Côtes de Provence

DECODING CÔTES DE PROVENCE ROSÉ

There are still people out there who think that rosé comes from blending red and white wines and others who (seriously) think rosé is made from a single grape variety called rosé. This article focuses on the traditionally dry, fresh, fruit-forward, pale-colored rosés [...]

Diary of a Master of Wine in Provence

La Maison des Vins de Côtes de Provence Reopens with Great Fanfare

While Provence has been making wine for over 2000 years, its wine has not always had the fame it has today. Wine needs to reach foreign shores to be recognised, to be drunk by people who will write and praise the wine, to be acknowledged. For 2000 years the wines of Provence have been consumed, largely by locals. During the past 200 years it has been appreciated increasingly by tourists and over the past 20 years, thanks to the boom in rosé sales, it is highly regarded internationally.
[...]

Diary of a Master of Wine in Provence

Côtes de Provence, Prowein, and Coteaux Varois

One region, one new vintage, two countries, three colours, three appellations, three departments, four fairs… Round one of my official tasting season is over, and now is time for a brief retrospective pause to think about them and the rosés tasted. Concentrating on research for my rosé book means that I often didn’t have time to taste all the reds and whites I want to – that is something to look forward to this autumn.

The one region is Provence with three of the four tasting events being for Côtes de Provence, Coteaux Varois and Coteaux d’Aix who together make up 95% of the region’s production, and held, respectively in the departments of Alpes Maritimes, Var and Bouches du Rhône. The fourth event at Prowein, in Germany, was for the three regions together. The two countries were France and Germany.
[...]

CHÂTEAU MIRAVAL: A CELEBRITY LONG BEFORE BRAD AND ANGELINA MOVED IN

Château Miraval, summer home of the uber famous Brangelina family, was celebrated among rosé lovers and baby boomer rock and rollers long before the renowned family moved in. Pink Floyd anyone?

Readers of a certain age may be able to dust off an old album that was recorded, in part, in this château: Pink Floyd’s legendary The Wall. [...]
UA-53855671-1