489 label and the Roseblood blanc. This is in addition to a range of estate wines labelled under Château d’Estoublon.

The winemaker, Victor Joyeux, who was also at the interview, was formerly winemaker at Cloudy Bay in New Zealand. I was keen to know just how closely Bruni works with Joyeux. I pictured her and Sarkozy stomping grapes together.

‘We are very close to each other, each step of the process. I feel like Victor’s pupil,’ she said. ‘Some famous people involved in wine are simply selling their image, which I understand because I have been doing so for perfume and jewellery and dresses all my life. I don’t know if they are getting close to wine production.’

Bruni compared what she does at Château d’Estoublon with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie at Miraval. ‘Did they check on the Miraval production? I have no idea. I would ask them if I saw them. I saw her at Cannes but it was such a big dinner,’ she laughed.

Bruni is learning as she goes along, just as she did with music: ‘You can feel it when I make songs, it’s always four notes because I am an auto-didact. Some jobs are auto-didact, some not, like a dentist or doctor,’ she joked.

Prats added: ‘She brings an artistic and creative aspect. Four years ago we started with a white piece of paper. Victor was not here. We didn’t have a bottle or a label. She is instrumental in the DNA of the brand.’

The Bruni-Sarkozy name clearly opens doors, but it’s not without its drawbacks. Last year Bruni was charged with witness tampering, while Sarkozy was given a suspended sentence in 2023 for corruption and trying to bribe a judge.

She batted it away when I asked whether these charges had affected the Roseblood project: ‘It doesn’t impact our work. My husband and I work every day. It has had no impact on sales.’

Prats added: ‘On the contrary, we started with a white piece of paper and the wine market upside down. Today we are now one of the substantial players in Provence.’

Bruni doesn’t think the pink bubble might burst at any point. ‘Rosé is a feminine wine, something very light you can have at lunch and feel okay and still work in the afternoon.’

At only 12.5% abv, the wine has a freshness about it which Joyeux puts down to the high altitude, at 350m-500m above sea level.

There’s also a zero alcohol offering, made largely from Muscat grapes which are chilled, filtered and carbonated. Prats said that they were not impressed with the quality of any dealcoholized wines so decided to go down this route.

I asked whether they might produce sparkling wine and everybody laughed and went quiet, so watch this space.

Looking to the future, Bruni said that their daughter Giulia is ‘completely in love with Château d’Estoublon. I am sure she would love to work for us’. There are also four other Sarkozy children.

Bruni is good company, passing around sandwiches and asking about my family and where I live. ‘I am crazy about the English countryside,’ she said. She was also intrigued that before our meeting I‘d had lunch at a British brasserie called L’Entente. ‘But what is British food?’ she asked.

They make a good team, Bruni with her big ideas and Prats the practical one making them a reality. After an hour Bruni apologised, she had a terrible toothache since the Cannes Film Festival and had to go to the dentist, ‘not an autodidact one.’

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The main challenges of this year’s rosé tasting appear to have been balancing climate change’s increasingly hotter and drier summers with consumer demand for lower alcohol and white wine.

2024 in Provence included a relatively wet spring, and a rather hot summer, but winemakers seem to agree that it was, overall, a good vintage.

Generally, the quality was good, with scores clumping around 88-89.

Provence seems to be a safe bet, with homogeneous style and consistent quality.

Scroll down for Elizabeth Gabay MW’s top Provence rosé picks

This seems to be the major strength of the region, especially the gap between mid-range and premium seems to be narrowing.

The famous names are good, but the gap is narrowing. There are now many newcomers or lesser-known producers making excellent rosé in similar styles, often at very competitive prices.

Holidaying in Provence? See our travel guide here

Paler than ever

More than ever before, the 2024 rosés were extremely pale, verging on the white with a tinge of pink.

A number of wines showed evidence that they were harvested early to retain fresh acidity, the pale colour, and achieve lower alcohol, but this unripe fruit often resulted in green, acidic wines lacking in charm or character.

The best embraced riper fruit, albeit with a touch more alcohol at around 13.5%, sometimes with a touch more colour, and increasingly including some older vintages.

Oak-aged rosés, once outliers, are now a staple in the range of many, if not most, Provence rosé producers.

But, what was once a singular category of ‘oaked rosé’ is now a range of styles and choices, ranging from almost imperceptible to deep, complex, and age-worthy.

Oak is no longer the main indicator of premium quality rosé, even if many of the very best did spend some time in barrel.

Adventurous styles emerging

Just being pale pink is no longer the prime consideration when buying rosé, particularly for younger, more adventurous consumers.

Even in Provence, there are plenty of wines for those happy to embrace darker colours and more adventurous styles.

It was exciting to see a growing amount of diversity in winemaking, ranging from reductive fresh and fruity wines to rosés in oak, amphora and eggs as well as different varieties, such as Viognier and Muscat, contributing further to the range of different styles.

These aromatic varieties worked best when carefully handled and not used as a substitute for fruit in more unripe wines.

Terroir conversation

With increased conversation recently about the different terroirs around Provence, the higher quality rosés often stood out for their use of local grape varieties and their regional expression, working with terroir rather than against it.

Bandol again stands out for its structured, concentrated Mourvèdre-heavy rosés, most of which do justify their slightly higher price tags.

The Côtes de Provence sub-appellations (La Londe, Sainte Victoire, Fréjus, Pierrefeu and Notre-Dame-des-Anges) are still good options for slightly higher quality rosé, with Notre-Dame-des-Anges standing out this year.

The Luberon is a good place to look in 2025 for some really excellent value-for-money, especially from slightly fuller-bodied, more concentrated wines than the pale delicacy found elsewhere in Provence this vintage.

With such a large region, the scope for a variety of styles is large. This also highlights a divide in the range of wines being produced.

The majority of rosés conformed to the classic Provence blueprint in various degrees of success: dry, mineral, delicate peach and redcurrant fruit and fresh acidity.

As ‘Provence-style’ is adopted ever more widely across the world, Provençal producers need to do more to emphasise local terroirs, and move away from the lowest common denominator of pale colour.

Elizabeth Gabay MW’s top Provence rosés to seek out:

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Elizabeth Gabay MW, Natasha Hughes MW and Joanna Simon tasted 115 wines, with 12 Outstanding and 44 Highly recommended

Provence whites: Panel tasting scores

115 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 12

Highly recommended 44

Recommended 36

Commended 23

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their latest-release white wines from any part of the Provence region and at any price

Scroll down to see the top-scoring wines from the Provence whites panel tasting

Stepping out of Provence’s rose-tinted shadow

Provence white wines aren’t (yet) well known outside the region, notes Natasha Hughes MW, but they’re growing in popularity. This tasting showed enough potential to make it a category of interest.

With the rosés of Provence becoming increasingly pale, white wine could be seen as a natural progression; there was even one blanc de noir in the tasting.

Some producers claim that technological knowledge gained from making rosé (such as temperature control and more reductive winemaking) has improved the region’s white wines. However, it wasn’t evident from the tasting that white wines inspired by rosé were the best way to go.

Joanna Simon felt that producers needed ‘to stand back and look at their white wines in the context of other white wines’, noting that ‘many of them are applying rosé winemaking to the wines as if they’re going to sell them to the same consumers as their rosés’.

A hotbed of cellar experimentation

The best wines in the tasting showed richness, intensity, greater ripeness and ageing potential, while just over half were white versions of their rosé siblings, with young, reductive, crisp, crunchy white fruit.

The least successful provoked comments that they tasted as if picked underripe, resulting in green acidity, and were driven by a yeasty character. Simon felt that in ‘a region of this size, there is room for two styles’.

We would have liked to see more evidence of terroir or regional character in the wines that were based on the Rolle grape (known in Italy as Vermentino).

In terms of regions, Bandol stood out as the most exciting, and by default marked Clairette as an interesting variety. Cassis, the white wine appellation of Provence, was something of a disappointment.

The use of oak, amphorae and cement containers created complexity and texture, noted Hughes, who felt that ‘it was not individual regions or varieties that stood out, but the producers who had enough confidence in their terroir and their winemaking to create wines with a real sense of identity’.

See all recommendations from the Provence whites tasting

What to eat with Provence whites, by Fiona Beckett

Why drink Provence whites when you could drink Provence rosé? Maybe food is the key. Despite being in many instances pale and crisp enough to do duty for a white, rosés don’t have quite the same synergy with seafood.

If you’re cooking a bouillabaisse or a bourride, working your way through a plate of langoustines and mayonnaise, or assembling a grand aioli – especially with salt cod – Provence whites would have the edge.

Thinking of the kind of dishes, too, that would go with Vermentino over the border in Italy, they’d work with pasta dishes such as spaghetti vongole (spaghetti or linguine with clams) or a spring vegetable risotto. And the creaminess and slight almond bitterness of a Provence white is a better match than rosé for pistou, the French version of pesto.

Older vintages and wines that are dominated by Grenache, Roussanne or Marsanne behave more like a Rhône white, so think more in terms of roast or grilled veal, or a whole roast fish, such as a turbot. Both styles would be perfect with the local goat cheeses.

Provence whites panel tasting results

Wines were tasted blind

The judges

Elizabeth Gabay MW is a wine writer, educator, speaker and consultant, with a focus on the wines of southern France. Her second book Rosés of Southern France (£22 Amazon, 2022) was co-authored with her son Ben Bernheim

Natasha Hughes MW is a freelance wine consultant, educator, judge and writer, with a focus on wine with food. Her writing has appeared in titles including The Observer, jancisrobinson. com and timatkin.com, and she’s currently working on her first book, about Beaujolais

Joanna Simon is an awarded wine writer, editor, presenter and judge based in London. She spent 22 years as the wine critic for The Sunday Times and has authored several wine books

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Cru status will be applied to the rosé and red wines from the Sainte-Victoire sub area.

Until now, Sainte-Victoire has been one of five Dénominations Géographiques Complémentaires (DGC) – or additional geographic designations – attached to the Côtes de Provence appellation, granted in 2005.

Jean-Jacques Balikian, current director of the Sainte-Victoire winemakers association, said that the DCG had been a first step in progressing towards cru status.

The other four DCG are: La Londe, Fréjus, Pierrefeu and Notre-Dame des Anges.

See here for more info on these ‘micro-crus’ of Provence

Eric Pastorino, chairman of the Provence wine board (CIVP), is a strong supporter of these regional identities, and has worked hard over the past four years to obtain the cru status for Sainte-Victoire.

Although in theory this might be seen as just a change of name, producers are hopeful that promotion to cru status will allow for even greater recognition of the importance of terroir on Provence rosés, as well as recognition for the red wines of the region.

Balikian acknowledges that it will mean greater diligence on ensuring the wines are of high quality, but does not anticipate higher prices, in fact it may justify the often higher prices for Provence wines.

Most producers have expressed confidence in the strength of the cru status to help them with sales.

Paul Alary, head of communication and marketing at Château Gassier, part of the Advini Group, felt it would make it easier to sell the wine as the term ‘cru’ is already understood in wine terminology and has a perceived premium value.

Sophie Sumeire Denante of Château Coussin is confident that the elevation in status will increase the perception of the wines of Sainte-Victoire as being of great quality.

Dorotheé Sarlat of Domaine La Grande Bauquière agreed, and feels that it will give a more positive and clear message to consumers compared to the more vague Dénominations Géographiques Complémentaires labelling term.

Situated in western Provence, Sainte-Victoire lies between the Coteaux d’Aix and Coteaux Varois areas.

Its vineyards, along the small Arc river valley, are dominated by the striking 18km-long, 1,011m-high limestone cliffs of Mont Sainte-Victoire.

The wines of Ste Victoire have long been noted for a distinctive freshness due to its soils, higher slopes, cold Mistral wind and protection from the Mediterranean heat by a range of mountains.

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In the early 2000s, the French were drinking more white wine than rosé.

By 2008, however, mainstream media were reporting that sales of rosé had overtaken those of white for the first time. Since then rosé has swept the wine world.

The production and consumption of rosé has been increasing worldwide.

And styles are inevitably changing. Rosé is serious business and a serious wine. There are now rosés that can be cellared and aged.

Scroll down for notes and scores of five vintages of Garrus and Les Clans rosé from Château d’Esclans

Sea change

If there’s one man who can take the credit for this sea change, it’s Sacha Lichine.

In 2006, he created Whispering Angel, a Côtes de Provence rosé that he describes today as ‘closer to a spirits brand,’ as well as two pioneering oak-fermented rosés, Garrus and Les Clans, from his estate Château d’Esclans.

While he originally went on a property recce in search of the sun, his vision became to create the world’s most expensive rosé, a wine of elegance and precision, complexity and ageability, that could hold its own among other fine wines – whites, reds and not least Burgundy.

The estate’s vineyards are in the limestone-rich soils of the upper Esclans valley in the Var department, which he leased and then finally bought in 2005 after selling Château Prieuré-Lichine, in Margaux, in 1999.

Developing the style of a fine rosé

The technical director Lichine recruited to realise this vision was a Bordeaux winemaker, Patrick Léon, recently retired from Château Mouton Rothschild.

But the inspiration for the winemaking of Garrus and Les Clans was white Burgundy: fermentation and ageing in new oak with twice weekly batonnage.

There has been fine tuning over the years. Both fermentation and maturation are now in 600-litre demi-muids, instead of 500-litre barrels, and each is individually temperature controlled.

The wines are aged for 10 months and the oak is a mix of new, second and third use. Most of the barrels are from coopers Seguin Moreau and, critically, they’re only very lightly toasted.

Other fundamentals include picking in the cool early morning, a three-stage grape sorting process, cooling the grapes down to 7ºC-8ºC, and a closed-circuit ultra-light pressing process that results in very pale, basically free-run juice (85%-90% in the case of Les Clans).

The average vine age is 50-70 years for Les Clans and ‘a little bit older’ for Garrus, according to Lichine.

Where they diverge radically from Burgundy is of course in their grape varieties: 78%-80% Grenache ‘for elegance,’ says Lichine, and 18%-20% Rolle ‘for richness’.

There is a smidgen of Syrah and there could be a tad of Tibouren and Cinsault.

Making wine that sells

‘Everyone thought I was off my head to sell a fourth-growth Bordeaux to do this,’ says Lichine.

What they didn’t appreciate is that Sacha Lichine not only knows how to make wine and run an estate, he knows how to sell wine.

It may be the less romantic side of the wine business (although it can be glamorous at the upper echelons), but it was key to Esclans’ success and the subsequent global rise of rosé.

Has Lichine achieved what he set out to do? In my view, yes. The wines are rich and vinous yet elegant, and they become more complex with age.

Garrus, especially, starts out more like white Burgundy and can become more like red Burgundy with age, which surely can’t be bad.

Are they worth the money? Only you can decide what to spend your money on, but their quality compares with wines of equivalent price.

Notes and scores for five vintages of Garrus and Les Clans

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Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have reportedly agreed to settle their long-running divorce proceedings, but there continued to be uncertainty regarding a separate dispute over Provence vineyard estate Château Miraval.

Angelina Jolie’s lawyer, James Simon, told People magazine that the two Hollywood A-listers had signed off on a divorce settlement at the end of December, following an eight-year legal tussle. Details were not released.

Yet, a dispute over ownership of Château Miraval was seemingly still to be resolved, according to People and The Washington Post.

Pitt and Jolie bought Miraval from Tom Bove in 2011, having rented the property since 2008.  

Their debut Miraval rosé wine, made in partnership with the Perrin family of Château de Beaucastel fame, was released in 2013. Well-received in tastings, the first 1,000 cases sold out in just a few hours.  

Miraval, located in Correns, was subsequently the venue for Pitt and Jolie’s wedding ceremony. But this picturesque Provence vineyard property has been a highly contentious element of the couple’s split, announced in 2016.

In October 2021, it was announced that Jolie had sold her 50% stake in Miraval to premium wine group Tenute del Mondo, a subsidiary of Stoli Group.

In 2022, however, it emerged that Pitt had filed a lawsuit in the US that took issue with the deal. Uncertainty has continued to hang over Miraval’s future ownership, in what a 2023 feature article by Vanity Fair dubbed the ‘war of the rosé’.

In July last year, Stoli Group said Tenute del Mondo was embroiled in the legal proceedings with Brad Pitt, having previously acquired the company Nouvel LLC from Jolie.

Despite the unsettled backdrop since 2016, Miraval has continued to release wines. Its brand reputation has grown, amid rising popularity for Provence rosé wines in general.

Decanter contributor Elizabeth Gabay MW gave 89 points to Miraval Rosé 2023 after tasting it in 2024. ‘Youthfully restrained aromas of white flowers, this wine has a combination of freshness and concentration,’ Gabay wrote.

Pitt reopened a long-dormant recording studio on the Miraval estate in 2022. Emmy Award-winning French producer Damien Quintard helped to revamp the studio, which had previously been used by AC/DC, Sting and The Cranberries – among others.

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Some producers become part of the history of their region. Their romantic story, their innovative ideas, the quality of their wine.

Many of these iconic estates shine for only a couple of years and burn out, few last for decades and even fewer continue to flourish with the next generation.

Domaine de Trévallon is one of the success stories.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores for Domaine de Trévallon

In the early 1950s, artists René Dürrbach and Jacqueline de la Baume moved to the rural idyll of Mas Chabert near St-Rémy de Provence. They had many connections with other leading artists of the era, many of whom were either residents or frequent visitors to the French Riviera.

Pablo Picasso was even godfather to their son, Eloi. In 1955 they bought the neighbouring farm of Domaine de Trévallon, both estates nestling on the wooded slopes of the northwestern flank of Les Alpilles, facing market gardens and orchards sloping down to the Rhône Valley.

René Dürrbach was interested in planting vines, so after training as an architect and returning home in 1973, Eloi sought work experience in the area with producers.

He found it at Château Vignelaur, an estate created by Georges Brunet, former owner of Château La Lagune in the Haut-Médoc, whose first harvest in 1970 had garnered acclaim.

First vintage

Inspired by Brunet’s planting of Cabernet Sauvignon (from original cuttings from Bordeaux) and Syrah, Eloi obtained cuttings from Vignelaure and started planting the Trévallon vineyard, following the small valleys running down from the Alpilles limestone hills.

The red wines have been made the same way since the beginning. Varieties are fermented separately in open-topped wooden tonneaux without destemming, the addition of SO2 or cultured yeasts.

After fermenting for three weeks, each variety is matured in foudres (80%) and barriques for almost two years, with just one racking.

A small portion of press wine is added to the final blend, which is fined with egg whites but not filtered.

Trévallon’s first vintage, 1976, was sold locally, including at the restaurant Oustau de Baumanière.

Discovery

It was here, in 1978, a young Aubert de Villaine, recently appointed director of Domaine de la Romanée Conti, came across Trévallon, He was so impressed, he introduced his American importer Kermit Lynch to the estate.

In 1984, Robert Parker raved about the wine, creating a buzz in the US.

With success the 1990s saw further changes. Two hectares of Marsanne and Roussanne, from cuttings from Château de Beaucastel in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, were planted for a new white wine.

Trévallon’s reputation also attracted ambitious young winemakers who came to learn, including Laurent Vaillé, who went on to create his own famous vineyard, Grange des Pères.

New appellation rules in 1993 meant that Trévallon’s Cabernet-dominant wines were no longer accepted, so Trévallon began labelling its wines IGP Bouches du Rhône, and the series of labels designed by René were created for the 1996 vintage.

But Eloi was unhappy with the growing cult status and uneasy with the high prices reached on resale of older vintages.

He argued with his importers and cancelled agency contracts, counting on a loyal customer base, largely based in France.

During the early 2000s, although the quality remained constant, sales decreased and, with the cellars filling up with unsold stock, the business was flagging.

The new generation

Turnaround came when Eloi’s youngest daughter Ostiane, then aged 24, joined in 2009. She streamlined sales and administration, abandoning the former exchange of wine for works of art, vines and services, and focused on regular, premium customers.

Sales are on allocation, with over 60% in France. Ostiane has introduced a second release for collectors, holding back up to 15% of each vintage and then releasing this around 10 years later; 2012 is the current library vintage.

Since 2015 the bottles are all numbered and production sits between 45,000 and 60,000 bottles of red wine, and 7,000 to 10,000 of white, from 15ha of red vineyards and 2ha of white.

With the more buoyant business, a new winery was built in 2013. By 2015, with a more carefully organised office, Ostiane was able to work more out in the vineyards and cellar.

She and cellar master Aimeric Gaubert, who joined in 2007, convinced Eloi to reduce the proportion of new wood, moving from barriques to demi-muids, and reducing battonage to restrain the richer, buttery notes and to experiment with terracotta amphorae.

Vineyard manager Pascal Febvre, who retired in 2020 after 30 years at the estate, worked with passion and precision, aiming to spot any disease on first appearance and to produce healthy grapes so that sorting at harvest is unnecessary.

It is a philosophy his successor, Jean-Luc Aubert (who has worked at the estate since 1989) has continued.

As for other external influences, after wild boar devastated the 2016 Syrah, Ostiane installed 2km of anti-boar fencing.

Taking the reins

Crisis hit in November 2021 when Eloi suddenly died, aged 71. An initial flurry of collectors bought wine, fearing this was the end of an era. But, having worked closely with her father for 13 years, Ostiane and her brother Antoine took the reins, maintaining his philosophy. As she says, many decisions now taken come from their conversations.

Climate change is an increasing challenge. 2021 had low yields, especially for whites, due to spring frosts and summer drought, and the 2023 vintage was made two weeks earlier than usual, to preserve freshness.

To retain quality, small changes in the varieties used have been made. Eloi had already planted a small amount of Muscat to contribute greater spice and fruit.

Despite greater canopy management the Syrah has become increasingly alcoholic. So Ostiane is slowly increasing the percentage of Cabernet, returning to its historic, pre-1992 level of 60%, thereby keeping elegance and freshness.

Ostiane is also trialling other ways of dealing with climate change. On the stony Les Graviers plot where the stones radiate heat, Ostiane is mulching with straw and hemp under the vines to reduce the temperature.

With wine only available on allocation, Ostiane has considered, and dismissed, the idea of expansion.

Planting more vineyards would eat into their valuable natural woodland which moderates the microclimate.

For now, Trévallon is doing what it has always done, with small changes in field and cellar. The quality and integrity of the wine is the guiding force of Ostiane’s vision.

She has taken control with confidence and the estate is going from strength to strength.

Domaine de Trévallon

Wines are listed white, then red, in score order

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In summer, Provence offers brilliant blue skies and Mediterranean beaches. The winters can be a bit wetter, but they are still relatively warm, especially by the sea, where pines and oaks give way to palm trees, vibrant purple bougainvillaea and citrus orchards.

Provence’s southernmost tip, around Bandol and La Londe, is on roughly the same latitude as Bolgheri in southern Tuscany. The region is famous for its Grenache-based rosés and beautiful beachside living, while its limestone garrigues, stunning scented lavender fields (in bloom June into August) and hilltop villages have attracted artists and tourists to the area for more than a century.

When dining in small countryside bistros, in addition to the ubiquitous rosés, expect to find a range of traditional Syrah-dominant reds and Rolle-dominant whites that aren’t typically found outside of the region. Much of Provence’s modern viticultural history can be traced back to the introduction of the railway. The Permian depression – a low-lying area whose geology dates back to the Permian Period (299-251 million years ago) – that runs from Toulon eastwards to around Fréjus, passing through Vidauban, has been a communications and transport corridor since Roman times and in the 1850s, the railway from Marseille was built through it, linking up with Nice by 1864. Many of the Côtes de Provence appellation’s vineyards lie within a few kilometres of this line, with easy access to export markets a key consideration. This historic heartland is the easiest region to visit by bicycle. The hills of Coteaux Varois and the lavender fields of the Luberon are mostly out of reach without a car.

A secondary railway line was opened by the last decade of the 19th century, linking Nice with the Durance valley via Grasse and the grape growing heartlands of northern Provence: Callas, Flayosc, Lorgues and Rians. The line was discontinued after World War II, and much of its length is now quiet, cycle-friendly roads, often running side-by-side with modern, wider ones.

Day one

Arrival, Les Arcs, Draguignan & environs

The reintroduced sleeper trains from Paris to the south of France mirror the former Le Train Bleu – the iconic train that swept tourists to the riviera between 1886 and 2003. Departing from Paris Gare d’Austerlitz every evening (usually between 8.50pm and 9.30pm; check timetables), the sleeper today stops at Marseille, Toulon, Les Arcs/Draguignan and St-Raphael/Fréjus – all of which offer easy connections to vineyards. If you’re arriving from further afield, Nice airport is very well connected, and most trains to Les Arcs take a little over an hour, leaving roughly hourly from the airport station.

Les Arcs is a good first stop and base for a few days. Start the day at a café in the plane tree-shaded main square of this slightly sleepy, medieval Provençal village. The square is lined by small restaurants and cafés, mostly frequented by locals and serving local wines. Walk 15 minutes through the old town centre and you’ll find the little-known Domaine Valette (+33 [0]4 94 73 30 55), a small family-run estate; the wines are charming, authentic and inexpensive. Then, if you’re looking for some luxury, the one-star Michelin restaurant Le Relais des Moines is just down the road.

About 20 minutes’ walk from the station, on the other side of the railway, is the Maison des Vins of Côtes de Provence. Offering a free tasting of six rosés, six reds and four whites from across the appellation, this is an absolute must for an introduction to the wines of the area. You’ll be walking past Château Saint Pierre and the Cellier des Archers cooperative on the way, both of which also offer free tastings.

Les Arcs is also a good spot for bicycle lovers. The station is the junction with the former line to Draguignan, now a cycle path. Château Sainte Roseline and Château Font du Broc are both a short distance from this cycle path and worth a visit – especially if you can arrange to see the former’s private 11th-century chapel, notable for its artworks by Chagall and Giacometti (from €12 per person).

In Draguignan, stop for lunch at La Table de Martine (+33 [0]4 94 68 00 09), an exceptional family-run bistro serving local and seasonal food. There’s even a growing natural wine scene here, with new arrivals like Pulpe and Foudre offering a range of wines (not all local) and small plates.

For the more adventurous cyclists, continue on the EuroVelo 8 cycle highway. On sometimes busy roads (especially in summer) from Draguignan, the route continues up through central Provence and towards the Luberon. Beyond Flayosc, to Lorgues and Salernes, the route mostly follows the old railway line and traffic is very quiet. The pine trees give way almost entirely to oak forests, and if you’re here in the dead of winter, expect frost or even a little snow.

Bike rentals in Provence: a few good options

Dragui Cycles: 245 avenue du 4 Septembre, Draguignan

A short walk from the centre of town: ‘an essential service provider in Draguignan for the rental of mountain bikes, road bikes and electric bikes’, according to the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Tourism Board. Tariffs from €18 to €45 per day and up to €100-€245 for seven days.

L’Oustaou d’Aqui: Blvd Saint Pierre, Les Arcs sur Argens

Reasonably priced holiday accommodation, bike hire and more. Conveniently positioned in the centre of town, ‘five minutes’ easy walking’ from Les Arcs-Draguignan station, with an informative website that includes plenty of things to do in the local area.

Mondovélo Pertuis: 36 rue François Gernelle, Pertuis

Mountain bike hire from €24 a day, road bikes €35, e-bikes €40, with a wide range of choice and advice from an expert and passionate team. Open Monday to Saturday.

Vignes à Vélo, Les Arcs sur Argens

From April to October, the mairie (town hall) in Les Arcs offers organised tours on electric bikes, visiting wineries in the local area. Wednesday to Saturday, booking fee €35 per person (minimum age 14) plus additional tariffs according to how many estates are visited across one, two or three days; groups up to 10 people. It’s popular, so you’ll need to book well ahead.

For more options, the Var Tourisme website has an interactive map with bike rental providers from across the region, as well as information about cycling tours and routes.

Day two

Explore Les Arcs to Lorgues

If going further, or perhaps on a second day, Château de Berne just north of Lorgues is a great place to stop for lunch – choose between the one-star Michelin (and Michelin Green Star) Le Jardin de Berne or opt for the informal Bistrot du Château (the pizzas are excellent). Afterwards, you can tour the vines, either on the estate’s 30km of signposted mountain bike paths (e-MTB rental is possible at the estate) or 100km of footpaths. The five-star hotel is excellent, but for a more affordable option (and brilliant, hearty food), continue to Lou Cigaloun in St-Antonin-du-Var, just along the EuroVelo 8. Chateau Mentone, also in St-Antonin, is a bit further, situated right on the former railway. There is a restaurant, rooms, a small spa and guided wine tastings. They also offer e-bike rental and charging.

Lorgues is full of great options, including Château La Martinette, which has a restaurant and also offers guided tours of the estate with a wine tasting and cheese pairing (€35 per person). A nearby local institution – I first went there as a toddler and cooled off running around in the garden sprinklers – is the one-star Michelin restaurant Chez Bruno. The food is simply outstanding, with truffles served at every course, and it is particularly good at catering for vegetarians and special dietary requirements.

Loop back to Les Arcs southeast via Taradeau – this isn’t a cycle path, but the road is wide and not too busy. Stop off at the cru classé Château de Saint-Martin. Try its Comtesse rosé, partially aged in mulberry-wood barrels – a nod to the region’s once-flourishing silkworm industry. Or, take a detour via nearby Vidauban to Château d’Astros, a gorgeous old château surrounded by plane tree-lined avenues, where the film adaptation of Marcel Pagnol’s Le Château de Ma Mère was filmed.

Adventurous cyclists can take a further detour, going from Lorgues towards Draguignan on the D562, which passes by Château Roubine, then taking a right onto the D57 to find the excellent Château Saint-Esprit, then the D73 south via Domaines Ott’s Château de Selle on the way to Taradeau. These roads are fairly quiet and cyclist-friendly. If you can face the steep uphill climb around Taradeau, head to the Tour du Taradel, a medieval watchtower with stunning views, even from the bottom. Taradeau and Vidauban are both also accessible by a short, if infrequent, bus service from Les Arcs.

Alternative routes

Hardcore riders may wish to continue west along the EuroVelo 8 and end in the town of Pertuis. From Lorgues, the EV8 continues up into Coteaux Varois en Provence, then Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence, via Sillans, Barjols and Rians to Pertuis, about 120km from Les Arcs. But beware, this route is only for the most hardened, long-distance cyclists. The roads are quiet, but not always exclusively cycle paths. Top estates along the way include Château Vignelaure in Rians, which pioneered the Syrah-Cabernet Sauvignon red blend in Provence in the 1970s – but keep in mind that this area is relatively empty, of both vineyards and noteworthy restaurants. By Pertuis, you’ve reached the outskirts of the lavender fields of the Luberon.

You can also start or end in Pertuis. It has a railway station that is reachable in a few hours from Avignon via Marseille, and renting a bicycle is possible here. The tourist office suggests a three-day, 95km loop around the Luberon, cycling via Cadenet, Cucuron, Grambois and Mirabeau. Top estates to visit include Château la Sable in Cucuron (consider staying here – they have a cosy B&B) and Château de Clapier in Mirabeau, which hosts picnics and concerts in the gardens of the château throughout the summer.

Day three

Island life: to Porquerolles

On a third day, or if you are looking for a bit more beach and coast, head to the island of Porquerolles, taking a train from Les Arcs via Toulon to Hyères, then the 67 bus from the station to Hyères port, followed by a ferry. The journey is a little complicated, but getting to the island really is worth it. The whole of Porquerolles is a national park in which cars are banned. Two estates have vineyards here: Domaine de l’Ile, which is owned by Chanel and notable for the high proportion of Tibouren, a variety found almost exclusively in coastal Provence, in its blends; and Domaine La Courtade. Both are excellent and serve food at small pop-up restaurants throughout the summer (note that reservations are essential).

Bicycles are widely available to rent here, but the island is small enough to stroll around on foot. While you are there, check out Villa Carmignac’s extensive modern art collection (open to the public until early November; tickets up to €16).

Day four

Must visit: Bandol

A few stops west on the Toulon line, the Bandol region, famous for its Mourvèdre-dominant rosés and ageworthy reds, is served by several stations. Multiple estates are within easy walking distance from the station of St Cyr-Les Lecques. Château Pradeaux is the closest, but Domaine Pieracci and Domaine Maubernard are both within 15 minutes’ walk. Bicycles are permitted on local trains free of charge outside peak hours, and most of the rest of Bandol’s wine estates are easily reachable by bike along the sleepy country roads – although these can get quite steep in places!

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In 2022, the French conglomerate became the majority shareholder in Côtes-de-Provence producer Château Sainte Marguerite.

The Fayard family, which had owned the estate since 1977, maintained a minority stake in the company following the sale.

Château Sainte Marguerite has more than 200ha under vine, and it produces popular wines such as Symphonie, Fantastique and Marguerite en Provence.

The company has now announced plans to snap up Aux Terres de Ravel, which is located approximately 15km north of Château Sainte Marguerite.

The deal is expected to be completed this summer. At that point, Château Sainte Marguerite’s estate will extend to more than 500ha.

That will allow Pernod Ricard and the Fayard family to ramp up production of Symphonie, Fantastique and Marguerite en Provence.

As part of the deal, 20ha will be sold to young wine-growers from the region as part of a support programme established by the Société d’Aménagement Foncier et d’Etablissement Rural.

Olivier Fayard, managing director of Château Sainte Marguerite, said: ‘This project should help support our growth in France and internationally. We are delighted that young wine-growers will also benefit from this move.’

Frédéric Ravel, a representative of the Ravel family, which owns Aux Terres de Ravel, added: ‘We are very pleased to see our family heritage join Sainte Marguerite en Provence, whose values we share and who will continue to develop the estate in the same spirit that has prevailed until now.’

Château Sainte Marguerite sits in Pernod Ricard’s luxury wines portfolio, alongside Champagne brands Mumm and Perrier-Jouët.

The company is primarily renowned for producing spirits such as Chivas Regal, Jameson, Absolut, Beefeater, Havana Club, Martell, The Glenlivet and Ricard, but it also owns mass market wine brands, including Campo Viejo and Jacob’s Creek.

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• Rediscovering Provence: 18 top-quality reds and whites

With all eyes focused on rosés in Provence, it is easy to forget the more traditional reds and the increasingly popular whites. Despite representing under 10% of Provence wine production, red and white wines are still popular among winemakers and are often consumed by locals rather than exported – even if the market for big, hearty reds in France is slowly drying up. Proof of this enthusiasm came in over 400 wines submitted to this tasting.

For the first time ever, in 2022 white Côtes de Provence production (44,000hl) exceeded that of red (40,000hl), and an ever-increasing proportion of red grapes are being snapped up by rosé production. The changes in technology and marketing that have propelled the region’s rosés to world fame have started to spill over to the whites as well, leading to a shortage of white grapes, which are also readily snapped up for the rosés.

Most of the reds and whites are made by small, family-owned estates, contrasting with the big players who almost exclusively produce rosé. Reds and whites are also more common in the region’s secondary APs and IGPs, such as APs Cassis (mostly white) and Les-Baux de-Provence, and IGPs Méditerranée and Var.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 18 top reds and whites of Provence

Changing styles

The past 100 years have seen a constant evolution in the style of Provence’s wines. There used to be a considerable volume of sweet wines produced, made with late-harvest or raisined grapes. There also used to be a large range of local varieties, which have now all but died out.

Since the early 1980s, the growth in tourism and better transport links has opened up the Provençal interior, leading to the steady rise of rosé and the near-extinction of big, hearty, Carignan-based reds which were once the mainstay of the south.

Provence whites

Rolle (no longer allowed to be labelled as Vermentino) was once the exclusive preserve of Bellet, a small appellation to the north of Nice, which became French in 1860. Provence producers in the 1970s noticed the variety’s potential and started to plant it in Provence. Today, Rolle is the ubiquitous variety of most white wines here. The majority are made in a crisp and fresh style, very much in the same vein as their pink cousins, perfect for drinking during the hot summers.

However, there are also more serious, complex and often oak-aged whites being produced. Alcohol levels range between 12% for the lighter style, up to 14.5% for the weightier iterations. Expect notes of lime, white florals, beeswax, and subtle Riesling-like kerosene notes with age.

Although Rolle attracts the most attention and the majority of new plantings, there still exist a number of traditional varieties. Clairette is found on the coast in particular, around Bandol and Cassis, along with Marsanne. Clairette is present in some of the region’s top whites, and although it can be watery and underwhelming when harvested underripe, is notable for its exuberant pineapple notes and high acidity when harvested later, especially at higher altitude.

Ugni Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc are still quite widespread, giving extra freshness and vibrancy. Semillon increasingly struggles with the hotter summers but can add a lovely richness to the blend, and is usually a grape variety to look out for.

Grenache Blanc and Roussanne are fairly common, especially further north in the Luberon and Coteaux d’Aix, and make excellent full-bodied whites. International varieties such as Chardonnay and Viognier are common in the region’s IGPs and in Vin de France bottlings.

Contrasting with coastal whites, those found on the limestone slopes of Sainte-Victoire, the higher plateau of Coteaux Varois and northern Coteaux d’Aix often have extra freshness.

Provence reds

Before the rosé boom, red wines were the most popular style, often given greater depth by bleeding off some juice which was then turned into rosé. Today, with rosé often made as an independent product, the red wines no longer rely on this extra concentration. Instead, Provence reds have moved away from full-bodied wines and tend to be more restrained, often with a minimalist minerality.

Just as light, fresh whites appeal to rosé drinkers, it comes as no surprise to see a greater number of lighter reds appearing. These are fresh, fruit-forward and usually unoaked, although volumes are still small and quality can be erratic. The trend towards lighter wines has led some producers to forget that Provence is a hot and dry climate where properly ripe grapes and high alcohol levels are unavoidable.

There is no clear geographic heartland for the reds, with coastal areas such as La Londe and Bandol producing relatively large volumes just as commonly as the inland parts of Coteaux d’Aix and the Luberon.

Grenache-dominated reds are relatively rare, with Grenache largely finding its home in rosé. Instead, almost half of the region’s top reds are made from Syrah-Cabernet blends, and most of the rest are majority Syrah. This style dates back to 1970, when Georges Brunet (then owner of Château La Lagune in the Haut-Médoc) created Château Vignelaure. Early vintages of its red were primarily Cabernet Sauvignon with a touch of Syrah and Grenache. When the appellation Coteaux d’Aix was created in 1985, the amount of Cabernet in the blend steadily declined. Eloi Dürrbach, who made the wine at Château Vignelaure and then set up his own estate, Domaine de Trévallon, continued to make an equal blend of Cabernet and Syrah under the IGP Bouches-du-Rhône. This early Bordeaux inspiration remains important at Domaine de Trévallon, with a higher percentage of both Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc evident in the estate’s red and white wines.

While Provence-style rosés are fairly hard to define, the Syrah-Cabernet duo embodies modern Provence-style reds. The Syrah-based reds often have more than a passing stylistic nod to the northern Rhône, with notes of violets and fine minerality, rather than the more jammy style of many other southern Syrahs.

Bandol, famous for its Mourvèdre, stands out for its quality. Due to the variety’s reductive character, extended maceration is often required, allowing Mourvèdre’s characteristic leather and spice to shine. The appellation regulations demand a minimum of 18 months in oak – these are serious, ageworthy wines.

The oak question

The use of oak throughout Provence is controversial. While some producers choose small, toasty, new oak barriques, many prefer larger, 500-600-litre demi-muids and foudres for more fruit-forward flavours. A growing number of producers are also trialling concrete and amphorae, although experimentation is rare in what is otherwise a surprisingly traditional and conventional wine region.

Broad generalisations of ripe fruit and exuberance could be used to describe the reds and whites of Provence, but this tasting showed an enormous amount of diversity and creativity, demonstrating that it is a region producing quality red and whites worth exploring beyond the rosés.

Tasting notes and scores for 18 top reds and whites of Provence

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The fame of Provence rosés has encouraged an image of simplicity and approachability for all of the region’s wines, but work on regional expression is an on-going project.

Under the Vins de Provence umbrella sit the three appellations;

• Coteaux-Varois-en-Provence,
• Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence,
• Côtes de Provence.

The latter is the largest and includes five, virtually unknown, sub-regions, known as Dénominations Géographiques Complémentaires, (DGC) or, more commonly, Dénominations de Terroir, created to help focus on the diversity of the region.

Scroll down for Elizabeth Gabay MW’s notes and scores on a dozen Provence ‘micro cru’ wines

These DGC – labelled as Côtes de Provence plus the DGC – each of which took around 10 years to achieve official status by the INAO, include:

• Sainte-Victoire, in the far west of the appellation, in the relatively high altitude limestone Arc valley, nestled beneath the imposing Mont Sainte-Victoire (Mas de Cadenet, Domaine de Saint Ser, Château Coussin);
• La Londe, roughly halfway along the coast between Bandol and Saint-Tropez, exclusively on the first schistous foothills of the Maures mountains (Château Léoube, Château Malherbe, Château Les Mesclances); and three lining the east-west central valley (or Permian depression), mostly along the Argens river.
• Pierrefeu, closest to Toulon and the coast (Château La Gordonne, Les Vignerons de Gonfaron);
• Fréjus, which includes the d’Esclans valley and the volcanic rhyolite foothills of the Estérel (Château Paquette, Château de Rouët); and the newest addition,
• Notre-Dame-des-Anges in the centre, furthest from the sea and the most continental of the sub-regions (Domaine Fouquette) with more full-bodied wines.

There have been extensive talks locally about elevating the two best (Sainte-Victoire and La Londe) to a formal ‘cru’ status, yet nothing has happened so far.

A step up

In blind tastings, the wines are consistently a cut above generic appellation wines. As well as requiring a relatively strict parcel-by-selection, they also have lower maximum yields (50hl/ha rather than 55hl/ha), do not allow any carbon filtering of the rosés, and the reds of Pierrefeu and Fréjus must be aged for one month longer than generic Côtes de Provence (to 1st November rather than 1st October).

Each DGC has a different combination of permissible grape varieties. Both rosé and red wines can be made under all five denominations, with the recent inclusion of whites in La Londe. The other four are in the long process of including whites too, as this category is rising in popularity.

While DGC wines usually command higher prices, and the quality is usually better, typicity in the glass varies from strongly characterful to indistinguishable from generic Côtes de Provence. The best embrace regional character.

Differences in terroir

Sainte-Victoire is a cooler area with relatively high altitude, between 250m and 400m, protected from maritime influences by the Massif de la Sainte-Baume. Expect rosés from Sainte-Victoire to have a characteristic round, creamy-but-vibrant acidity, while the reds (usually Syrah) are fresh and generally austere.

La Londe is hotter, with vineyards both on the schistous slopes of the Massif des Maures, the sandier coastal plain and the micro terroirs of the island of Porqueyrolle. It was once more famous for ripe reds, but today it is more notable for fresh, crisp, zesty, unoaked whites made from Rolle that eschew the weighty gravitas of their inland peers. The rosés in particular stand out for the keen minerality granted by their schistous soils and ripe fruit from a consistently warm meso-climate.

Pierrefeu, leading down to the coast, is famous for its almond orchards and figs and has a milder, maritime climate resulting in fairly ripe, fruity wines.

Notre-Dame-des-Anges, the newest DCG and the hottest region, (it was badly burnt in the fires of summer 2022), has yet to find its own distinct style, while Fréjus, the most easterly region of Côtes de Provence, is made in such minute volumes (although currently growing in popularity) that it is difficult to differentiate producer individuality compared with the style of terroir, although the volcanic soils seem to give greater ageing potential. These particular rosés are unique as they do not allow the inclusion of white varieties in the blend, and the local Tibouren grape must be used.

How useful are they?

Cursed by Provence rosés’ simplistic appeal, many producers feel that consumers do not want to be overwhelmed by complex information on geographic origin, and choose not to use the DGC qualification.

For example Château d’Esclans, perhaps Provence’s most internationally famous estate nowadays, is entirely within the Fréjus area, but does not include the essential variety Tibouren and is therefore labelled as a generic Côtes de Provence. Of the 500ha of vineyards eligible for the sub-region, only 11ha declare it. Estates with Cru Classé status also chose not to also include a DCG qualification.

New sub-regions have also been discussed, although progress is slow. Areas to look out for are the high-altitude, red soil vineyards of Dracénie, the furthest north in Côtes de Provence, and the Saint-Tropez peninsula.

Elizabeth Gabay MW’s top 12 ‘micro cru’ wines from Provence

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Wine lovers will recognise the term, most notably from the wines of Bordeaux. But what does cru classé mean in Provence?

With only 18 estates holding this title, the rarity lends it a strong marketing pull and has recently encouraged big outside investment, but it doesn’t always indicate quality.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for Elizabeth Gabay MW’s top cru classé wines of Provence

What does cru classé mean in Provence?

Parallels with Bordeaux’s 1855 Grands Crus Classés system are frequently made, but only insofar as having a historical backstory. Provence’s cru classé status is attributed to an estate, or indeed the legal company behind the estate, rather than to a terroir, and applies to all wines from an estate, wherever their vineyards are located, in all three colours and at all price points, as long as the wines are labelled under the Côtes de Provence appellation.

Somewhat confusingly, in the Côtes de Provence appellation rulebook the cru classé designation is not distinguished by a higher quality level, and does not officially indicate a superior wine. The cru classé wines must adhere to the same standards as any other Côtes de Provence wine, without any additional requirements.

In this sense, the cru classé distinction is more historical than anything else, and further estates cannot become cru classé today. This is different, for example, from the official terroir designations that exist for the five Côtes de Provence sub-regions, which are assigned based on terroir.

Coming soon: A guide to the Côtes de Provence sub-regions

The 18 estates together make over 100 different wines – rosé, white and red – that are labelled as cru classé.

The 18 cru classé estates of Provence:

Château de Brégançon, Bormes

Château de l’Aumérade, Hyères

Château de la Clapière, Hyères

Château de Mauvanne, Les Salins-d’Hyères

Château de St-Martin, Taradeau

Château du Galoupet, La Londe

Château Minuty, Gassin

Château Roubine, Lorgues

Château St-Maur, Cogolin

Château Ste-Roseline, Les Arcs

Clos Cibonne, Le Pradet

Domaine de la Croix, La Croix-Valmer

Domaine de la Source – Ste-Marguerite, La Londe

Domaine de Rimauresq, Pignans

Domaine du Noyer, Clos Mistinguett, Bormes

Domaines Ott, Château de Selle, Taradeau

Domaines Ott, Clos Mireille, La Londe

Jas d’Esclans, La Motte

Five additional estates that were on the original list but no longer exist:

Clos de la Bastide Verte, La Garde

Clos du Relais, Lorgues

Coteau du Ferrage, Pierrefeu

Domaine de la Grande-Loube, Hyères

Domaine des Moulières, La Valette

Provence cru classé: a history

Today’s list of cru classé estates is derived from a classification that was made in 1955, created after a few confusing years of inclusions, exclusions, partial admissions and internal politics.

It all started in 1895 when a small group of property owners in the Var decided to group together to improve the quality and marketing of their wines. There followed, in the early 20th century, a surge in the development of quality wine in Provence: Cassis was granted appellation status in 1936 and Bandol in 1941. The Var’s other producers were keen to compete. A shortlist was drawn up in 1943, which even included Château Simone (a renowned estate in the Palette appellation).

By 1947, the final list had 23 estates. Other producers could also apply to join the list, subject to meeting the prerequisite criteria, and theoretically cooperatives were also allowed to join. The criteria for initial membership stipulated that wines must be estate-bottled, with a minimum of 18 months ageing and with strict control of varieties used. Additionally, the age-worthiness of the wines needed to be demonstrated through the presentation of at least three vintages of red wine.

Arguably an estate’s original location played a part in its ascension to cru classé status – 15 estates from the original list were located near the coast, with the others along the main railway line, prime locations which gave these estates a keen advantage, better access to bottling lines and a network for sales.

The cru classé estates today

One thing that many of the cru classé estates have in common is their picture-perfect old Provençal villas, with long family histories, often located on former Roman sites and church properties. Château Ste Roseline is as much visited for its 12th century abbey, the mummified remains of Ste Roseline and its contemporary art collection as for its wine. This estate was a major producer in the early days, conveniently located with easy transport links.

Historically the cru classé estates were the most innovative: bringing in Rolle from the Bellet appellation, and using longer oak ageing, resulting in a strong reputation for red and white wines. Today, unfortunately they are among the least innovative in terms of rosé production, with a few exceptions: Château de St-Martin’s new premium rosé aged in acacia and mulberry barrels; Château du Galoupet’s focus on sustainability; Domaine de Rimauresq’s full-bodied, gastronomic style Cuvée Rebelle; and Clos Cibonne’s highly lauded, premium wines.

Surprisingly few Provence rosés are bottled in dark-coloured glass. But if the age-worthiness of rosé is to be taken seriously, the use of dark glass bottles should be considered, as it prolongs the wine’s life, protecting it from light strike. The few exceptions among the cru classé estates are Clos Cibonne, Château Galoupet, and the top wines of Château St-Martin and Château St-Maur.

With a history of commercial success, and inevitably higher quality wines, the question today is whether the wines can still distinguish themselves as being premium quality. The wines are typically sold at a premium price point, yet show no unifying taste of terroir or style. Despite this, they are often above average quality – although sadly not always.

The luxury goods group LVMH has bought three cru classé estates since 2019 – Château du Galoupet, Jas d’Esclans and Château Minuty; Pernod Ricard purchased Château Ste Marguerite; and Roederer purchased Château de Selle and Clos Mireille.

Whether as a group the cru classé estates can uphold their historic aim of age-worthy, premium and innovative wines remains to be seen, however the large scale investment in these estates, as well as the involvement of Kylie Minogue at Château Ste Roseline, will certainly raise the profile and volume of the wines – and hopefully the quality, too.

Provence cru classé timeline:

1895 – First informal group of producers gather to promote the wines of Provence.

1931 – The Syndicat de Défense des Côtes de Provence was created.

1943 – Shortlist of estates drawn up for evaluation.

1947 – The Institut National de l’Origine et de la Qualité selected 23 estates as part of a study to evaluate the terroir, quality and reputation of each domaine.

1955 – Key conditions for accession to cru classé status confirmed and final list determined.

1977 – Appellation Côtes de Provence was created.

2005 – Cru classé estates signed a Charte d’Excellence to maintain quality

Gabay’s selection of the best Provence cru classé wines to try:

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Producers reported that they had never previously seen such large areas affected by hail, which swept through the Var department.

Vineyards in Flassans, Gonfaron, Le Luc, Bandol and Vidauban were among the worst affected as the hail pounded for around 30 minutes.

Éric Pastorino, president of the Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins de Provence (CIVP), could not immediately provide figures on the extent of the crop loss.

However, he said that ‘those who have been affected have been very hard hit’ and added that they will still be feeling the impacts next year.

Laurent Rougon, president of Comptoir de Flassans – a co-operative representing growers with 1,300 hectares under vine – told French publication Vitisphere: ‘The hail corridor stopped, pounded for 30 minutes. There was 10cm to 15cm of cumulative hail, as if there had been snow with a lot of water.’

Initial estimates put the damage at more than 90% in the core hail corridor, while neighbouring plots could face crop losses of around 20%

Producers are braced for the prospect of more hail and thunderstorms in the days ahead. Meteorologist Yohan Laurito called the weather pattern ‘an explosive cocktail’ and warned that these conditions could persist for the next week.

Last year, Provence’s harvest was 14% above the five-year average and 18% ahead of the frost-affected 2021. Producers were hoping for another bumper crop in 2023, but they are now wary of suffering further hail damage.

Some tried to adopt an upbeat tone, but Benoît Coste – a winemaker who suffered damage to around 10% of his land under vine – said: ‘It is only May, there is still a long time before the harvest. This is just the beginning.’

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While Tom Bove may have acquired international fame as the man who sold his home and vineyard, Château Miraval, to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, locally he is better known as the American who has bought, restored and sold over a dozen vineyards in the past 30 years.

His amazing energy leaves a telltale trail of quality as each vineyard achieves recognition for producing organic wines of distinction.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores for a selection of wines from Tom Bove’s key estates

Timeline of Tom Bove’s principal purchases:

Château Miraval: bought in 1992, rented to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in 2008, sold in 2011.

Domaine Saint Jean de Villecroze: bought in 1993, sold in 2000.

Domaine Lafoux: bought in 1999, renamed Bergerie d’Aquino, sold in 2008.

Château La Mascaronne: bought in 1999, sold in 2020.

Mira Luna: 110ha purchased from Miraval in 2008.

Bomont de Cormeil: bought in 2008.

Piccolino, in Cinque Terre: bought in 2014.

Domaine de la Bernarde: bought in 2015. Some land was sold, some was integrated into Château La Mascaronne.

Domaine de Fontlade: bought in 2016 and renamed Château Bellini.

Bove has a keen eye for terroir and location, and his purchases of whole estates hide another story of buying and selling individual parcels, redefining even his neighbours’ estates.

For example, when he sold the Miraval estate in 2011, he kept his favourite parcel, Mira Luna. He also sold a parcel from his Mascaronne estate to neighbouring Peyrassol when it made more sense for them to own it. He is currently restructuring and re-planting his new estate, Château Bellini, formerly Domaine de Fontlade, outside of Brignoles, and he even introduced his friend George Clooney to a neighbouring estate.

During a visit in 2021, Château Bellini was a busy building site. Bove, with an energy and pace which belied his years, whizzed round the vineyards that were being restructured and terraced. Several hectares of Rolle and Grenache had recently been planted, a north-facing slope had been cleared for Syrah – one of his signatures – and the new cellar and manor house ruins transformed into a luxury hotel.

Charting the course

Surprisingly, Bove has not always been in wine. He started his career as an officer for the US Navy’s nuclear submarine programme, before founding The Rochem Group in 1973, a global wastewater treatment systems company.

Miraval was his first purchase, back in 1992. As he recalls, when he ‘first came to Provence there were few good wines being produced’, and the 2km drive to Miraval was potted with half-metre deep holes which were full of water from the heavy rain the night before. The air was ‘laden with the beautiful smell of spring flowers and trees’.

Arriving with his wife Jane, two of his five children and two dogs, he recalls thinking there was no chance he would own the property. Miraval was ‘decaying yet still magnificent, made up of a large number of buildings constructed of different materials in different architectural styles spanning 800 years. It was so massive that all the incongruous styles made a beautiful congruous whole.’

Nevertheless, Bove fell in love with the property. ‘The minute I saw it I decided to find the money to buy it,’ he says. This started what has proved to be a 30-year passion. ‘I love to fix domaines, châteaux and vineyards that, in my eyes, are worthy of repair. This has led me to purchase 10 of them, supported by friends that got infected with my “malady”.’

See also: Provence for wine lovers

Although this is now a wine story, it did not start as one. Bove did not even think of making wine at Miraval at first. His Italian grandparents, who had immigrated to Indiana in the USA, had made a couple of barrels of wine for home consumption, but it was hardly a winemaking family. Miraval came with 24ha of vines as well as winemaker Emmanuel Gaujal. Gaujal is the oenologist for a large handful of well-known estates, and according to Bove, it was he who taught him about repairing and restructuring vineyards, including purchasing and merging the neighbouring 100ha Vireiguet estate with Miraval.

Together they replanted most of Miraval with Cinsault, Grenache, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Rolle. They also began specialising in white wines which, on the limestone soils, showed great promise, in direct contrast to everyone else who was focusing on rosé and red wines. They even made two botrytised wines, the last of which was made in 2005. The wines rapidly achieved recognition locally, and the white wine, Lady Jane, named after Bove’s wife, was highly regarded. Tragically, Jane died in the New York-Geneva plane crash in 1998.

From one estate to the next

In 1999, Bove purchased Château Lafoux, ‘a beautiful property which had been defaced by its last owner who, in my opinion, had no taste for wine, land, vineyards, nor houses’, he says. He renamed it Bergerie d’Aquino, after Thomas Aquinas, who was born in Roccasecca, the town Bove’s grandparents were from in the Lazio region of Italy. The vineyards were planted with old vines of Mourvèdre, Syrah and Grenache on poor, stony soils, in a cool and windy corridor.

Around this time he also bought Château La Mascaronne, in partnership with his friend from the Naval Academy, Jack Moynehan. He remembers it as ‘a complete mess except for the land – a small mountain facing southwest full of stone.’

In 2008 Bove then bought Bomont de Cormeil, a small estate at 550m altitude in the far north of Provence, which reminded him of Côte-Rôtie. He replanted it with Viognier and Syrah in the Coteaux du Verdon IGP. He combines his passion with pragmatism and environmental awareness, claiming that organic viticulture is ‘a real philosophy of life and an obvious choice in Provence […], we are thinking about biodynamics, but we already follow some of its principles, such as ploughing with a horse at Bomont de Cormeil to limit soil compaction, as well as planting in a favourable moon.’

The sale of Miraval in 2011 freed up more opportunities, and in 2014, with his second wife Sally and ‘an equally crazy friend’, he bought a small estate that they named Piccolino in Cinque Terre.

Following that in 2015, he bought Château La Mascaronne’s neighbour, Domaine de la Bernarde. This estate had 25ha of vineyards, including a lot of Syrah. In true Bove fashion, he carved out a terraced amphitheatre which surrounds the cellar. Any parcels which did not fit the Château La Mascaronne identity were sold, and others were incorporated into Château La Mascaronne. In 2020, Bove sold the estate to investor Michel Reybier, who also owns Bordeaux estate Cos d’Estournel.

Château Cos d’Estournel owner acquires neighbour Cos Labory

In 2016 he acquired Domaine de Fontlade outside Brignoles. A great lover of art and opera, Bove renamed this domaine Château Bellini, after the opera composer Vincenzo Bellini and the Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini (he had already named his dog Bellini, too).

While none of his later estates included the same magnificent buildings as Miraval, it was the terroir which always attracted him, and the potential to create great wine.

‘I love rebuilding things. I like not screwing things up,’ says Bove, ‘I only touch them if I see there’s an underlying beauty to bring out.’

An outsider and a trail-blazer

Bove continues to buy and restore neglected Provence wine estates. Behind him he leaves an unmistakable trail of high-quality wines and a passion for the landscape. Some of his trademarks are a simple range limited to one wine of each colour, stunning whites, lots of Syrah and full ripeness. ‘We allow the grapes to come to full maturity even though that sometimes brings us into the risk of bad weather,’ he says. The wines speak for themselves.

Bove has left an undeniable impact on the wines of central Provence. He chats with Brad Pitt, his neighbour George Clooney, and George Lucas, who now owns Château Margüi up the road. He has certainly brought international attention to the region. ‘My objective,’ he says, ‘is to have my production recognised by non-Provençals who come here for the art of living and who leave talking about the wines.’

A selection of wines from Tom Bove’s key estates:

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After years of rumour that Moët-Hennessy, part of the LVMH luxury goods group, was buying Château Minuty – and years of denial – the sale was officially announced on the final day of Wine Paris on Wednesday 15 February, creating a ripple of gossip, speculation and discussion around the fair.

Throughout France, and even globally, Minuty has long been seen as the ultimate expression of Provence rosé. It’s thanks to Minuty’s success that many producers outside of Provence have emulated its style.

Château Minuty is one of the 23 original cru classé estates in the 1955 classification. Today Minuty has 160ha of vines spread across the Saint-Tropez peninsula, the Côtes de Provence’s most expensive area – the average vineyard value is €100,000 (£90,000) per hectare, according to SAFER, an organisation which reports agricultural and viticultural land sales and prices. Since the 1990s, Minuty has also had a highly successful négociant business.

Minuty has belonged to the Farnet family since 1936, (Farnet-Matton since the 1960s). According to a press release, the agreement sees Moët-Hennessy acquiring a majority stake in Minuty, estimated to have cost between €350m and €450m (£312m-£400m), with the family remaining involved in running the estate. Current executives and descendants of the founder, Jean-Etienne and François Matton, will continue to manage the company.

LVMH’s exisiting Provence properties

Moët-Hennessy purchased the cru classé estate Château Galoupet (69ha) in 2019, followed by a majority share in Château d’Esclans and the Caves d’Esclans négociant business (including Whispering Angel), with them set to take over the remaining part of the business in January 2024. (Château d’Esclans also previously purchased neighbouring Domaine des Grands Esclans).

In January 2023 it was announced that Moët-Hennessy had purchased Jas d’Esclans, a cru classé estate adjoining Château d’Esclans. The purchase included the nearby Château de Vaucouleurs (24ha).

Jeany Cronk of Maison Mirabeau, a member of the administrative council of the Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins de Provence (CIVP), commented: ‘Clearly its [Moët-Hennessy] very considerable investment in the region is a huge vote of confidence for our rosés and their place in the future of wine consumption.’

Although official figures are rarely published, local estimates put production of Esclans’ Whispering Angel at around 14 million bottles, and Minuty’s M de Minuty at eight million bottles. Overall, Minuty’s sales exceed nine million bottles. Moët-Hennessy’s total Provence rosé sales, including estate wines, is likely to comfortably exceed 25 million bottles for the 2023 vintage. The entire appellation of Côtes de Provence produced 101 million bottles of rosé in 2021 .

The businesses purchased by Moët-Hennessy are not in direct competition with each other and will each be run independently, under the one parent company. Château d’Esclans and Caves d’Esclans have a vast distribution in the US market. Minuty is well established in France and Asia, where it has already been distributed by Moët-Hennessy for several years.

Eric Pasterino, president of the CIVP, is in favour of smaller producers grouping together to give value to their production and individuality, to introduce the concept of ‘grower rosé’ akin to grower Champagne. Cronk agrees, noting that ‘work needs to be done to ensure that a healthy balance is achieved between the power of the very big houses and smaller producers, as this diversity is an important aspect in the attractiveness of our wines in the eye of the consumer’.

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• Château Sainte Marguerite and Pernod Ricard: a Provençal marriage

This is a tale of pastis and rosé, the Mediterranean sea and boules, and of two families: the Ricards and the Fayards.

The Pernod Ricard group was created in 1975 with the the merger of two French anise-based spirits companies: Pernod, founded in 1805, and Ricard, created in 1932 by Paul Ricard.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for Château Sainte Marguerite’s two 2022 rosés

Today, the group is the world’s second largest wine and spirits company, thanks to a number of key acquisitions over the past 30 years. It now has a portfolio of 240 brands, available in over 160 countries.

Although Pernod Ricard has had Provence wines in its portfolio, it did not work directly with an estate, so has been searching for a business to join the group.

Following a meeting between Alexandre Ricard (CEO of Pernod Ricard), César Giron (also a member of the Ricard family and CEO of the Martell Mumm Perrier-Jouët group), and the Fayard family (of Château Sainte Marguerite and Château Hermitage Saint-Martin), the two families bonded and agreed to Pernod Ricard becoming majority shareholders in Château Sainte Marguerite. Olivier and Enzo Fayard remain involved, however.

‘The Fayards know about rosé, and we have the distribution network,’ says Pernod Ricard. ‘We are going to make it a brand recognised both in France and abroad for its unique and modern style, because rosé and Champagne have the same audience, and the same networks.’

From holiday home to shiny new cellar

The Fayard family’s history with Château Sainte Marguerite began in 1977, when Brigitte and Jean-Pierre Fayard acquired the cru classé estate Château La Source Sainte Marguerite and its 3ha of vines overlooking the Mediterranean sea.

It was originally a summer holiday home for this family from the city of Saint-Étienne, but the Fayards eventually moved south permanently and expanded the vineyard holdings with the acquisition of Château Hermitage Saint-Martin in 1999, then La Tuilerie in 2021.

Today, the Fayards have more than 200ha, and growth in production led to the construction of a brand new 5,500m² cellar in 2019, with room for 800 barrels. Most of the wine is currently sold in France, so Olivier says joining the Pernod Ricard portfolio will mean an increase in export sales, and the wines will be available in the UK in 2023.

Future plans

Château Sainte Marguerite’s total production is split between 70% rosé, 15% white and 15% red, but Olivier commented that now, with greater distribution, they ‘will obviously further increase the share of rosé that corresponds to global demand’.

Giron added that the range of Château Sainte Marguerite wines will evolve, rather than grow in total volume, and over the next two years there will be a complete redesign of the range.

Meanwhile, Enzo is focusing on increasing the plantation of Syrah for the reds and Grenache for the rosé, the style of which is unlikely to change, with Olivier and Enzo both preferring the peachy flavours of Grenache.

Cuvée Symphonie is made with grapes from neighbouring estates and some cooperatives such as Cuers, Gonfaron and Flassans. The current top-of-the-range cuvée is Fantastique, of which 350,000 bottles are made each year.

A new prestige range – comprising a red and a white with longer oak ageing – is being created from the 2022 vintage and will be available in 2024, while 2023 will see the birth of a new premium rosé which, according to Olivier, would not be oaked.

An IGP Viognier and a red wine will also be added to the line-up.

Château Sainte Marguerite’s rosés tasted and rated:

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Brad Pitt and French music producer Damien Quintard have reopened the doors of Miraval Studios after major renovations to the space, which has an illustrious past but lay unused for nearly two decades.

It lies on the Château Miraval wine estate in Provence, which Pitt still co-owns after having originally bought the property with ex-partner Angelina Jolie. Tenute del Mondo, a subsidiary of Stoli Group, announced in 2021 it had acquired a 50% stake in Miraval from Jolie.

Emmy-winning producer Quintard has worked with Pitt to redesign and refurbish Miraval Studios in less than a year.

Four-time Grammy award winner Sade became the first artist to record new music at the revitalised studio, they said.

Built by French composer Jacques Loussier in 1977, when he owned the property, the studio space has previously hosted sessions for Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’, as well as bands including AC/DC, The Cure, Sting and The Cranberries.

Some of the original gear has been kept, but Pitt and Quintard have also added new technology and features, including what they called ‘the spaceship’ – a central desk with hybrid analogue / digital capabilities.

There is a fully integrated Dolby Atmos Music system and the space can also handle pre-mixing for film and television.

Quintard said the design also preserved the sound ‘heritage’ of the studio, with its 25-foot ceilings and 320-square-metre live room, and added there’s a focus on natural materials like wood and stone.

‘It really is a space where you can produce anything from pop and rock, to hip-hop and classical records,’ he said.

‘I’m really excited to see what music comes out of here,’ said Pitt, who spoke to the Billboard publication about the revamp.

News of Miraval Studios reopening comes amid ongoing reports of legal disputes between Pitt and Jolie, including over the nature of their previous joint-ownership of the estate.

A spokesperson said it was ‘business as usual’ at the Provence winery. Miraval has gained a reputation for top quality rosé wines in the past decade, during which winemaking has been overseen by the highly regarded Perrin family, of Château de Beaucastel fame. 

Last month, Pitt announced the launch of Le Domaine Skincare, a cosmetics range that contains ingredients sourced from organic material at Beaucastel’s vineyard in the Rhône Valley.

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First taste: Fleur de Miraval ‘ER2’ rosé Champagne

Château Galoupet is a Provence cru classé estate on the southern slopes of the Massif des Maures, overlooking the Mediterranean and the island of Porquerolles. It was purchased in 1970 by the Indian Shivdasani family. As the older generation died and retired, the estate started to decline.

Despite initiatives in the early 2000s to create a biodiversity trail and designated nature reserve, the estate was in poor condition. Sixty per cent of the parcels had 20% of the vines missing, and the ravages of a forest fire in 2017 had led to erosion and the proliferation of invasive plants.

Nevertheless, when Jessica Julmy, in charge of heading up the team seeking to buy a Provence estate to add a premium rosé to Moët Hennessy’s portfolio, arrived at Galoupet, it was love at first sight. She saw its poor condition as a blank slate for creativity and recognised its potential.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores for the first two of Château Galoupet’s wines

The announcement in the summer of 2019 that LVMH had purchased the cru classé estate, at an estimated 30 million euros, was followed in December by LVMH’s purchase of 55% shares in Sacha Lichine’s Château d’Esclans business. The two estates are, however, working completely independently of each other.

Bees and biodiversity

Julmy’s passion for biodiversity and ecology is a driving force through all their activities. For this she has partnered with Thierry Dufresne, president of the Observatoire Français d’Apidologie (French Bee Observatory) based on the nearby Massif de la Sainte-Baume, who has established 100 beehives on the estate to help monitor the local biodiversity.

She has also partnered with soil fertility and plant nutrition consultant Bruno Bourrier. Bourrier has created a long-term plan of trialling different cover crops, seeing what works best in the different parcels around the estate in order to best enrich the soil and support the vines.

With rainfall in Provence increasingly erratic and falling in torrential showers rather than throughout the year, Galoupet is repairing an old rain-fed reservoir in the middle of the estate and integrating drainage channels to avoid erosion. Cork oaks, which are fairly fire resistant, are being planted on the hillsides.

Long-term plans

The estate is still a ‘work in progress’, which Julmy describes as a 20-year plan. Varieties that were not doing well have been dug up, soil analysed, varieties and rootstocks carefully chosen, while an energy efficient cellar, solar panels and recycled water are in the pipeline.

While the estate’s regenerative viticulture is not unique in Provence, it is one of the largest and most visible, which will certainly help boost the region’s move towards more sustainable practices.

Location

Galoupet is located within the La Londe denomination, a small sub-appellation within Côtes de Provence, although like other cru classé estates, it prefers its cru classé status to that of the denomination.

The La Londe denomination is unique in Provence for producing as much red as rosé, but Galoupet has always placed a greater emphasis on rosé.

The wines

In April 2022, Galoupet launched its first two new rosés: Château Galoupet cru classé rosé and a second wine, Nomade (made from estate grapes in 2021, but to be made in future years with grapes from partner growers who follow regenerative viticulture). A small quantity of oak-aged red and white wines are being trialled.

Julmy was keen to express the maritime schist terroir, and technical director Mathieu Meyer wanted notes of salinity in the wines.

After trialling different rosé blends, the 2021 Château Galoupet cru classé is primarily Grenache. Tibouren is kept to a small percentage to avoid its honeyed notes dominating the clean austerity of the wine, as is the Syrah to prevent an excessive vinous character. Co-fermented Syrah and Rolle – which they call Syrolle – provides freshness. The wine is fermented and aged in demi-muids to keep oak character to a minimum and just accentuate the weight and salinity of the whole.

Gilles Bascle, Galoupet’s winemaker for the past 20 years, used to make a wine called ‘Tibur’ under the previous owners, a rosé from 90% Tibouren, a rare variety found only in Provence (the main variety of nearby Clos Cibonne) and Liguria (where it is known as Rossese di Dolceacqua). Tibur showed the typical character of Tibouren grown on the coastal schist soils of honey and dried apricots, and Julmy and Meyer loved both its unique taste and its close connection with the region, so decided to try to incorporate it into their blend. Galoupet’s old bush vine Tibouren was planted in 1969 and produces beautifully intense juice, so they plan to raise the amount of Tibouren to 20%.

Château Galoupet: fact file

Estate size: 160ha

Area under vine: 69ha

Woodland area: 77ha

Grape varieties planted: 29% Grenache, 22% Syrah, 16% Rolle, 15% Cinsault, 8% Tibouren, 5% Mourvèdre, 4% Sémillon, 2% Caladoc

Managing director: Jessica Julmy

Technical Director: Mathieu Meyer

Estate Director: Gilles Bascle

For LVMH, heritage was an important part of the identity of Galoupet, and its cru classé status fit the required profile, although its relatively short history, and lack of a historic château, has made it one of the least grand properties in the portfolio. But researchers are slowly pushing back the dates in the history of the estate to the early 18th century, with the crescent moon as part of the bottle’s embossed design, a reference to the heraldry of an early owner.

A ‘bold environmental statement’

But here, heritage and tradition end, with Julmy insisting that her ecological vision continues with the wine’s presentation. The Château Galoupet cru classé rosé comes in a 70% recycled glass bottle, which has a feuille morte colour. This is a radical move for a Provence rosé, as nearly all rosés come in clear flint glass. Importantly, this decision shifts the focus from the colour pink, and also helps to prevent lightstrike.

Nomade is strikingly presented in a flat plastic bottle made from plastics reclaimed from waste at sea and weighs only 63g, a tenth that of a typical glass bottle. These bottles, while not unique, make a bold environmental statement for such wines and for LVMH.

An eco-bright future

In the three years since Julmy and Meyer have been making Galoupet rosé, it has been good to observe the evolution of the wine, from initial tank samples, as they learn the character of the estate and the grapes’ potential.

Plans for smaller fermentation tanks and the possibility of single-vineyard wines are considered and the ageing potential of their rosé studied.

It is still too early to say where their rosé will be placed on the Provence spectrum, but so far it is showing promise. The 2022 vintage indicates good quality, although smaller in volume following a violent August hail storm.

Elizabeth Gabay MW assesses the first vintage of Château Galoupet:

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Provence’s history extends from Roman ruins in cities like Arles and Aix-en-Provence to what’s swirling in your glass, since wine-growing here dates back 26 centuries – making Provence France’s first wine region.

Provence is a living French fairytale: hills blanketed in rows of blossoming lavender, medieval villages carved into cliff sides, hairpin turns whipping you through oak forests sprinkled with truffles, or, as they’re referred to locally, black ‘diamonds’. In the summer, the cicadas are chirping so loudly, the background noise serves as a soundtrack to days spent lounging poolside, sipping rosé so pale it would be easy to mistake the wine for blanc.

Extending from Monaco and the Italian border, Provence encompasses the South of France, the sunflower-filled countryside, the saltmarshes of the Camargue, and medieval towns where the light and landscape inspired painters like Picasso and Matisse.

While Provence itself is too large to tackle in a weekend (let alone a week), you can still experience a slice of the region on a road trip through the vines, lingering over long lunches prepared with ingredients plucked from the surrounding gardens and beautiful bottles brought over from nearby wineries. Here’s how to map out your trip.

Day 1: Avignon to Gargas

Board the train from Paris to Avignon (approximately 2.5 hours on the fast TGV) and rent a car when you arrive at the station. Make the 45-minute drive to Coquillade Provence Resort & Spa (Hameau Le Perrotet, 84400 Gargas), a Relais & Châteaux property that extends across a 40ha estate in the heart of the Luberon Valley, overlooking Provence’s highest peak, Mont Ventoux. The hotel takes over an 11th-century hamlet and still has the feel of a Provençal village, with suites scattered across a handful of renovated stone bastides, or country houses.

Spend the afternoon getting pampered at the spa – the largest in the region – alternating between the indoor pool, sauna and hammam, before heading to the al fresco centrepiece poolside bar for a pre-dinner apéritif. Take a short stroll and settle into a table in the vines at aptly-named Les Vignes. Chefs Thierry Enderlin and Aurélien Trousse ‘go to the market for research,’ as they say when describing their Provence-focused fare that’s sourced locally from the Luberon or picked from the onsite vegetable patch.

A dish or two changes every two weeks, but expect to find a menu of elevated regional favourites like stuffed zucchini flowers with chèvre and basil pesto from the garden. Order a bottle of organic Aureto wine, crafted from the surrounding vines at the hotel’s onsite winery. The tasting room, a 10-minute bike ride away, also serves wine by the glass alongside cheese and charcuterie plates, if you’re looking for a light lunch while you’re here.

Day 2: Roussillon, Lacoste & Ménerbes

After fuelling up at the lavish breakfast spread, make your way to the hotel’s cycling centre, affiliated with Swiss brand BMC (Andy Rihs, the hotel’s Swiss billionaire owner, was also a backer of the WorldTour BMC Racing Team and head of the bike manufacturer). This part of Provence is just as infamous for its cycling routes (the Tour de France passes through the region) as its road trips, so spend the morning exploring the easier-to-cycle country roads on a guided tour (request Gaetan as your guide).

Cycle past horse-filled pastures and cherry trees up to perched villages built on rust-red cliffs that have earned the area the nickname ‘Provence’s Colorado’. Get your camera ready when you reach the top of Roussillon – they say there are at least 17 shades of ochre smeared across the homes of the clifftop village, named one of the most beautiful in France.

Check out of Coquillade and make the 20-minute drive up to the impressively-preserved medieval village of Lacoste, crowned by the Marquis de Sade’s castle. French fashion designer Pierre Cardin has infused life into Lacoste since acquiring the château, launching an opera festival in the nearby quarries and scooping up another 30 buildings lining the town’s cobblestoned streets. The tiny town doubles as a living museum, so sit and soak up the views from the terrace of Café de France (one of the few brasseries in town).

From here, it’s less than 10 minutes driving along winding roads to your next stop for the night: La Bastide de Marie (64 Chemin des Peirelles, 84560 Ménerbes), a countryside-chic hotel and wine estate in Ménerbes. The Sibuet family brought their trademark laid-back elegance to the farmhouse, which dates back to the 18th century. The layout is intended to feel as if you’re staying in a family home, with 14 rooms and suites located on different levels and shuttered windows looking out over the patio, vineyard, or garden.

As the sun sets, take a seat on the terrace by the vines, sipping Pastis and nibbling on charcuterie and crudités before moving over to the other side of the bastide, where white tablecloth-covered wrought iron tables (sourced from local flea markets) dot the patio in front of the vine-covered façade of the farmhouse. Don’t expect a set menu – chef François Martin’s dishes depend on what he finds at local farms or picks up from producers in the morning. Think fish roasted with herbs from the garrigue or lamb with Provençal tian, roasted, layered vegetables served in a traditional earthenware dish of the same name.

Day 3: Gordes & Crillon-le-Brave

After one last look at Domaine de Marie’s vines over viennoiserie and coffee, hop back in the car and set off on a short (but scenic!) drive to Gordes, one of the most popular perched villages in the region – both for the view from the drive up as well as the view once you get there (the houses and buildings hug the side of the cliff). Stroll the criss-crossing calades (pebble-paved streets), stopping for a second coffee or first glass of wine of the day at La Bastide (61 Rue de la Combe, 84220 Gordes), an antique-filled, Old World beauty built into the medieval ramparts that nods to the homes once belonging to the Counts of Provence.

Then, it’s back on the road and along the winding cliffs to another hilltop village: Crillon-le-Brave. The drive may only be 40 minutes, but the twists and turns (and views over the cliffside) make it one of the most scenic of the trip. The highlight of this town is the labyrinth-like boutique hotel Crillon le Brave (Place de l’Eglise, 84410 Crillon-le-Brave). Secret passages and tucked-away terraces connect the dozen stone homes forming the hotel’s 34 airy rooms and suites. You’ll want to set aside the afternoon to lounge at the tucked-away pool, which shows off one of the best views over Mont Ventoux.

Start the evening with a glass of local wine, enjoying the view from the terrace lounge before walking up the steps to dine at bistro-style La Table du Ventoux, where chef Adrien Brunet reimagines Provençal staples like pissaladière and works with ingredients as local as herbs sourced from the garden above the swimming pool.

Day 4: Saint-Rémy-de-Provence & Arles

The drive to Arles is just over an hour, and it conveniently runs through or near a few towns worth stopping in: Avignon, Les Baux-de-Provence, and Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. If you have to choose just one, I’d suggest spending the morning in Saint-Rémy, a compact town with centuries-old fountains, gorgeous sandstone homes, rows of plane trees, sophisticated wine cellars and bohemian-style shops you’d more expect to see in Saint-Tropez. The rustic-chic town, shielded by the remnants of a 14th-century wall, was where Van Gogh painted ‘Starry Night’, but it’s also a getaway for fashionable Parisians heading to Provence. If you’re driving through on a Wednesday, sip your coffee at Le Café de la Place (17 Place de la République, 13210 Saint-Rémy-de-Provence) before perusing the weekly market.

It’s a quick, 30-minute drive to the centre of Arles, where you’ll park and head for a late lunch on the shaded terrace or rooftop of L’Épicerie du Cloître (16 Rue du Cloître, 13200 Arles), where ingredients on the shelves of the shop inside range from those from Japan to artisanal canneries in the Mediterranean and Provence. Plates are tapas-style (Camargue rice- and bacalao-stuffed arancini, grilled almonds with Provençal herbs) and more snacks than full dishes – which makes it the ideal spot for pre-dinner apéro, as well.

Check into the newish guesthouse from one of the region’s most famous fragrance brands, Fragonard, which converted an 18th-century stone building formerly housing a pharmacist’s laboratory. Maison Fragonard’s (Impasse Favorin rue Favorin, 13200 Arles) six rooms are spread across three floors above the brand’s boutique and outfitted with antiques like wrought-iron daybeds and hand-embroidered suzani bedspreads from Central Asia.

Pass through the neighbouring square, Place du Forum, where Van Gogh painted another famous piece, ‘Terrasse du Café le Soir’, and head to Cave de Trinquetaille (8 Avenue de la Gare Maritime, 13200 Arles) for natural wine and the sound of vinyl. For dinner this evening, take a seat on the streetside terrace of cave à manger Le Gibolin (13 Rue des Porcelets, 13200 Arles) for a mix of classic and more creative takes on French fare, like labneh-topped pea velouté and ricotta-and-pine nut-stuffed zucchini. There’s a small selection of wines by the glass, but it’s worth going for one of the well-priced bottles lining the shelves inside.

Day 5: Camargue

Before ending your trip and heading south to the French Riviera, to the airport in Marseille or back to the train station in Avignon, set off through the rice paddies and rosé-hued salt flats of the Camargue, where residents range from flamingos to cloud-coloured horses. The destination: La Chassagnette (Mas de la Chassagnette Chemin du Sambuc, 13200 Arles), your Michelin star meal for the trip. Chef Armand Arnal pulls the majority of ingredients from his surrounding vegetable garden – where he grows more than 200 varieties of fruit and vegetables – or nearby farms for 5- or 7-course tastings menus that are gastronomic yet approachable (think delicately-plated dishes like aubergine brulée with almonds and sage).

A good chunk of the wine menu champions southern French wineries and local growers, and the sommelier is happy to help you navigate by the glass or bottle. Plan to linger under the shaded terrace the entire afternoon – this is when time truly doesn’t matter, as long as you’re not late for your reservation. This is a tough table to get, so reserve well in advance. It’ll be worth it.

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In the summer months, the former fishing village of Saint-Tropez swells in size as jet setters cruise into the Vieux Port, docking their shiny yachts in front of landmark cafés that have been sitting here well before the 1950s, when sex-symbol Brigitte Bardot came sauntering in. Her film, Et Dieu… créa la femme (And God Created Woman), helped propel the petite peninsula into the global spotlight and made it a requisite stop on the Mediterranean for celebrities in summer.

And while Saint-Tropez’s bohemian-chic image hasn’t faded in the time since (in the 1970s, models and rockstars like Mick Jagger and Grace Jones held court in the exclusive, still-standing Les Caves du Roy at Hotel Byblos), it’s drawing a crowd other than A-listers and day trippers hoping to get a glimpse of Bardot’s home. Pop-up wine tastings, new natural wine bars and chef-driven eateries are adding to the fabric of the resort town and infusing that much-needed local touch.

Why go to Saint-Tropez?

The cobbled, pedestrian alleys crisscrossing through the Old Town, or ‘La Ponche’, separate the harbour from the Place des Lices, where century-old plane trees add the slightest bit of shade to the sandy pétanque court in the centre. The main square gives way to a twice-weekly open-air market, where vendors pedal everything from produce and pastries to linen clothing that’s the unofficial uniform of choice in town.

From La Ponche, a seaside path winds its way along the water, following the rocky coastline to one of the lesser-visited beaches in Saint-Tropez, the pine tree-shielded Plage des Salins. If you’ve come for the full Saint-Tropez scene, make the 15-minute drive over to Pampelonne beach and take your pick of swanky beach clubs all of which are huddled together along the coast.

The majority of restaurants may be transplants from cities and islands just as flashy (think St-Barths and Monaco), but the cuisine throughout Saint-Tropez blends the best of the Mediterranean and Provence. Celebrity chefs deconstruct classic Niçoise salads, while Old Town bistros and cafés serve up traditional dishes like daube, a wine-braised beef stew, and vegetables stuffed with minced meat (a street food specialty called farcis niçois). And since Saint-Tropez sits in the heart of Côtes de Provence, it’s the perfect base for exploring the surrounding land of rosé, with vineyards as close as 20 minutes from the Old Town.

My perfect weekend in Saint-Tropez

Thursday

Drop your bags at Hotel Byblos, which has been the go-to spot in Saint-Tropez since it opened in the 1960s (and where Mick Jagger held his wedding party when he married Bianca). Designed as a village-within-village, the hotel sits just off the Place des Lices, so it’s in the ideal location for quick treks into town. Take a five-minute walk to the port and climb the stairs up to the lounge at Le Sube, a favourite for its relaxed, nautical-meets-cigar lounge vibe. Despite being one of the few no-frills spots in Saint-Tropez (locals gather year round for weekly karaoke), the wine list is on the more sophisticated side – and you can enjoy a glass on the terrace overlooking the yachts gently bobbing in the water below.

Friday

Morning

Leisurely make your way down to the port and post up in one of the cherry-red chairs on the terrace of Café Sénéquier to people watch over a cappuccino and croissant before setting off on a wine tour around the region. Greeks planted the first vines here around 600 BC, and now there are more than 200 hectares of vineyards lining the peninsula’s plains and hills. In and around the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, you’ll find more than 30 wineries that offer tastings, including rosé heavy-hitter Château Minuty, which has been run by the Matton family for four generations, and the ultra-modern Château Saint-Maur, which produces both its own wines and, more recently, has collaborated on La Fête du Rosé. Taste by the glass (or bottle) in the outdoor wine bar, La Terrasse, which is surrounded by vines and views of the village of Grimaud. You can also arrange tours and tastings (or direct-to-villa or yacht deliveries) through newly-opened wine shop Cave 1990 back in town.

Afternoon

Head for a late lunch at the iconic Le Club 55 on Pampelonne beach in Ramatuelle, about a 30-minute ride away. This expansive eatery unfolds under a straw roof, and despite it topping the list of places to see-and-be-seen, it’s more toes-in-the-sand island beach bar than upscale seafood eatery (the prices, however, suggest otherwise). Linger over the Club 55 rosé and grilled catch of the day before making your way down to one of the beach chairs or mattresses lining the sand.

Evening

Take a 15-minute taxi ride back to Place des Lices and stroll through La Ponche until you wind up at Pan Deï Palais, a private residence-turned-boutique hotel where you can pause for a drink in the walled garden. Window shop on your walk back to Byblos, and enjoy an aperitif at the poolside lounge bar before going down the staircase to Italian trattoria Cucina by Alain Ducasse for dinner. Take a seat on the romantic terrace dotted with lantern-lit trees and make your way through a market-fresh menu that champions the best of Italy with local ingredients (you can’t go wrong with the oven-roasted whole sea bass with olive and tomato confit).

Saturday

Morning

Even if you’re not a fan of sweets, you can’t leave Saint-Tropez without trying the signature tarte tropézienne, which you’ll find at patisseries and restaurants around town. Sample the original cream-filled brioche pastry at La Tarte Tropézienne on the Place des Lices before perusing the Saturday market, which runs from 8am to 1pm. After picking up a few souvenirs, head back towards the hotel and climb up to the 17th-century citadel for sweeping views across the village’s signature, orange-tiled roofs.

Afternoon

Take a ride about 20 minutes across the peninsula to Indie Beach. The bohemian beach club and restaurant is more laid-back than some of the others in Ramatuelle, so the focus is less on a party scene with sparklers and over-the-top performers. The food is the opposite of what you’d expect from a beach bar, meaning a beautiful mix of Mediterranean mezze, whole fish, and Italian classics like spaghetti vongole.

Evening

Reserve a spot at Fondugues-Pradugues’s summer wine tasting pop-up, L’éphémère, about a 20-minute ride from town, near the beaches. Sample (and buy) a few of the winery’s organic rosé and chillable reds at tables under the pines while dining on plates designed around ingredients found in nearby farms and markets (think vegetable fritto misto and ris de veau, or sweetbread, with labneh and coriander).

Sunday

Take one last morning stroll through town and snag a table at the no-reservations natural wine bar Mamé for one of the more inventive brunch menus you’ll find on the Riviera. Order a flat white and the house cocktail (a mimosa mixed with pét-nat) and dig into a mix of sweet and savoury dishes like shakshuka and pancakes topped with bananas and pecans. Before heading off, make a final stop at La Cave Da Vinci Code, near Place des Lices, where the ageing cellar (by appointment only) is filled with more than 35,000 bottles from around the world.

Your Saint-Tropez address book: Where to stay, eat and shop

Hotels

La Réserve Ramatuelle

If you want to be slightly removed and don’t mind a splurge, this is the spot for you. Larger groups or families can post up in multi-room villas with private pools or book one of the junior suites with sea views. Treat yourself to dinner at the two Michelin star La Voile, where chef Eric Canino has designed an elevated menu of surf and turf.

Hotel Lou Pinet

Charles Zana, a.k.a. the ‘architect of Mediterranean chic’, is behind the design of this tucked-away boutique hotel, which is about as ‘off the grid’ as you can get in Saint-Tropez. With only 34 rooms – a handful of which open up to the centrepiece pool – it feels like a villa in Provence, yet sits right between the city’s beaches and Old Town.

Restaurants

Kinugawa Ramatuelle

Cylindrical paper lanterns dangling from the trees add a touch of Tokyo to the garden setting, which is swathed in shades of terracotta, gold and coral. Go for the robata dishes like the lobster with shiso butter ponzu sauce and pair it alongside one of the hundred-plus bottles of carefully-curated wine.

La Sauvageonne

Encased in a forest of bamboo, La Sauvageonne feels like a Tahitian beach bar that’s something of a local secret. Come for dinner and stay as the music and dancing pick up throughout the night.

Beefbar

The menu is heavy on classic cuts of meat from around the world, but nothing is too fussy – the beauty of Beefbar is that the meat is prepared simply, so it truly shines. Global influences include elevated shawarma and Korean bao buns, but even vegetarians will find a few standout dishes on the menu, like the super kale salad and truffle cream-topped pizza.

Salama Saint-Tropez

The courtyard of the Moroccan eatery feels like it was plucked out of Marrakech, and the indoor cocktail bar – which heats up later in the evening as the DJ starts spinning – serves up some of the best drinks in town.

Shops

Atelier Rondini 

Considered the oldest sandal shop in town, Atelier Rondini handmakes leather sandals that have become symbolic of Saint-Tropez. The atelier is still attached to the boutique, so you can get your new pair adjusted to fit your feet perfectly.

Galeries Tropeziennes

The century-old concept shop acts as an urban bazaar with everything from chic espadrilles and beach robes to ceramics and natural soaps.

Marcel & Cavazza

The family-run patisserie near the port, helmed by Lenôtre-trained Laurent Cavazza (grandson of the founder), is known for its stand-out, orange blossom-tinged tarte tropézienne. 21 rue Georges Clemenceau; 04 94 97 83 53

How to get to Saint-Tropez

The easiest way to get to Saint-Tropez is to fly to Nice, and then making the drive (which takes around an hour and a half, if there’s no traffic). The smaller Toulon-Hyères airport, which has direct flights to London and Paris, is a little over an hour’s drive from Saint-Tropez.

Lane Nieset is a freelance travel writer and editor from Miami who has been living in the south of France and Paris for the past decade.

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In light of the boom in premium rosés, asking Jean-François Ott whether his decision to make Étoile was a commercial one is an obvious question.

‘Definitely not’, is his emphatic reply. ‘I regard each rosé from each of the Domaines Ott estates as being a premium rosé. We make three premium rosés and if the grapes or wine is not up to the quality I don’t put it in the final blend.’

Tasting rosé with Ott reveals his boundless curiosity of different expressions of the wine style, as well as a curiosity towards other winemakers’ visions of fine rosé wine.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for a mini vertical of Domaines Ott’s Étoile

Domaines Ott’s Étoile – the birth of a star

Working with the three Domaines Ott estates, reflecting three very different terroirs and varieties, Ott’s aim is to create a pure expression of rosé from each estate.

So it was no surprise that during the winemaking for the three estate rosés he would consider how to identify the essence of each terroir. These terroirs are Château de Selle in central Provence at 300m, Clos Mireille on the coastal schist vineyards of La Londe, and the calcareous sandstone and sandy marls of Château Romassan in Bandol.

Discussions with his cousin Christian Ott developed the idea further. What if they blended the most expressive juice from each of their three estates to create one wine? What would it taste like?

See our full producer profile of Domaines Ott here

Initially the discussion remained an intellectual curiosity reserved for the blending table, with a few bottles produced for family consumption.

But with the 2019 vintage, the first Étoile was released, more to provoke discussion around the character of terroirs than to compete on the super-premium market.

The wine is labelled as Vin de France because the grapes come from the three different estates.

Commercial release not guaranteed

Despite the potential of Étoile as an ageworthy, premium product, Ott’s priority remains making the three separate estate rosés. Étoile will not necessarily be made commercially every year. If no wine is available to make it, or if the wine is needed to make the estate rosés to their usual high standard, no Étoile will be made.

Each vintage of Étoile is a limited release, with only 6,000 bottles produced, using the signature Domaines Ott bottle shape. The name refers to the trademark star which appears after the name Ott.

Étoile’s intricacies

Over the past three years Jean-François has noticed a clear pattern emerging in the blend of wines used in Étoile. Hand-harvesting, chilling, gentle direct pressing with no maceration, and fermentation parcel by parcel is the same for all the rosés, up until blending.

At this point, Jean-François selects the wine for Étoile. He notes that the best wine always comes from the lowest yielding plots, from the same range of parcels and is always the first run juice.

The percentage of the varieties used is generally 80% Grenache and 20% Mourvèdre from Romassan, with differing percentages of each parcel used, so that depending on the vintage, terroir variations are more evident.

The ripeness is consistent, resulting in 14% alcohol every year. Étoile goes through extended lees ageing in tank until the following May.

Can rosé wines really age? See Elizabeth Gabay MW’s verdict

Is ageing the way forward?

True to Ott’s vision of rosé, he focuses on the neutrality and purity of the fruit, fermenting Étoile in inox and small ceramic spheres.

Asked if he would ever consider fermenting or ageing his rosé in wood, he pragmatically replies: ‘I would never say never, but only if it would benefit the wine, then maybe’.

A number of bottles are held back to see their ageing potential, an important new trend in the world of rosé, with serious producers looking at older vintages and conducting vertical tastings.

The Domaines Ott house style is restrained when youthful, an archetypal Provence elegance that can be a little underwhelming.

Tasting the wines as they age reveals hidden depth, complexity and richness behind their classic delicacy, and this is even more evident in the three Étoile vintages.

Tasting notes and scores for a mini vertical of Domaines Ott’s Étoile:

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Full-bodied rosés: proud to be pink

Expert’s Choice: Premium Spanish rosé

What makes a premium rosé?

In the pink with Provence vodka

Nothing says summer quite like a glass of pale pink Provence rosé wine – and France’s Comte de Grasse distillery captures that essence in its latest vodka. Made from a base of French winter wheat, 06 Vodka (Alc 37.5%) is created by Master Distiller Marie-Anne Contamin. Previously an aromatician, she has developed an ‘active wine extraction’ technique, based on methods used in the fragrance industry.

The process extracts flavour molecules and colour pigments from a Château Vert, Côte de Provence organic rosé wine. These molecules are infused into the neutral vodka, creating an aromatic and taste profile that will be very familiar to rosé drinkers. The nose is reminiscent of a glass of rosé, with delicate notes of strawberry that continue to the palate. Subtle florality, almonds and peach emerge, with a creamy texture.

Named for the 6pm aperitif hour on the Côte d’Azur, 06 Vodka makes an elegant Vodka Martini: garnish with a perfectly pink rose petal. £49/70cl Harvey Nichols

What is… peated whisky?

You may see the term ‘peated’ on a Scotch whisky bottle. Peat is a type of turf that can be burned as fuel. Peated whisky is made from malted barley that has been dried over a peat fire. That drying process usually takes about 30 hours and gives the finished dram a distinctive smoky character. Islay whiskies are known for their peatiness, which is measured in ppm (parts per million) of the organic compound phenol. Islay whiskies typically have 50ppm, while an average Highland whisky will only have 30ppm. Islay distillery Bruichladdich is famed for its Octomore range, bottled at 100ppm and considered the most heavily peated single malt whisky in the world.

What to drink now… Mojito

Cuban folklore links the ubiquitous summer cooler to Elizabethan explorer Sir Francis Drake; his crew drank a medicinal mix of mint, sugar, lime and sugar cane spirit that was named El Draque.

A mint, lime and sugar cocktail – now made with rum – became a hit with Americans in Prohibition-era Havana, with the first recipe for a ‘Mojo Criollo’ appearing in a Cuban publication El Arte de Hacer un Cocktail y Algo Más in 1927.

Try making it with Havana Club Original Añejo 3 Años, a lightly aged white rum (Alc 40%, £18-£23/70cl Widely available).

Mojito

Ingredients: 60ml white rum, 15ml fresh lime juice, 15ml soda water, 10ml sugar syrup, 14 fresh mint leaves

Glass: Highball

Garnish: Mint sprigs

Method: Two-thirds fill a glass with crushed ice. Add mint leaves, rum, lime juice and sugar syrup, churn with a barspoon to mix. Top up the glass with more crushed ice, top with soda water and stir lightly before serving.

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‘France is world-renowned as a gastronomic centre of excellence, but has more McDonald’s per capita than any other country, and Bandol is world-renowned for its complex and age-worthy reds, but 80% of its production is rosé,’ explains Guillaume Tari of Domaine de la Bégude about the contradictions found in Bandol.

The question over red or rosé is not the only big debate right now. The appellation requirements for the ageing of red wine, the percentage of the principal grapes in white wine, and overall their reputation as vins de garde are all on the table.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of 20 Bandol wines worth seeking out

Bandol is the largest of Provence’s ‘micro-appellations’, with vineyards on small terraces interspersed with woods and garrigue, lining hills that form an amphitheatre facing the Mediterranean and on the plains surrounding the villages.

Sheltered from the Mistral by the Sainte Baume to the north, the sunny exposition is ideal for ripening Mourvèdre, propelling it to being Bandol’s superstar for the last 45 years.

Bandol at a glance

• History: Bandol AOP was created in 1941 by Lucien Peyraud of Domaine Tempier, André Roethlisberger (of the now defunct Château Milhière) and Arlette Portalis (Château Pradeaux).
• Vineyards: 1,600ha, 50% divided among 67 private producers, the other 50% between by three cooperatives – the past decade has seen a number of producers leave cooperatives and establish micro-domaines.
• Production & grapes: Rosé wines (Mourvèdre/Grenache blend) are 75%-80% of production, reds (minimum 50% Mourvèdre) 15%-20%, and whites 5% (300,000 bottles, usually Clairette and Ugni Blanc).

Tradition vs modernity

Historically a mix of red and rosé with some white wine, Bandol had a reputation for big, tannic, well-extracted Mourvèdre reds that needed 20 years before you could drink them, the appellation mandating 18 months in large oak barrels to soften the tannins.

Many producers feel that this is excessive, especially in the modern market where freshness and elegance sell better. Reds must contain a minimum of 50% Mourvèdre, giving Bandol its classic profile of spice, leather and black fruit, plus a tight, dark structure with great ageing potential; they are rarely big and opulent.

The Bandolais describe their reds as moody teenagers: vibrant and fruity when young, restrained in adolescence, then opening up with greater complexity when mature. Most producers use large old foudres, but a few are using new oak such as Château Vannières and Domaine de la Font des Pères whose wines have a modern, almost New World appeal, while the presence of Cinsault in a blend adds vivacity.

Some have embraced the reputation for big, oaked wines, extending the ageing to 24 months and including new oak. These often come across as more true to their heritage than wines that try to hide the fact they have spent a year and a half in foudres.

Others are experimenting with ageing in amphora and declassifying to Vin de France, most notably Agnés Henri at Tour de la Bon with En Sol, Bégude with its IGP Méditérranée Cuvée Thyrsus, and Vignobles Gueissard and Domaine Bunan’s yet-to-be-released wines, all which show a beautiful purity of Mourvèdre fruit.

Bandol: eight names to know

⦁ Château Pradeaux: One of the founding members of the Bandol appellation along with the Peyniers of Domaine Tempier. It makes good, traditional wines with a dynamic younger generation now in charge.

⦁ Château Romassan: Owned by Domaines Ott*, this is Bandol’s single largest private estate.

⦁ Château Ste-Anne: A historic estate, located in the cooler Evenos area of the appellation, making biodynamic and fairly natural wines.

⦁ Domaine Castell-Reynoard: Julien Castell has transformed his family vineyard into a haven of regenerative viticulture.

⦁ Domaine La Suffrene: Private estate set up in 1996 after leaving the cooperative, and making wine since the beginning of the appellation. Big supporters of agroforestry in the vineyard.

⦁ Domaine Le Galantin: Small family-run vineyard established in the 1970s.

⦁ Domaine de l’Olivette: One of the large family domaines, owned by the same family for over 200 years.

⦁ Moulin de la Roque: Bandol’s oldest cooperative, and producer of nearly a quarter of the AOP’s wines.

Rosés rule

The tradition for extracted, oaky wines does not spill over to the whites and rosés, even though, in the minds of many, the rosés are oaked and structured. They are, in fact, rarely oaked.

Exceptions are Font des Pères, with 20% fermented and aged in barriques and demi-muids, giving them a pleasing fruit-forward roundness when young. Bastide Blanche has also tried an oaked rosé, and Gueissard’s Cuvée Marcel is a bright, fruity Mourvédre fermented in oak.

Château de Pibarnon’s Nuances and Bégude’s l’Irreductible are both almost entirely Mourvèdre. L’Irreductble is a serious, unoaked, dark pink-red, while Eric de St Victor of Château de Pibarnon, recognising that Mourvèdre rosé takes time to open up, ages his Nuances in stoneware which gives tension and purity, before releasing the wine with a year’s age.

Although rosés must have a minimum of 20% Mourvèdre, they typically contain 40-70% and, blended with Grenache and Cinsault, create wines weightier and more concentrated than those from Provence, with most needing time. Rosés with high percentages of Grenache and Cinsault have a fresher style.

Originally, Bandol rosés were not released until May 1st but the market, needing the new vintage earlier, has brought this date forward to March 1st. Consumers are happy, even if most rosés are not showing their best and need at least a year before they start to shine.

It certainly seems criminal to shout about drinking Domaine Tempier’s rosé as soon as it is launched when it ages so splendidly. Fast-selling rosé – mostly sold to the local tourist market and the US – pays the bills, even if selling at half the price of the reds.

A white renaissance?

White Bandol is Clairette-based but, with difficulties in retaining acidity in the hot climate, adding Ugni Blanc and Rolle, and harvesting Clairette earlier, produces fresher wines which sometimes verge on austere and have a distinctive saline twang on the palate. Tempier makes an elegant white with 40% Ugni Blanc, and plans are underway to reduce the minimum proportion of Clairette from 50%.

Bégude has an amphora-aged white, others use oak, including Pibarnon and a new trial at Domaine de Terrebrune. Flexible rules means whites can be made and aged in a variety of styles.

Finding the balance

Damian Roux of Domaine Marie Berenice has observed that there is a growing interest in white wine, but is faced with a logistics dilemma: if the trend changes again, he will be left with too much white and there is only so much the rosés can absorb in the blend.

Black varieties have the flexibility of producing either red or rosé. During the pandemic, with producers concerned that rosé sales would decline due to the lack of tourists, they switched to producing more red wine.

Before the rise of rosé, Bandol reds were the star of Provence, and they are still impressive, but sales for big red wines which need ageing are a hard sell. Adaptation and flexibility may be the key: reds with no oak, shorter ageing and traditional styles, otherwise rosé may continue to dominate the scene.

Bandol: recent vintages

2021: Cool but dry. Vines shut down early due to hydric stress, prompting early harvests and underwhelming ripeness in the wines. Good acidity, balance and a very cool-climate profile reminiscent of vintages of the 1990s.

2020: A warm, wet year, causing mildew in the early summer, followed by a hot (but not too hot), dry summer creating wines which are balanced and aromatic. Tannins in the red wines are fine and silky.

2019: After a very hot and dry year, the rain in September served to boost the vintage, especially in late-ripening areas. Original fears that it would be a bad vintage have not been borne out and today it offers promise of finesse, freshness, fruit and balance.

2018: Hail in early summer served to destroy the fruit in the west of the region, followed by a hot and wet summer which made for a difficult vintage A good autumn during harvest helped restore the quality and the wines have balance and freshness.

2017: A very hot June and little rain resulted in small berries with concentrated fruit. Harvest was earlier than usual, but overall the fruit was expressive, although volumes were reduced.

2016: Good quality, although a slightly smaller vintage and not regarded as a great one.

Bandol: 20 top wines worth seeking out

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Brad Pitt to reopen Château Miraval recording studio

Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2019 & 2009: panel tasting results

Brad Pitt has filed a lawsuit against Angelina Jolie at a Los Angeles court regarding her sale of a stake in Provence winery Château Miraval last year, according to media reports, including in Bloomberg (via Associated Press) and the Los Angeles Times.

There had been speculation for several years about how Pitt and Jolie’s divorce proceedings would affect their joint ownership of Miraval, which they purchased in 2011.

It was the Hollywood couple’s wedding venue but the estate has also gained a reputation for producing excellent rosé wines under the expert guidance of the Perrin winemaking family in the last decade.

In October 2021, Tenute del Mondo, a subsidiary of Stoli Group, said it had acquired a 50% stake in Miraval from Angelina Jolie for an undisclosed fee.

‘We are thrilled to have a position alongside Brad Pitt as curators of their extraordinary vintages,’ said Stoli Group’s CEO, Damian McKinney, at the time.

When contacted by Decanter this week, Tenute del Mondo said: ‘Tenute del Mondo chose to invest in Miraval as it is an exceptional wine and brand that complements our portfolio. We entered this partnership wanting to bring the talent, skills and distribution channels that will only further enhance the Miraval offering and make Miraval the most successful brand of rosé wine & Champagne.’

A spokesperson for Miraval winery told Decanter today (22 February) there was no comment on the latest media reports. ‘In terms of the winery itself, it is business as usual and we are now ready to release the delicious 2021 vintage of Miraval rosé.’

Muse de Miraval 2021, the latest vintage of the estate’s top cuvée, is expected to be released in April.

Brad Pitt and the Perrin family have also launched two editions of ‘Fleur de Miraval’ rosé Champagne in partnership with celebrated grower Champagne house Pierre Péters.

Key moments for Miraval 

Miraval has emerged onto the world wine scene in the past decade.

Pitt and Jolie bought the Miraval estate in the village of Correns in 2011, with the Perrin family of Château de Beaucastel fame subsequently coming onboard to help produce wine at the property.

It’s nearly nine years since the first few thousand bottles of Miraval 2012 rosé sold out within hours of release. Critical praise followed, making Miraval a success story among celebrity-linked wines, even if it also became part of a wider debate in Provence around the creation of so-called ‘Super Rosé’ wines – as Jane Anson noted following a visit in 2016.

News of Pitt and Jolie’s divorce proceedings in 2016 also prompted speculation about the estate’s ownership, but the winery always maintained that it was carrying on as normal. The 2016-vintage label stated that the wine had been ‘bottled by Jolie-Pitt and Perrin’.

Subsequent years have seen the launch of new wines, including ‘Studio by Miraval‘ and the high-end, small-production label ‘Muse de Miraval’.

Miraval’s co-owners also announced the launch of a Champagne with vaunted producer Pierre Péters. Fleur de Miraval rosé Champagne was duly released in November that year.

A second edition of the Champagne was released in 2021, and the ‘Fleur de Miraval ER2‘ was recently tasted for Decanter by Elizabeth Gabay MW.

This year, Miraval is also reopening a recording studio at the estate. Once used by Pink Floyd, AC/DC and Sting, among other artists, a new-look Miraval Studios has been revamped by Pitt and Emmy Award-winning French producer Damien Quintard.

Brad Pitt and Emmy Award-winning French producer Damien Quintard have worked together to revamp and redesign the Château Miraval recording studio, which has sat unused for nearly two decades.

Renamed Miraval Studios, the venue will reopen in the heart of Provence rosé wine country in summer 2022.

It marks a rebirth for the illustrious venue, previously known as Studio Miraval, which was built in 1977 by the estate’s then-owner, French pianist and composer Jacques Loussier.

Pink Floyd used the studio for sessions for ‘The Wall’, released in 1979, and other other artists to have recorded there include AC/DC, Sting, The Cure, Sade and The Cranberries, Miraval said.

Quintard said he became involved in the project to rejuvenate the studio after Pitt asked to meet him.

‘When we met in Paris, we immediately clicked,’ Quintard said. ‘It was an intense moment where we just talked and talked about sound.’

The pair said they have completely redesigned the studio, while keeping some of the original equipment and features.

Alongside hybrid analogue/digital capacity and a Dolby Atmos system, there is also technology to handle pre-mixing for film and television.

Studio One has 25-ft ceilings and a 320-square-metre live room, yet there are also separate recording booths and a space housing vintage synthesisers ‘and other rare gear’, said Miraval.

Quintard said the new design has ‘redefined a remarkable natural reverb’ at the venue. ‘It really is a space where you can produce anything from pop and rock, to hip-hop and classical records.’

There is also a swimming pool nearby, a ‘breathtaking vista’ and a tower connected to the studio that can house visiting bands and artists, ‘be it for a day or a month’, Miraval said.

It said it is beginning to take studio bookings for summer 2022.

It added that Quintard and Pitt signed a joint-venture partnership deal for Miraval Studios in 2021.

Miraval has also seen an ownership change this year. In October, Tenute del Mondo, a subsidiary of the Stoli Group, announced it had acquired a 50% stake in Château Miraval and the Miraval brand, from Angelina Jolie.

‘We are thrilled to have a position alongside Brad Pitt as curators of their extraordinary vintages,’ said Damian McKinney, global CEO of Stoli Group.

Miraval rosé has often achieved critical praise and is produced in partnership with the Perrin winemaking family, of Château de Beaucastel fame.

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Disconcerting: I couldn’t forget this bottle for days afterwards. Still can’t. Back in August, wine critic Lin Liu MW (together with her partner Philippe Lejeune of Château de Chambert in Cahors) came to dinner, en route to a short holiday in Provence. One of the bottles Lin brought for us to try together was the 2018 Les Rocheuses, Parcelles No 5 et 6, from Château Le Rey in Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux. It came in a slope-shouldered bottle, not a classic Bordeaux bottle.

We tried it with some Rhône wines. I kept going back to it. I couldn’t make it taste like Bordeaux – at all. It kept tasting like a mid-Rhône wine – as indeed it did over the two following days. Yet there it was: Castillon, 80% Merlot with the balance from Cabernet Franc, limestone soils, 15% alcohol, oaked. Interesting wine, with many good qualities – but wholly disorientating.

I’d been thinking about bottle shapes ever since chatting to Olivier Humbrecht MW a little earlier this year. The colossal market underperformance of great Alsace wines could be partly rectified, I feel, if they were bottled not in the fridge-unfriendly, culturally codified Alsace flutes but in other kinds of bottle: slope-shouldered, square-shouldered, translucent… just anything to get consumers to think about the often magnificent, site-resonant wines inside them anew, and to give their labels a chance to tell a different set of stories than those which traditional labelling evokes. New bottles would mean a new start for Alsace.

Humbrecht replied that this is an old debate – he thinks the cultural sacrifice involved would be a shame. I respect wine’s cultural dimension, so I accept that part of his argument… but I’d still love to see someone try this, at least for a part of their range. More so, now, following my experience with Les Rocheuses.

Unless you have been given a wine blind and wholly free of context, a wine’s visual cues are dictatorial. They shout, stamp, whistle and roar. In doing so, they can hide knowledge and understanding, rather than nurturing them.

This wine was made without sulphur. It was oaked, but not in a pencilly or cedary style as even Merlot-dominated Right Bank wines can be; it had lots of fresh, almost pippy raspberry fruit. Despite its generous alcohol (which was invisible), it was pure, urgent, acidic, untamed, almost primal. It had sap and lignin rather than textural tannin, and finished with some bitterness; there was a greenness to its freshness, which made me wonder whether it was the result of partial early picking, or even had a whole-bunch component.

The purity was admirable, but it did come with aggression and bite. Progressive, vanguard Bordeaux, rather than classic Bordeaux: the Vignobles K website (this is one of the Kwok family’s Bordeaux properties) confirms that the bottle had been chosen ‘to reflect a philosophy of terroir that you find [or retrieve: que l’on retrouve] in Burgundy’.

‘Nothing,’ I wrote afterwards in my notebook, ‘is where you think it is and nothing is fixed.’ The expectation-jolting bottle may have been chosen to underline terroir… but the sense of terroir conveyed by the wine would be completely alien to the expectations of most Bordeaux drinkers.

It was Castillon – but not as we know it. It didn’t look like a wine from Castillon, and it didn’t taste like one either. So what, exactly, is the Castillon or the Bordeaux that we know? Is it terroir, or a set of conventions, practices and promises, all summarised, framed and projected by a high-shouldered bottle? Answer: both. In equal measure.

I learned a lot from Les Rocheuses. That terroir is a kind of ocean, a horizon of possibilities, over which you can venture in many directions, the most important factor being the ship (the defined estate or vineyard) and the human hand on the tiller. That bottles aren’t merely containers, but create their own mindsets and flavour cues; that they shape reality on the palate. That there is nothing inevitable, necessary or inexorable about the wine world as we know it today.

And that being utterly disconcerted by a wine is a great education.

In my glass this month:

Ruchè: seek it out. I first tasted a wine made from this Piedmontese treasure back in 2012. Not since… until a Luca Ferraris, Opera Prima, Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato Riserva 2017 reminded me just how much resource this variety can carry. The scents seemed somehow soft and enticingly velvety, brocaded with bramble, plum and mushroom. After those sweet and exotically autumnal scents, the textured, deep, authoritative and mouth-seizing palate enthralled.

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One of the best-known producers in Provence, Domaines Ott remains modest; its quality is high but there is little of the marketing razzmatazz of other high-profile estates.

Where did it all begin?

Domaines Ott ( boasts a long Provençal history. In 1896 Marcel Ott, an agricultural engineer from Strasbourg, moved to Provence to work at a vineyard in Cavalaire-sur-Mer – in an era when viticulture in general was still recovering from phylloxera.

In 1912 he bought 30-hectare estate Château de Selle, strategically located south of the then-prefecture town of Draguignan, near the railway connecting to Nice, Toulon and Marseille.

Scroll down for scores and tasting notes for 12 Domaines Ott wines

Following complete restructuring and planting, the first vintage in around 1920 was initially sold in barrels. By the 1930s, Ott was an early exporter to the US and he continued to expand in Provence by purchasing two more estates, Clos Mireille in 1936 and Château Romassan in 1956.

Since 2004, due to a large family and complicated inheritance details, Champagne Louis Roederer acquired a majority stake in the company and its investment also provided support for logistics, distribution, vineyards and cellars.

Since 2009, cousins Jean-Francois and Christian Ott – representing family’s fourth generation – have been running the three estates with a focus on quality wine rather than creating a vast empire.

The three domaines make only 800,000 bottles, compared to the millions made by some other known market leaders.

Domaines Ott: the facts

Date founded: 1912

Owned by: two-thirds Champagne Louis Roederer and one-third Ott family

Annual production: 800,000 bottles

Key vineyards: Château de Selle (Côtes de Provence, 14-ha), Clos Mireille (Côtes de Provence, 45 ha) and Château Romassan, (Bandol 75 ha)

Key wines: Château de Selle rosé and red, Clos Mireille rosé and white, Château Romassan rosé and red. Etoile – blend of all three estates

How has the style changed?

In terms of progress in both field and cellar, the local Rosé Research Centre has been invaluable, helping to raise the general level of quality.

Adapting to climate change has resulted in Ugni Blanc being replaced by Rolle since 2003 at Clos Mireille; Mourvèdre being replanted at Château de Selle since 2018; Clairette removed in Bandol since 2011 and Assyrtiko being considered.

Jean-Francois is firmly against irrigation for the very practical reason that he feels water is for drinking and food should take priority over wine.

Modern techniques for canopy management for vines destined for rosé are used on all three domaines. A bigger canopy is maintained to slow down maturity and to encourage bigger berries with thinner skins for more juice and less colour.

He has also introduced taller stake training for Mourvèdre in Bandol. Pruning is done by Marco Simonit’s company, who have made radical progress in pruning techniques to adapt to climate change and eradicate the esca vine disease.

What’s the winemaking philosophy?

Rosé production is classic. All vineyards are close to the cellars, harvesting takes place in the cool early morning, and the grapes are chilled in a cold room at around 15 degrees Celsius (59 Fahrenheit) before pressing.

Whole bunches are very gently pressed and only the coeur de grain (first juice) is used.

Fermentation starts with a pied de cuve but if there are problems starting or finishing, a neutral yeast is added. Grapefruit thiol characters are strongly avoided, ‘quelle horreur!!’, and instead of battonage during lees ageing, new tanks have been installed which allow for very gentle stirring with a propellor at the bottom of the tank.

The 2004 vintage was the last with malolactic fermentation.

Colour is central to any discussion on rosé wine. Jean-Francois says does not aim to make a pale rosé, although he does think dark rosé would be difficult to sell.

For him the time in the press is determined by the pH levels, which increase every hour the grapes are in contact with the skins.

Jean-Francois and Christian say they aim to make consistently good wines every year, adapting to changes in viticulture and vinification as well as to the changing style and taste of the market.

In the 1980s, they were already early proponents of direct press to create lighter, fresher rosés, but still fermented and aged in barrel for weight and structure.

Rosé production has grown, making up more than 80% of production at Château Romassan (since 2002) and Clos Mireille (since 2007).

The rosés are made in the same way, and the differences derive primarily from terroir and grape varieties. Rosé wines are not released until 1 April, in direct contrast to many estates who feel forced to release in January for early spring sales.

Launching ‘Etoile’ rosé

In 2019, Domaines Ott launched premium rosé wine Etoile, with production at around 6,000 bottles.

Jean-Francois regards Etoile as an intellectual curiosity that has been made for a number of years for private consumption, and was born from discussions during blending, following the question, ‘What if [the team] blended the most expressive juice from each of their three terroirs (low yields, free-run juice), to create a wine?’.

With the subsequent wine, the team hopes to provoke discussion around the character of terroir and vintage. The purity of fruit is retained through partial fermentation in inox [stainless steel] and partly in small ceramic vats shaped like eggs and spheres.

A considerable number of bottles are held back to explore ageing potential. This reflects an important trend in the world of rosé, with serious producers looking at older vintages and vertical tastings.

With Etoile, Ott recognises that wine at this higher end of the market has little relevance for most rosé drinkers, but it does stretch the boundaries of where rosé could go compared to bulk rosé which can lead the category downwards.

Jean-Francois is adamant that the domaine rosés are his best wines and they remain his top priority. Etoile is only made if there is sufficient volume, at the right quality level. Any remaining volume is sold to the affiliated négociant business By Ott.

To support the emphasis of the individual estates, a slight change of design on the label has made the name of the domaine more dominant than Domaines Ott.

See scores and tasting notes for 12 Domaines Ott wines

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As I gaze down the avenue of plane trees towards Château Pesquié, I’m surrounded by much of what the diverse Vaucluse department in France’s southeastern country has to offer: verdant vineyards encircle the elegant château, and the white-peaked Mont Ventoux towers above a landscape that cradles the Luberon and Ventoux appellations. Nearby, sleepy Mormoiron is one of the many characterful villages to explore both here and to the south in the Luberon regional nature park. And, as if this wasn’t enough to spoil me, the vineyards in the prestigious smaller appellations of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas and Vacqueyras are within a 40-minute drive.

At Château Pesquié, brothers Frédéric and Alexandre Chaudière are the third generation of their family to make wine. They adore the location, with Mont Ventoux lying just to the northeast. ‘Here on the Rhône, we’re in a corridor between the mountains, but also close to the Mediterranean,’ explains Frédéric as he shows me around the vineyard. ‘Meanwhile, Mont Ventoux creates a kind of amphitheatre and, although the temperature is around 30°C in the day, it is much cooler at night, which allows for longer maturation – we’re one of the last to harvest in the whole area.’

We walk around the organically farmed vineyards, planted with parcels of 50-year-old Carignan vines, along with Cinsault, Grenache and Mourvèdre, Clairette, Roussanne and Viognier, and admire the nine-year-old Syrah vineyards planted with bright yellow blooms of broom and gypsum to improve soil quality.

In the winery, soil samples and detailed three-dimensional maps demonstrate the unique geography and terroir. The Ventoux appellation is quickly growing in popularity and this is one producer ready to offer guests a truly Provençale experience, with hampers for picnics in the gardens, vineyard walks and harvest days.

Nearby, other family-run vineyards such as Domaine du Tix share the same 350m elevation, with its hot days and cool nights, and they also welcome visitors for tastings.

Enchanting exploration

To make the most of those hot days, I spend a couple of them in the Parc naturel régional du Luberon, which enjoys a similar climate to the Ventoux appellation just to its north. It’s also one of the most enchanting areas in this part of the Provence interior, abounding with golden-stone villages and lavender fields. The terroir offers conditions for vineyards to produce perfect drinks for summer evenings – fruity whites and pale rosés that pair so well with the region’s typical fish, olive oil and tomato-based dishes. At the Domaine de la Citadelle, near the village of Ménerbes, it isn’t only the wide range of excellent wines that draws visitors, but its unusual collection of corkscrews, as well.

The domaine’s Musée du Tire-Bouchon holds 1,200 bottle openers of every age, provenance, shape and size. As I gaze into the many cabinets, it strikes me that getting into one’s bottle of wine as easily as possible has long been an art form. There is everything from corkscrews that double as shaving brushes, swords or pistols, to some salacious ones – brass legs akimbo, forming a ‘T’ shape.

On the hill behind the winery and museum, the domaine’s botanic garden overlooks the vineyards and Ménerbes perched on a ridge nearby, with raised beds that each contain a different herb or medicinal plant. Inhaling them is as much a treat for the senses as the tasting I take part in when I return to the winery, sipping different blends of the 17 different grapes grown across the vineyard’s 50ha.

Exploring the different villages is one of the region’s greatest pleasures, especially when so many have good vineyards nearby. After wandering the cobbled streets of Bonnieux, its jumble of terracotta-roofed houses piled up on a hill, I drive on to the Aureto wine cellar. Belonging to the nearby luxury estate, La Coquillade, the breathtaking views add a further wow factor to the award-winning wines here.

The architecturally striking winery, with its filigree-iron wall coverings, offers tastings, workshops and tours. Further to the southeast, beyond Ansouis, a village with

a medieval château, you can explore the vineyard of the Marrenon wine estate in the company of one of its winemakers, complete with a gourmet picnic among the vines.

Fact file

Luberon White Grenache Blanc, Clairette Blanche, Vermentino, Bourboulenc, Roussanne, Marsanne, Ugni Blanc, Viognier Red Syrah, Grenache Noir, Mourvèdre, Carignan, Cinsault

Ventoux White Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Bourboulenc, Clairette, Marsanne, Viognier, Vermentino Red Carignan, Cinsault, Grenache Noir, Syrah, Mourvèdre

No boundaries

I finish my journey with a foray back to the north, where a patchwork of appellations is cradled in the southern Rhône valley. To the west, below Orange, are the exclusive vineyards of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and I drive past those of Côtes du Rhône cru villages Beaumes-de-Venises, Vacqueyras, Gigondas and Séguret in quick succession. Where I’m destined, though, is the crossroads at which four of the southern Rhône’s appellations meet.

On the hill behind the village of Crestet, I drive narrow, pine-shaded lanes to find Chêne Bleu, a wine estate that envelops you in its natural surroundings. After buying it in 1993, Xavier and Nicole Rolet painstakingly restored the medieval priory at its heart, seeing the potential of the vineyard with an altitude of 550m. As I arrive, Xavier’s daughter Danielle is there to show me around the extraordinary setting, which is overlooked by the Dentelles de Montmirail. As I admire the saddle of land where the Ventoux, Séguret, Côtes du Rhône and Gigondas appellations meet, I hear a cuckoo call, frogs croaking and the warm breeze blowing through the trees. Here they welcome the Mistral wind; it helps fend off disease in the vines.

We continue inside, where Danielle points out the level of dedication and adoration that has gone into the winery; from Nicole’s exquisite friezes that adorn the walls surrounding the concrete vats, to humorous medieval-style wine labels. Afterwards, I taste the acclaimed wines that do not adhere to appellation boundaries. ‘It was a brave move as first-time winemakers, but it’s paid off!’ says Danielle.

When I leave, she thanks me for making the tricky journey to see them, but with chambres d’hôtes, gourmet dinners and wine courses on offer, it’s a trip I’m willing to make again.

Luberon & Ventoux: Accommodation

Château de Montcaud, Sabran

A short hop over the Rhône river, this new four-star hotel run by friendly Swiss couple Rolf and Andrea Bertschi has a superb restaurant and a very knowledgeable sommelier. Makes a good base if you’re including Châteauneuf-du-Pape in your trip.

• Address: Hameau de Combes, 30200 Sabran

Crillon le Brave

This ‘scattered hotel’, which occupies historic buildings in the village of the same name, enjoys a breathtaking view of Mont Ventoux. Its refurbished rooms were designed by top French architect Charles Zana.

• Address: Place de l’Eglise, 84410 Crillon Le Brave

La Coquillade, Gargas

An eco-friendly and luxurious resort looking out over the surrounding vineyards belonging to its own winery Aureto. Explore the area on high-quality bicycles from the on-site cycling centre.

• Address: Le Perrotet, 84400 Gargas

Luberon & Ventoux: Restaurants

La Figuière, Fontaine de Vaucluse

Tucked away in a corner of the village near the river Sorgue, this classic bistro restaurant offers an idyllic courtyard under the shade of parasols. Its menu features French and Provençale classics.

• Address: 3 Chemin de la Grangette, 84800 Fontaine de Vaucluse

La Table de Xavier Mathieu, Joucas

In a small village between Gordes and Roussillon, chef and Provence native Xavier Mathieu brings together Provençale ingredients for his exquisite dishes, served on the terrace of the restaurant, overlooking the Luberon valley.

• Address: 220 Route de Murs, 84220 Joucas

Les Bories, Gordes

This one-star Michelin restaurant near Gordes sees chef Grégory Mirer, who previously worked for the late, celebrated Joël Robuchon in Paris, serve refined dishes using the best Provençale produce.

• Address: Route de l’Abbaye de Senanque, 84220 Gordes

Getting there

The easiest airport to reach is Marseille, which is served by several airlines. The one nearer to the destinations detailed here, however, is Avignon. Both Marseille and Avignon are served by direct trains on Eurostar. From Marseille, it is about a 90-minute drive to Mormoiron; from Avignon, the drive is 45 minutes.

INSIDE THE SEPTEMBER 2021 EDITION OF DECANTER…

FEATURES:

• Provence rosé: our top 30 Perfect for those sunny al fresco afternoons, selected by Elizabeth Gabay MW
• Perfect pairing: tomates Provençales A masterclass in simplicity and flavour, by Caroline Rimbert Craig
• Agulhas Wine Triangle Take a tour of South Africa’s dramatic southern coastal region, with Malu Lambert
• Regional profile: Pouilly-Fuissé Anticipation builds with the imminent release of the region’s first premiers crus. By Charles Curtis MW
• Producer profile: Mas de Daumas Gassac After five decades, the ʻgrand cru of the Languedoc’ is still setting the bar high, says Andrew Jefford
• Vintage report: Tuscany 30 of the best new releases from Montalcino and Chianti Classico. By Michaela Morris
• My Siena A Tuscan gem: drink and eat at Sarah Lane’s favourite spots

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LEARNING

• Wine wisdom Expert tips to help you explore the fascinating world of win

SPIRITS

• Distilled Spirits insights and cocktail recipes – plus five flavoured vodkas
• Summer cocktails to make at home Join Laura Foster in creating some seasonal serves, alcoholic and not

GOOD LIVING

• Soho for wine lovers Fiona Beckett on the vinous heart of London’s West End

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BUYING GUIDE

• Panel tasting: Albariño versus Alvarinho One grape, two faces – and a multitude of delicious expressions
• Expert’s choice: Asti & Moscato d’Asti James Button picks his 18 top summery Piedmont sparklers
• Weekday wines 25 top picks under £20, chosen by the Decanter team
• Weekend wines 7 top buys, £20-£50

COLLECTORS

• Marketwatch investment news What’s making waves in the market
• Marketwatch spotlight The dash for digital in the fine wine trading world

REGULARS

• Meet the experts Decanter’s authors
• Uncorked News, views and more
• Letters
• Andrew Jefford’s column Time to move on: appellations need change
• Hugh Johnson’s column Just the right size: the joy of the half-bottle
• DWWA 2021 highlights: South Africa excelled this year. Here are its top sparkling and white wines
• Wine to 5: Shane Jones On his working life as a wine and sake educator

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George and Amal Clooney have put the Provence wine country commune of Brignoles on the world media map by acquiring the nearby Canadel estate.

Despite reports of a delay to the deal earlier this year, the couple were pictured arriving at the estate and in Brignoles at the end of last week.

Local mayor Didier Brémond posted a photo of himself between the Hollywood actor and Amal Clooney, a Lebanese-British lawyer specialising in international criminal law and human rights.

‘Welcome to Brignoles.’ he wrote on 23 July. ‘It’s now official. George and Amal Clooney are residents of our beautiful commune.’

Brémond added, ‘I had the pleasure of meeting them, at their invitation, at Domaine du Canadel.’

According to Le Parisien newspaper, the purchase price was around €7m.

Lying in the Var area, the sprawling Canadel estate covers 172 hectares. Alongside the main residence, it’s believed to include vineyards, a pool and olive groves.

It’s also around a half-hour drive from Château Miraval, the Provence estate co-owned by Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and the Perrin winemaking family of Château de Beaucastel fame.

There has been no suggestion of the Clooneys seeking to commence a wine project at Canadel.

Yet their arrival emphasises how desirable this rosé wine heartland has become for wealthy property buyers.

Vineyard estates in Provence have been in hot demand in the past few years.

Buyers range from those seeking purely ‘lifestyle’ properties, where the vineyard operation doesn’t necessarily need to make a profit, to investors with more serious wine projects in mind.

In an example of the latter, Château Cos d’Estournel owner Michel Reybier bought Château La Mascaronne in the Var area last year for an undisclosed fee.

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Best Provence rosé wines for under £20 / $30

With temperatures continuing to climb this summer, but a higher chance of not getting abroad, bring a taste of the south of France with this selection of some of the best Provence rosés, all recommended by our experts and available for under £20 / $30 – plus one just above £20, which was one of our best panel tasting wines of 2020. 

Choosing Provence rosé

These wines normally are a blend of the grapes Cinsault, Syrah and Grenache.

‘When choosing your wine, don’t be fooled into thinking that ‘all these wines should be pale,’ judge Rod Smith MW noted last year’s panel tasting. ‘But pale doesn’t always mean good – once you’re stripping out colour you’re also homogenising flavour.’ Many of the best rosé wines can have a deeper colour.

As for what to drink when, Smith said: ‘At the beginning of the summer, try drinking the end of last year’s rosés rather than the early new one, especially if they’ve only just been bottled. People think it has to be the youngest vintage, but it doesn’t.’ There are plenty of 2019s in the selection below to choose from. Overall, the 2019 vintage was a good one, both size and quality, and could be ones to allow to age a few years.

Serving rosé wines

Recommending the perfect way to serve these wines, Elizabeth Gaby MW previously told Decanter.com: ‘Some crucial advice for rosé lovers: serving your wines ice cold does them no favours. The ideal temperature should be about 11°C to 15°C – between how you’d serve white and red wines. Sometimes decanting brings out greater complexity too.’

Rosé wines can also ‘be one of the best partners for a wide range of food,’ wrote food and wine expert Fiona Beckett, in our matching rosé wines with food guide, and a dry rosé can always work well as an all-rounder barbecue wine.

Look out for Elizabeth Gaby MW’s pick of 30 top Provence rosés, in Decanter magazine this summer.

Best Provence rosé wines under £20: Ten to try

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Provence is a hot destination for buyers seeking vineyard estates, and there are a range of options available.

While last week’s vineyard property piece featured a fixer-upper-style ‘bastide’ in the region, this Provençal estate is an example of a more ready-made option.

Lying 20 minutes from Aix-en-Provence and covering 36 hectares of land, there’s a 16th century farmhouse with seven bedrooms and an outdoor pool with views across the vines, shows the listing by Christie’s International Real Estate and local affiliate agency Michaël Zingraf.

There are also 10 hectares of vineyards planted to a range of grape varieties, plus fruit trees and lavender – completing the classic Provençal feel.

It’s a case of ‘price upon request’, however.

An independent apartment and a caretaker’s house have several rooms, and there is a building permit in order for a prospective buyer ‘to develop the wine business’, according to the listing.

That could be interesting for anyone with a Provence rosé wine hobby project in mind.

Provence vineyard prices: A mixed bag

In terms of vineyard land only, headline deals in recent years have led to prices rising in some areas of Provence, notably near to the coast, said French land agency Safer in a report last year.

In the Var area, some Côtes de Provence AOP vineyards might cost up to €150,000 per hectare in 2019, but the lowest-priced sites were around €35,000, Safer said.

AOP Coteaux d’Aix en Provence vineyard land in the Bouches-du-Rhône area cost €37,000 per hectare on average in 2019, having only risen slightly from €30,000 back in 2012, showed Safer figures.

It can be hard to translate these prices into specific estates, however. Vineyard sites can cause values to vary, as can a range of other factors, from the health of the vines to the residence and facilities.

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Provence vineyard estates have been hot property recently, from news of George Clooney’s possible arrival to deals involving prominent French businessmen and wine families.

This Provencal ‘bastide’ comes with 10 hectares, which includes five hectares of unplanted vineyard land that can be used for IGP-certified vines. 

Listed by the Wine Objectives agency for around €1.8m (£1.55m), it’s a property that lies more at the fixer-upper end of the market. 

‘Whilst in need of modernising and refurbishment, it offers enormous potential with a beautiful courtyard shaded by century-old plane trees and parklands with swimming pool,’ according to the listing.

Alongside the five hectares of plantable IGP vineyard land, another 4.8ha could be added to the deal, the agency said.

An outbuilding at the property could also be turned into a winery, it added.

That could appeal to anyone with dreams of creating a vineyard or wine in their own image.

But planting vines from scratch requires patience and upfront investment, too. It can take several years before newly planted vines translate into wine bottles in your cellar, for instance.

Speaking to Decanter magazine for a recent feature on buying vineyards, Wine Objectives’ Adam Dakin and other estate agents around the world highlighted the different options open to prospective buyers looking to get involved in the wine scene.

Strategies vary from buying only the vineyards and working with local partners to make the wines or seeking more of a lifestyle ‘hobby’ project that comes with a high-spec residence and a few hectares of vines.

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After widespread speculation across French media, George Clooney and his wife, the Lebanese-British barrister Amal Clooney, were understood to have agreed to buy Provence vineyard estate ‘domaine du Canadel’.

Local newspaper Var-Matin said it had confirmed the news, and cited the local mayor. The asking price was reportedly close to €8m (£6.9m, $9.7m).

But there was uncertainty this week after fresh reports emerged that a previous prospective buyer had challenged the deal with the sellers of the estate.

The local public prosecutor’s office for the commune of Draguignan confirmed to Agence France Presse that a legal case had been filed. 

There was no suggestion that the Clooneys were aware of the potential legal issue or were involved in any wrongdoing.

Lying in Brignoles in the Var, Canadel is around a half-hour drive from Château Miraval, the Provence estate co-owned by Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and the Perrin family.

Alongside vines, there’s a pool and olive groves, and Brignoles mayor Didier Brémond told France-Bleu radio in April that he believed the Clooneys were primarily looking for somewhere to relax rather than necessarily a winery. 

Yet the move has also put Brignoles on the map, drawing the attention of US television crews among others.

Picturesque Provence vineyard estates have become increasingly desirable, partly as the region’s signature rose wines have boomed in popularity. 

Some buyers seek more of classic a lifestyle property with a few vines and a well-maintained residence, but others also have serious wine projects in mind, as described in a feature on buying a vineyard in the latest issue of Decanter magazine.

In July last year, Château Cos d’Estournel owner Michel Reybier bought Château La Mascaronne in the Var area for an undisclosed fee.

Reybier said he acquired the estate after being ‘won over by the quality of the wines and the potential of La Mascaronne terroir’.

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Located along the Mediterranean coast in the south of France, Provence is one of France’s oldest wine-producing regions. Rosé accounts for more than 85% of wine produced in the region, and though Provence’s world-renowned specialty, quality red wines and increasingly, top-quality white wines are vying for attention.

‘Provence’s finest white wines are one of France’s wine secrets,’ begins the tasting note for Villa Baulieu’s Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence 2016 – awarded the top accolade of Best in Show at the 2020 Decanter World Wine Awards. Matured for eight months in 40hl oak foudres, this wine is produced from 60% Rolle and 40% Sauvignon Blanc, which moderates the exuberance of Rolle in Provence’s warm climate. 

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Scroll down to see Provence’s top-scoring white and red wines

On judging Provençal wines at DWWA 2020, Rod Smith MW, Regional Chair for Provence commented, ‘I’m quite excited about the white wines and increasingly, the red wines with the change in climate. Rolle, which is the white grape of Provence, aka Vermentino in Italy, is a great grape – good at resisting sunshine and capable of making some truly exceptional white wines.’

Results for Provence at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2020 show there is much more to be discovered beyond rosé, with both white and red wines receiving more Gold medals (95+ points) than rosé wines at the competition. Below discover 20 top-scoring examples worth seeking out…

DWWA 2020 Top Provence wines: Beyond rosé

White

Villa Baulieu, Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence 2016

Best in Show, 97 points

60% Rolle, 40% Sauvignon Blanc

Provence’s finest white wines are one of France’s wine secrets: little lauded, amidst all the attention given to rosé and prestige reds, but quietly compelling, as those who take the trouble to discover them will find, and more diverse than you would think, too. This point of difference in this outstanding example from Coteaux d’Aix en Provence is the Sauvignon Blanc component, freshening and lending a nut-leaf complexity to the richer, more succulent fruit from the Rolle (Vermentino), always at home around the Mediterranean rim. Look out, too, for the pithy, zesty finish with its attractive and cleansing note of soft bitterness.

Château des Bormettes, Instinct Parcellaire La Bergerie, Côtes de Provence La Londe 2018

Gold, 96 points

100% Vermentino

Lush nose of candied lemon, sweet, spiced oak and green fruit, while the palate is graced with grapefruit, honey and blanched almond.

Domaine d’Eole, Confidence, IGP Alpilles 2018

Gold, 96 points

100% Roussanne

Attractive and inviting with honeysuckle, vanilla and preserved lemon aromas leading on to nectarine, honey and a dash of sweet oak on the opulent palate.

Domaine de Toasc, Bellet 2018

Gold, 95 points

95% Rolle, 5% Chardonnay

Perfumed and heady with hints of ginger, honey and spiced oak, then to a palate laced with lychee, chamomile, thyme and greengage.

Château Romanin, Grand Vin, Les Baux-de-Provence 2018

Silver, 94 points

69% Rolle, 24% Roussanne, 7% Clairette

Lifted nose of grapefruit, jasmine and toasted lime notes, lead to a palate of pear, apple, yellow plum and lime marmalade.

Baulieu, Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence 2016

Silver, 92 points

60% Rolle, 40% Sauvignon Blanc

Perfumed by cut grass, greengage, lime leaf and hints of lanolin, then to a palate of lime zest and sherbet freshness.

Bernard Van Doren, Domaine de L’Anglade Le Blanc, IGP Maures 2019

Silver, 92 points

38% Sémillon, 34% Rolle, 28% Viognier

Generous and aromatic, with hints of lemon zest, lime and honey, and a rich palate graced with creamy plush stone fruit.

Château Bonisson, Opus 1619, Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence 2019

Silver, 91 points

75% Vermentino, 20% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Clairette

Inviting grapefruit, orchard fruit and asparagus aromatics lead on to a textured peach, preserved lemon and red apple palate.

Château Calissanne, Clos Victoire, Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence 2019

Silver, 90 points

90% Rolle, 10% Sémillon

Lifted floral nose of white flower, yellow plum and citrus, while the palate is zesty with sherbet, grapefruit and lime.

Red

Domaine de la Bégude, La Brulade, Bandol 2017

Platinum, 97 points

95% Mourvèdre, 5% Grenache

Complex nose with deep black berry fruits, spice and hints of polish. Really lovely texture with layers of creamy red and black fruits, spices and powerful but super fine tannins. Great expression of the appellation; powerfully long.

Domaine de la Bégude, Bandol 2017

Platinum, 97 points

93% Mourvèdre, 7% Grenache

Inviting spicy oak, malt and blackberry cream scents. Powerfully structured tannins, spicy liquorice and clove flavours as well as bramble fruit; very long finish. Its best years are far into the future. Terrific stuff.

Château Romanin, La Chapelle, Les Baux-de-Provence 2018

Gold, 96 points

65% Syrah, 18% Grenache, 17% Mourvèdre

Elegant nose of coffee, cocoa, black fruit and spice, then to a plush palate of blackberry, mulberry, seductive oak and fine, rolling tannins.

Château Henri Bonnaud, Quintessence, Palette 2016

Gold, 95 points

30% Grenache, 30% Mourvèdre, 30% Carignan

Heady aromas of fennel, liquorice, smoky black cherry and cappuccino, then a minty, herbal palate laced with dried blueberry and underpinned with fine, sophisticated tannins.

Château Romanin, Grand Vin, Les Baux-de-Provence 2015

Gold, 95 points

50% Syrah, 25% Mourvèdre, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon

Opulent nose of coffee bean, sweet dark fruit, tea leaf and spice, then on to a silky palate of blueberry, damson and supple tannins. Bravo!

Domaine de Toasc, Bellet 2016

Gold, 95 points

70% Fuella Nera, 30% Grenache

Inky, plush aromatics of clove, liquorice, spice and blackcurrant lead on to a palate graced with blackberry, coffee and seductive, creamy vanilla oak.

Domaine Richeaume, Tradition, IGP Méditerranée 2017

Gold, 95 points

42% Syrah, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Grenache

Concentrated blue and black fruit aromas. Excellent use of oak and great extract of tannins, retaining freshness to compensate for the alcohol; multilayered palate with flavours of berries, mocha and milk chocolate. Long finish.

Domaine La Suffrène, Les Lauves, Bandol 2017

Silver, 93 points

90% Mourvèdre, 10% Carignan

Black cherry, blueberry and bramble fruit nose. The palate shows a fine dark fruit character, good oak usage and full but fine tannins. Complex and long.

Château d’Estoublon, Les Baux-de-Provence 2016

Silver, 91 points

40% Syrah, 30% Mourvèdre, 25% Grenache

Beautifully perfumed with hints of cinnamon, poached damson and redcurrant, while the palate is textured with dried fruit and well judged oak.

Château Val d’Arenc, Bandol 2017

Silver, 91 points

90% Mourvèdre, 10% Grenache

Blackberry jam and smoked meat scents. Lovely developed character with red fruits, meaty complexity and nice tannins. Lovely wine.

Villa Baulieu, Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence 2016

Silver, 91 points

50% Syrah, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Grenache

Opulent on the nose with layers of bramble, spice and inky dark fruit, rolling tannins and spiced pepper lace the palate.

Search all DWWA 2020 results from Provence

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Porquerolles island, home to Domaine de L’Ile, is just 4.3 miles long and 1.9 miles wide and yet packs in a dizzying array of landscapes.

As we moved around the island – by boat, bike, Citroën Méhari and on foot – we were by turns in a Kenya of mimosas, eucalyptus and cypress trees, in the Scottish Highlands of rugged cliffs, spray and scrub, or pure Mediterranean groves of olives, oranges, lemons and mandarins.

Scroll down to see Jane Anson’s tasting notes on Domaine de L’Ile 2019 wines

This was my first trip outside of the Bordeaux region since February.

When climbing aboard the boat from Hyères port to Porquerolles, I could understand why Charles Carmignac, director of the island’s Carmignac Art Foundation, described this 15-minute journey as a form of psychological re-set, a way of disconnecting from normal life.

You also see this when you take the boat in the opposite direction, as the most usual response from the islanders as you leave is ‘say hello to France’.

A protected national park, with forest covering around 80% of the land, Porquerolles is the largest of the three Îles d’Hyères, the furthest to the west of its neighbours, Port Cros and Le Levant.

The French president’s summer residence, the Fort de Brégançon, is a few kilometres away back on the French mainland – as is Domaine Ott’s Clos Mireille vineyard, just about visible from the island’s northeastern tip.

I was here to visit Domaine de L’Ile, the newest property in the collection of vineyards owned by luxury goods house Chanel that comprises Châteaux Rauzan-Ségla, Canon and Berliquet in Bordeaux, plus St Supery in Napa Valley.

Going on three decades ago now, the family owners of Chanel famously missed out on buying Château Latour in Pauillac. One hesitation too many and François Pinault was able to swoop in and buy it from under them.

So there must have been something particularly pleasing about things working out the other way for them here at Domaine de L’Ile.

‘We heard that the vineyard had come up for sale,’ says director Nicolas Audebert, ‘and were in discussion with owner Sebastien Le Ber for a few months. We got to the point of sending a winemaker down from Bordeaux (Pierre Etcheberry, formerly at Château Lafleur in Pomerol) simply to get to understand the challenges involved, and to show our commitment.

‘One day Le Ber called me up and said that we had been outbid substantially, and that he had to accept the higher offer.’

But it turned out that Chanel wasn’t out for the count. This island is, after all, a family story. Le Ber, who I would later see on the shaded central square playing the balletic local version of pétanque called La Longue, is the grandson of the island’s former owner, François-Joseph Fournier – along with Maxime Prodromidès, also still resident on the island and president of the Small Islands Organisation.

It was Fournier who gave Porquerolles to his young bride Sylvia (English father, French mother) in 1912 as a wedding present, successfully bidding on it at auction with money he had made discovering gold in Mexico.

Together, they brought it back to life after a devastating fire had destroyed much of the land, raised seven children on the island, opened a school, planted hundreds of thousands of trees, fruit trees and vegetable gardens, along with vineyards that could be bottled as Côtes de Provence.

Fournier died in 1935 at the age of 77, but his wife lived until 1971, the same year that the French state purchased 80% of the island to make it part of the Parc National de Port-Cros.

Their grandson, Le Ber, had run the vineyard since 1980. But it takes serious time and investment to make wine with so many logistical challenges, such as no mains water supply, no cars save a few transport vehicles, and no bridge to the mainland meaning all wine has to be moved by boat.

He was looking for ways to protect the family’s ownership of other parts of the island. Selling the vineyard seemed a sensible way to ensure this, even if letting in outsiders was bound to draw attention in this close-knit community. Fewer than 300 people live here year-round, although numbers normally swell to 10,000 over the summer months.

All of this meant that Audebert’s connection to Porquerolles must have struck a chord.

‘I grew up in the nearby port city of Toulon, as my father was a naval officer based there, and I spent a lot of my childhood sailing around and exploring the island,’ Audebert says.

‘We felt a genuine link to the potential of the wines here, and wished him the best when he decided to sell to someone else. But he called us a few days later to say that he had reconsidered, and wanted to sell his family’s estate to a group that he knew would love it as he had done.’

It’s not easy trying to bottle what is so special about this place, where the sound of the cicadas in the summer is so loud that colleagues calling from Rauzan-Ségla ask the team to ‘move away from the trees, we can’t hear you’.

The team has inherited a vineyard with great views, set across several remote plots on opposite sides of the island – partly on the Brégançonnet plain and partly on the Notre-Dame plains. There has been a lot of work to do, however.

After soil studies, and the observations of onsite winemaker Pierre Etcheberry, they pulled up areas that had become unproductive or had too many missing vines.

The terroir here is schist, clay and sand, and it is true island viticulture, with all the saline-tang and stinging wind that its location imparts. The vineyard stands at 20 hectares (ha), along with 5ha of olive trees that Etcheberry is learning to take care of.

He is as obsessive over details as you would expect from someone who spent three years with the team at Château Lafleur, and is clearly thrilled at the expanded challenge of olives. They also require hand-picking, have a slightly longer growing season than the vines and are even more capricious in terms of yield.

Everything is organic, certified since 2015, reflecting the island’s overall status as a protected national park, as well as the philosophy of Chanel at their other properties.

To date, 20% of Domaine de l’Ile’s production is sold on the island itself to the local hotels and restaurants, and to summer tourists. The remaining 80%, comprising around 80,000 bottles, makes its way to the mainland via a freight boat that ferries 600 cubic metres of water to the island each day in summer.

The rosé itself stands in contrast to the island’s other two estates, Domaine La Courtade and Domaine Perzinsky. La Courtade, with the same owners as the Carmignac Foundation, is sleek and gently oak-aged. It’s the most expensive of the three wines, while Perzinsky is a more traditional, fruit-focused rosé.

Domaine de l’Ile stands somewhere in between the two. It retails for around €20 per bottle and shows pared-back rose petal and soft redcurrant flavours, combined with gentle acidities from a blend of Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Tibouren.

The brilliant citrus-filled white wine is 100% Rolle (Vermentino), and both are unoaked. A red has been made in the past but stopped under Chanel, at least for now.

‘We are not looking to create an entry-level brand and then release a few thousand bottles of a top cuvée,’ says Audebert.

‘Instead we want to be known for producing one great bottling of rosé, and another of white, all from our own grapes on this island, capturing the expression of what that means.’

‘It takes time to be accepted here,’ says Etcheberry. ‘Island life has its own rhythm, and we still have a lot to learn. But we are in this for the long-term.’

Domaine de L’Ile 2019 wines, plus other rosés with Bordeaux connections

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In the 1960s George Brunet, owner of Château La Lagune, 3éme Cru Classé from Haut-Médoc in Bordeaux, set out to find a new property in Provence.

Bordeaux at this time had variable vintages: only 1961, 1962 and 1966 had produced good-to-great wines, making the appeal of southern France with its hot dry summers and guaranteed ripening so attractive.

Scroll down for Elizabeth Gabay’s Château Vignelaure tasting notes and scores

However, it was within this hotter region, that cooler zones offered the chance of freshness and elegance. Vignelaure, on clay and limestone at 350-400m, is in one of the coolest spots in Provence. Situated on the northern edge of the then VDQS (Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure) Coteaux d’Aix, the hills are protected from the warm Mediterranean by the high mountains of the Massif Ste Baume and Ste Victoire.

Vision

Brunet hoped to be able to make ripe, but fresh, Cabernet Sauvignon and bought with him vines from La Lagune – along with Bordeaux bottles, know-how and a strong affinity with red wine.

In total 60 hectares were replanted, a task that took nearly 10 years and replaced all the original vines. The Cabernet grapes were the first ever to be planted at the estate and the first in over a century for the region as a whole. They joined a focus on the traditional varieties Grenache and Syrah.

Brunet’s initial wines, starting with the 1970 vintage, were 70% plus Cabernet and 30% Syrah and Grenache to add in supple softness and fruit concentration.

Although this sounds radical there are records of this blend dating back to descriptions from the 18th century. However, the estate remains atypical in its use of Cabernet Sauvignon, representing around 35-40% of red grape plantings compared to 5-10% for all vines in Provence.

During these early years, the talented Eloi Durrbach apprenticed at Vignelaure before moving to Domaine Trevallon – an estate bought by his father René Dürrbach in 1995, located in nearby Les Baux, to make his own iconic Cabernet Sauvignon-Syrah blend.

At a time when Provence was only just gaining its appellation status, the elegant, fresh reds of Vignelaure were regarded as outstanding, taking on cult status.

Changing hands

In 1985 the appellation was upgraded from VDQS to full AOC appellation status, which meant the wines were required to have less Cabernet and more Syrah and/or Grenache. In the following year, Brunet sold the estate.

The next owners also owned St Jean de Villecroze in Coteaux Varois, also with a high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon, and Château du Galoupet, a Cru Classé Cotes de Provence on the coast.

They stayed a short time but the estate passed on to two other owners before being bought, in 1994, by Irishman David O’Brien.

O’Brien worked extensively in the vineyards and moved from the traditional old foudres to barriques. In 2007 O’Brien sold the estate to the Danish-Swedish couple, Mette and Bengt Sundstrom.

New era

The Sundstrom’s brought in Philippe Bru in 2008, previously a winemaker in Rasteau, to oversee their vision of returning Vignelaure to its preeminent status with a fresh, modern style.

Bru implemented a change to:

• organic viticulture, which he claims has increased the salinity in the resulting wines
• small fermentation tanks for precise vinification
• 100% destalking
• 400l used Burgundy barrels instead of barriques

Since 1992, rosé wines were made as part of the red winemaking process, concentrating the reds, but from 2010 Bru started to use fresher fruit from cooler sites, and fruit from younger vines for his rosé. Today 40% of production is rosé.

Brunet had tried a white wine with Grenache Blanc and Semillon, but early on and grafted on Cabernet Sauvignon. Bru was keen to try again, and realising Cabernet on cooler sites was struggling to ripen, he grubbed up these marginal plots in 2009 and replanted with Sauvignon Blanc and Roussanne, and later Viognier, making the first white wine in 2013. Today 20% of production is white wine.

Results

The impact of these changes on the red wines has been less unripe fruit plus the fruit from older vines is less green and vegetal. The precise proportions of varieties changes with every vintage but Cabernet always dominates, and since 2008 there has been no Grenache in the blend.

The grapes are harvested and vinified parcel by parcel and blended later. Due to the cooler climate, compared to the rest of Provence, there is more vintage variation with a greater emphasis on Cabernet in cooler vintages.

To celebrate the 50th vintage, the estate hosted a tasting of wines dating back to the first, made in 1970. Vignelaure has always had a policy of cellaring old vintages for their select clients and the tasting provided an opportunity for lively discussion leading some to compare the wines to Bordeaux, others to the Rhône.

Clear vintage variations were evident, with greater or lesser amounts of Cabernet. While many wines had a deep fruity richness (more red berry notes in the older wines with Grenache), all have fresh acidity and some displayed a beautiful delicate florality, namely the 2013, 2008, 2001, 1990, 1985, 1982 and 1975.

See Elizabeth Gabay’s Château Vignelaure tasting notes and scores

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Provence has certainly seen high-profile deals at the top end of the market in recent years, from the arrival of Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and the Perrin family at Château Miraval to estate purchases by LVMH and the owners of Chanel.

French land agency Safer said the number of vineyard transactions in the combined Provence and the Rhône Valley area rose by 7.6% in 2019, to 1,540, but the total value of deals jumped by nearly 55% versus 2018, to €226m.

Most recently, the Prats family, who formerly owned Château Cos d’Estournel in Bordeaux, joined with French businessman Stéphane Courbit to buy Château d’Estoublon in Les Baux de Provence appellation south of Avignon.

Adam Dakin, of estate agency Wine Objectives, told Decanter.com earlier this summer that ‘Provence has been absolutely booming’ of late, as buyers have sought a piece of this burgeoning hub of rosé wines.

Dakin said that land towards the coast tends to be more expensive, but you can still pick up vineyards for around €70,000 per hectare in the upper parts of the Var, for instance.

There is quite a large area to consider, and it’s worth doing your research in advance. The Côtes de Provence appellation covers 20,100ha and produces the equivalent of 130m bottles of wine annually, of which 90% is rosé, according to the region’s wine council.

Other appellations include Coteaux d’Aix en Provence, which covers 4,127ha, the Coteaux Varois en Provence, covering 2,633ha.

There are also ways of setting up a commercial wine business by buying in grapes, rather than starting out with the vineyards themselves, as the owners of Château Mirabeau explained to Decanter’s Georgina Hindle.

If you’re looking for inspiration, then here are some examples estates and properties currently for sale:

Vineyard and holiday rental project with views of the Var hills, listed for €2.85m*

Those looking for the chance to begin their own vineyard project could be tempted by this picturesque estate. It has 17ha of ‘agricultural land’, but in reality there is an area of around five to six hectares on which vines could be planted, according to the listing by estate agency network Vinea Transaction.

The south-facing main house has been renovated and is currently serving as a holiday rental business. Alongside the swimming pool, other features include 150 olive trees spread across the land.

*Including agency fees

Vineyard estate in the Var hinterland, listed for €3m

This estate surrounded by hills has around 6ha of vineyards in the Côtes de Provence appellation, including 2ha on a long-term tenancy deal, according to the listing by the Vinea Transaction network.

The entire estate is around 36ha, with olive groves, forest land and a set of buildings described as a ‘small hamlet’. An agri-tourism business is already in place here, according to the listing.

Luxury wine estate near to Cannes, listed for €15m

Lying just north of Cannes, this impressive-looking vineyard estate features an eight-bedroom mansion plus 100-year-old olive trees, a professional-level kitchen and a vineyard with winemaking and bottling equipment.

There is also a heated swimming pool, of course.

The vines and cellar are capable of producing between 6,000 and 8,000 bottles of white and rosé wine annually, according to the listing by the Côte d’Azur division of Sotheby’s International Realty.

Provence/Rhône border: Vineyard estate with Château in the Luberon, listed for the €4.25m

For prospective buyers seeking a slightly larger-scale winemaking project, this ‘bastide’ in the Luberon north of Aix-en-Provence has 13.5ha of vines alongside a large main residence, three gîtes and several hectares of crop land.

The Luberon area boasts a national park and sits between Provence and the Rhône Valley – with the Luberon AOC at the southern tip of the Rhône Valley wine area.

Wine for this estate is currently made a local cooperative, which is highly regarded, according to the listing by estate agency Wine Objectives.

A buyer would have the opportunity to continue this arrangement or invest in their own winemaking facilities at the estate, it said, describing the property as a ‘rare’ find in the area.

Colonel Gilles Normand is not the most likely of vineyard directors.

For a start, he is wearing his full military uniform when I meet him, decorated with row upon row of medals and insignia.

It takes him 10 minutes just to talk me through them – from the Légion d’Honneur to the national order of merit to the cross of military valour. There’s one denoting the recognition of the French nation for almost 40 years of service, another from the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

There’s even one for taking part in the Libyan Revolution, giving a hint that Colonel Normand has a streak of the adventurer about him.

Running a vineyard seems a little tame in comparison – at least until you realise that Domaine Capitaine Danjou is almost certainly the only vineyard worldwide where he could be surrounded by former servicemen, some of whom he has led into battle himself, and all of whom must make for lively conversation over the pruning secateurs.

This is the home estate of the French Foreign Legion, that infamous fighting unit open to all nationalities that have been immortalised in more than 100 films from Laurel and Hardy to Claude van Damme’s Légionnaire.

It counts today around 10,000 soldiers from 120 countries, with recent deployments to Afghanistan, Mali, Burkina Faso, the Lebanon, Iraq and the Ivory Coast.

Even today it comprises around 10% of the French military force and is still so popular that recruitment offices receive eight requests for every place.

The exact makeup of applicants changes depending on the geopolitical situation worldwide. Nepal and Brazil are providing plenty of potential recruits right now, whereas after the Falklands War there were a large number of British applicants.

It is also the only branch of the French military to have its own vineyard – in fact, as far as I know, the only branch of any military globally to make its own wine from its own grapes.

Vineyard workers comprise former Légionnaire soldiers who now live full-time on a property that is also known as the l’Institution des Invalides de la Légion Étrangère (IILE), founded to look after wounded veterans, many of whom are unwilling or unable to return to their home countries.

How it came about

They certainly picked a beautiful spot, in the foothills of the Ste-Victoire mountains near Aix-en-Provence.

It was originally given to the Legion in the 1950s by the French government, at the height of the Indochina War and the growing Algerian conflict. There were 36,000 members of the French Foreign Legion at the time, and it became increasingly clear that wounded veterans needed somewhere to go.

It’s essentially a service much like that for the Chelsea Pensioners in London, but the inmates are a little rowdier, and almost certainly have more tattoos.

‘Today our pénsionnaires are often not injured in battle, but wounded by life’, says Colonel Normand, taking me through the almost 100 ex-Légionnaires that live at the estate. The youngest is 35, the oldest (‘of Dutch origin’, he says mysteriously) is 93. The average age overall is 68.

‘All have served with the Foreign Legion, and all received their certificate of good conduct. Those are the only criteria that you need to join – along with being single – and male, because women are still not allowed in the Foreign Legion.

‘They are here because we believe in the motto of the Foreign Legion,’ he adds, ‘that “tu n’abandonnes jamais les tiens, ni au combat, ni dans la vie (‘you never abandon your own, in combat nor in life’). You’ll see the same words on the back label of every bottle of wine they produce.

Besides being given food and board – for an average cost of around €500 per month, according to ability to pay – the pénsionnaires are given work on the estate.

Although the French state gifted the land, it is entirely self-funded today, and the vineyard comprises the bulk of its income – with shortfalls made up by donations and bequests.

And they are offered what amounts to a mix of training and occupational therapy – either through learning bookbinding or ceramics, or by taking on gardening duty, cooking duty, or working in the vineyard. And of the four permanent salaried staff in the vineyard, three are ex-Légionnaires.

From wheat to vines

Back in the 1950s, the estate came with 12ha of vines, with the bulk of the 220ha of land given over to wheat. When it became clear that cereal production was losing money, the vineyard was increased in size to today’s 40ha, producing around 175,000 bottles per year, with a further 25,000 added from wine bought through the local cooperative cellar.

Until fairly recently, the output comprised hearty but rustic reds, but as the need to make a financially viable business increased, they enlisted two Bordeaux winemakers as both reservists and volunteer wine consultants.

This is how I met up with the Colonel, at Château Coutet, the home estate of Philippe Baly and an estate that has welcomed numerous Légionnaires for training in viticulture.

Baly has been working with Domaine Capitaine Danjou since 2006, and he, in turn, asked Bertrand Léon to join him in the role. I know Léon better as the owner of the brilliant Château les Trois Croix in Fronsac, and as a consultant for, among others, Château d’Esclans in Provence.

By coincidence, his father, Patrick Léon, first began working with Château d’Esclans’s Sacha Lichine there also in 2006. But, it turns out he also did his military service with the marine corps, surely the only other military unit to approach the Légionnaires in capturing the public imagination.

The relationship between Baly and the Foreign Legion goes back to the 1970s and a chance meeting with an ex-officer that developed into a longstanding family friendship. Both men also clearly enjoy the challenge of working with such an unusual group of winemakers.

‘I liked the idea of helping ex-Légionnaires who had served France,’ says Bertrand Léon. ‘When I arrived at the estate I was impressed by the solidarity between the generations. It’s rewarding work for all of us.’

‘It wasn’t hard to see the possibilities of the magnificent terroir when we arrived here,’ says Baly. ‘It was the vineyard that needed the work, pulling up and replanting certain sections, adapting the rootstocks and matching soil to grape variety, and working with the cooperative cellar to oversee vinification before bringing the wines back to age at the estate.’

At harvest time up to 170 volunteers come for picking, almost all ex-Légionnaires who prove extremely loyal, not to mention good customers for the final wine. Provisioning officers buy the wine for Foreign Legion messes around the world, and a percentage of sales are then also recycled back into funding.

An onsite boutique and restaurant at the estate sells almost half of the output to visiting tourists – something that has been hit hard amid the Covid-19 crisis this year.

As for the wines themselves, the white and rosé are very clearly made by expert hands, offering exceptional value for money. The reds, particularly the main bottling, major on hearty and unfussy rather than overly polished, but it’s hard to criticise them for that.

‘They made tiny amounts of white and rosé back in 2006,’ says Léon, acknowledging the expectations. ‘We rebalanced the output a little, but not too much because even if Provence is known for rosé, the Legion is known for its sturdy reds, a reflection of the fighting force that is also their main customer.’

You can purchase the wines and other products from www.legion-boutique.com/

Tasting Le Légion Etrangère:

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• Producer profile: Domaine de la Grange des Pères
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The new partners will succeed the Reboul-Schneider family after twenty years at the estate.

The Prats family, former owners of Cos d’Estournel in Bordeaux, will take a minority stake alongside French entrepreneur Stéphane Courbit whose businesses include media production, online gambling and luxury hotels.

The estate becomes the first wine property to join Courbit’s Airelles collection of luxury hotels located across France in Courchevel, Val d’Isère and St-Tropez.

Built in the 17th century and spanning 300ha, with 18ha under vine, Château d’Estoublon is located in the Baux-de-Provence appellation.

Vineyards are farmed organically and planted on the limestone foothills of the Alpilles to Grenache, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Mourvèdre, Roussane and Marsanne.

Courbit is expected to manage the hospitality of the estate – which includes 10 VIP guest suites, with more planned, as well as an on-site restaurant La Table d’Estoublon for guests seeking an authentic Provençal lifestyle experience, while the Prats family will undertake wine production.

Speaking to Decanter.com, Jean-Quentin Prats said the interest in Château d’Estoublon stemmed from a desire to get the family more involved in wine. ‘My grandfather, Bruno Prats, (owner of the portfolio) proposed to look for a new property where myself, my siblings and cousins could be more hands on.

‘We agreed that Provence would be fantastic for us. It is easier to try new things, new packaging and new messages.’

He also cited historic family roots in the Hérault region, and specific terroir as a reason to ‘put a foot back in the Mediterranean wine region’.

He said: ‘It is a historical property, deep rooted in a very specific limestone terroir. We found there a special connection for our family, like in Bordeaux, that has always seen great château sitting on their terroir for centuries’.

Joining the Estoublon decision making team will be a trio of Prats family members including Jean-Quentin, who has been based at Estoublon for six months following studies at Sciences Po Paris and 18-months in Hong Kong as brand ambassador for Château Pavie in Asia, his cousin Louis-Clément, currently part of the technical team at Château Latour and brother Baptiste who is finishing studying at ESCP Europe.

They will also work alongside new technical director Anaïs Maillet, who was previously at Château Lafon-Rochet in St-Estèphe and was senior winemaker at Terrazas de los Andes in Mendoza.

The first project since completing the acquisition is the creation and launch of a new premium flagship rosé, Roseblood d’Estoublon – a blend of Grenache (50%), Cinsault (45%) and Tibouren (5%). It is currently available at the domaine, and in the Airelles hotels, with wider distribution set for the US, UK and the rest of the world in the coming months.

Speaking about the launch Prats said: ‘Roseblood is a super high quality standard rosé wine. In this category Roseblood is one of the only organic wine from Provence. We have worked very hard to select the best wines and to craft a rosé with a very precise and distinctive style. Roseblood has a lot of freshness, precision and expression’.

A limited bottling of a ’boutique’ red and white will also be produced which Prats said would be ‘just a few thousands bottles a bit like a great Pomerol of Provence’.

The construction of a modern, gravity-fed winery will begin shortly as well as the introduction of vineyard tours and cellar door activities.

In addition to wine, Chateau d’Estoublon is surrounded by 120ha of olive groves and is well-known for its range of premium extra virgin olive oils.

The acquisition follows several other high-profile winery deals in Provence, which have included:

• Cos d’Estournel owner Michel Reybier buys Château La Mascaronne in July 2020;
• LVMH buying control of Whispering Angel producer Château d’Esclans in December 2019;
• The Wertheimer family, owners of French fashion label Chanel and also Châteaux Rauzan-Ségla and Canon in Bordeaux, purchasing Domaine de L’Ile on the island of Porquerolles in October 2019;
• Provence’s Château Bas being sold to a holding company co-owned by Catherine Castéja, member of a major Bordeaux wine family, in May 2020.

Elizabeth Gabay MW, Joanna Simon and Rod Smith MW tasted 178 wines with one exception and four outstanding.

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their latest-release dry, still Provence rosé wines from any Provence sub-appellation

The verdict

A ‘really lovely and interesting tasting’, said Rod Smith MW. ‘It showed the quality of the 2019 vintage, which was clearly superior to 2018, with fewer issues of heat stress and cases where grapes were picked early at the expense of flavour, or less flavour at the expense of freshness.’

Liz Gabay MW agreed that the 2019s ‘really stood out’ and, despite some ‘cut-and-paste’ wines, praised the diversity of style throughout the tasting. ‘This year I felt we were getting more regional definition and varietal character – a massive plus and very promising.’

Joanna Simon equally reiterated the quality of the 2019s, which she ‘wasn’t aware of prior to the tasting’.

Scroll down to see the top scoring wines of the tasting

For Gabay, the cru classé wines were ‘the biggest surprise’. ‘The classification is historic, with wines quite often a higher price because of it,’ she said. ‘There is scepticism in Provence that they don’t produce anything different, but as a range here they had much greater intensity of fruit, so they are clearly trying to live up to that cru classé standard.’ Simon equally ‘wasn’t expecting quite that definition of quality’, or ‘the very distinctive profiles – I’ve not seen that before, they really were a step up’.

Low points were the ‘similar, identikit wines’, said Smith. ‘It seems as if everyone was trying to make the same wine, and succeeding – and that applied to 60%-70% of them. It arguably shows consistency, but it’s a little bit boring, especially given that some of these will be quite expensive wines.’ Gabay added: ‘There weren’t any that were bad, it’s just boredom.’

So, how do producers stand out? ‘With great difficulty,’ said Smith. ‘The wines are reliable, but just a little bit safe. There’s room within rosé for a little bit more – not risk, but not to rest on their laurels either.’

He added: ‘Provence can’t just trade on reputation, especially given the prices charged for just being good and from Provence – and the consumer is discovering that. The best are very good and they fulfil the stereotype, but the blandest aren’t, and as wines they don’t necessarily compete in terms of price.’

Ste-Victoire was praised as a ‘go-to’ appellation, as was Bandol, the two regions notching up three and six wines respectively in the top 13 that scored 91pts or more. But the judges warned it’s still not enough on which to generalise, so it’s worth knowing producers and reading the notes here.

Colours ranged from dark pink to pale blush. ‘Sometimes it becomes confusing for consumers to see such diversity, because they think all these wines should be pale,’ Smith noted. ‘But pale doesn’t always mean good – once you’re stripping out colour you’re also homogenising flavour.’

Smith flew the flag for the Tibouren grape. Though it’s difficult to grow, ‘all the wines that had a high percentage did well – they really worked, coming across as very floral’. A Sangiovese-dominant wine also piqued the judges’ interest, as did the IGP wines, leaving them wanting to see more submitted for this tasting in the future.

For the perfect rosé, Smith said you need ‘creaminess from the lees, phenolics from the skin giving enough but not too much fruitiness, acidity and weight, and many of them had all of those in good harmony.’

As for what to drink when, Smith said: ‘At the beginning of the summer, try drinking the end of last year’s rosés rather than the early new ones [2019], especially if they’ve only just been bottled. People think it has to be the youngest vintage, but it doesn’t.’

Discussion copy by Georgie Hindle.

See all wines tasted here

The scores

178 wines tasted

Exceptional 1

Outstanding 4

Highly Recommended 32

Recommended 95

Commended 40

Fair 5

Poor 1

Faulty 0

About Provence rosé

The consistent style of the dry rosés in this beautiful, sprawling part of southeast France can make nuances hard to distinguish. But there are quality cues to look for, explains Elizabeth Gabay MW

Provence runs from the Mediterranean coast in the south to the foothills of the southern Alps in the north, from the Rhône valley in the west to Italy in the east. Winemakers work to reconcile ‘Provence’ as a unifying brand expressing regional identity.

There are eight appellations: Côtes de Provence, Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence and Coteaux Varois-en-Provence are the three main producers. Bandol, famous for big reds, was traditionally a producer of structural, ageable rosés, but today many are lighter in style for early summer drinking.

Tiny Palette and Bellet, in the city of Nice, both produce some rosé, as do Cassis, known for its white wines, and Les Baux-de-Provence. There are also a number of IGP labels, with IGP Méditerranée covering the entire region. 90% of production is rosé.

Essential Provence

Côtes de Provence covers a large area, with regional sub-zones identified: La Londe and Pierrefeu, just inland, are both on schist soils, typically giving their wines a mineral edge. The limestone slopes of Ste-Victoire produce wines with broader, fresher acidity, emphasised by some altitude. Fréjus, on the red volcanic slopes of the Esterel massif, produces wines with more structure, while the newest region, Notre-Dame des Anges in the warm central valley of Provence, produces rounder, ripe fruit.

Coteaux d’Aix, equally diverse, has no indicated sub-zones. Coteaux Varois is based on cooler uplands stretching to the north.

There are 18 estates in the Côtes de Provence classed as cru classé – a designation created in 1955, as much as 22 years before the appellation itself – their reputation based on history rather than commonality of terroir.

Wines with denomination de terroir, cru classé, and from the smaller appellations of Cassis, Les Baux and Bellet are often pricier. Coteaux Varois, Coteaux d’Aix and the IGP wines offer excellent value, with IGP sometimes a second label or a more experimental wine from better-known estates.

The wines are blends, with Grenache and Cinsault as the primary varieties, and Cabernet Sauvignon, Mourvèdre and Syrah variously contributing blacker fruit notes. Braquet is unique to Bellet. A quarter of production is made by family-owned estates, the rest by cooperatives and négociants who blend across the region, giving a single Provence style.

Most rosés are pale, historically proof that the wine was not a by-product of red wine. While some today are extraordinarily pale, verging on blanc de noir, a few are a shade darker, often reflecting a fruitier style.

Provence offers dry rosés, the simplest balanced by ripe fruit, the more complex having weight and structure. It is usually this latter style which best handles the use of oak – contentious, with claims its heftiness masks the delicacy of a true Provence rosé. Most wines are able to age well for two to three years, some for longer. Almost one third of the wines are organic.

Provence rosé: know your vintages 2019

A good vintage, in terms of both size and quality. Good to age, with some showing better after a year in bottle.

2018 A small, weaker vintage where négociant wines saved the day with strategic blending. Particularly pale colour. Most to drink up, but some surprises with a few ageing well.

2017 A small vintage due to spring frosts and a hot, dry summer. Good quality, good fruit. Ageing well.

2016 A small, dry vintage with concentrated berries resulting in fruity rosés, although some lack essential freshness and acidity. Best to drink.

2015 Small vintage but excellent quality. Ageing well, drink up.

2014 A cool vintage which resulted in fresh vibrant rosés. Ageing well, drink up.

Provence rose: the facts

Côtes de Provence 20,100ha, 420* domaines, 39 cooperatives, 90% rosé

Coteaux d’Aix 4,127ha, 65* domaines, 12 cooperatives, 82.5% rosé

Coteaux Varois 2,633ha, 77* domaines, 10 cooperatives, 90% rosé

Bandol 1,600ha, 59 domaines, 4 cooperatives, 73% rosé

Les Baux 243ha, 11 domaines, 0 cooperatives, 45% rosé

Cassis 200ha, 12 domaines, 0 cooperatives, 27% rosé

Bellet 58ha, 10 domaines, 0 cooperatives, 33% rosé

Palette 45ha, 4 domaines, 0 cooperatives, 15% rosé

Source: CIVP; *Includes >100 négociants

Top scoring Provence rosé wines

See all wines tasted here

Château La Mascaronne, an organic estate spanning 100 hectares (ha) with 60ha of vineyard, has been bought by Cos d’Estournel owner Reybier for an undisclosed fee.

There have been several high-profile deals in Provence in the past year, and La Mascaronne lies in the medieval village of Luc-en-Provence, a commune in the Var area of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.

Reybier said he acquired the estate after being ‘won over by the quality of the wines and the potential of La Mascaronne terroir, which benefits today from the remarkable effort of restoration carried out in the vineyard by Tom Bove for 20 years’.

Bove had managed the estate since 1999, as well as neighbouring property Château Miraval before that was sold in 2012 to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

At La Mascaronne, Bove oversaw the renovation of the 18th century manor house and its antique drystone terraces, replanted vineyards and converted to organic farming – gaining certification in 2016.

The estate produces around 10,000 cases of wine per year. Winemaker Nathalie Longefay, also at Mirabeau, makes six wines, including:

• a white made with old vine Ugni Blanc and Rolle;
• a red made with Syrah and Mourvèdre;
• and a rosé made from Cinsault and Grenache.

There is also a small-production range named ‘Guy Da Nine’, fermented in Bordeaux barrels.

Reybier added that he was ‘seduced by this extraordinary site, which embodies the soul and charm of Provence’. He said he ‘will continue to highlight this terroir in a quest for excellence common to all of my wine estates’.

In addition to La Mascaronne and Bordeaux second growth Cos d’Estournel, Reybier owns an eponymous Champagne House and Hétszölö in Hungary’s Tokaj region, as well as boutique hotel group La Reserve, which has properties in Paris, Provence, Geneve and Zurich.

The acquisition follows several other high-profile winery deals in Provence, which have included:

• LVMH buying control of Whispering Angel producer Château d’Esclans in December 2019;
• The Wertheimer family, owners of French fashion label Chanel and also Châteaux Rauzan-Ségla and Canon in Bordeaux, purchasing Domaine de L’Ile on the island of Porquerolles in October 2019;
• Provence’s Château Bas being sold to a holding company co-owned by Catherine Castéja, member of a major Bordeaux wine family, in May 2020.

See also

How much do wine estates cost in the south of France?