Côtes de Provence

April 4, 2015 4

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Upgraded to First Class

Imagine that you are at the airport ready to board your flight, having paid coach fare. You step onto the plane only to be surprised by the flight attendant; you have been upgraded to First Class. That is exactly how I felt when I took my first sip of this 2013 Château La Tour Sainte Anne rosé. The price was coach ($12.99) but the luxurious taste and velvety feel in my mouth told me I was in the First Class cabin. For my previous posts, I learned about the wine and then made a meal that I felt would be complimentary. This time, I needed a wine to go with a tricky dish: Oysters Rockefeller. Oysters, on their own [...]

January 18, 2015 14

YOU KNOW MIRABEAU ROSÉS, BUT HAVE YOU MET THE RED WINE?

Have you ever had a dream that you really wanted to follow? One that tugged so hard at your heartstrings that you resorted to cold showers to quell those feelings? Stephen Cronk did. And, now, after harboring this dream for some 25 years, this handsome man with [...]

December 20, 2014 8

PROVENCE’S VIN CUIT: WINE COOKED IN A CAULDRON, AGED IN OLD OAK, AND STEEPED IN TRADITION

Sometime in early October, after the harvest, winemakers—mostly located in a small area of Provence at the base of Mont Sainte Victoire, between Aix-en-Provence and Trets—begin the annual tradition of making “vin cuit” or “cooked wine." They each build a big fire [...]

December 6, 2014 0

Stephen Cronk Feeling Sanguine about 2014 Mirabeau Rosés

This morning I spoke with Stephen Cronk, proprietor of Mirabeau in Provence, who told me that he and winemaker Jo Ahearne just wrapped up the final blending session of the Mirabeau 2014 rosés. Woo-hoo! [...]

November 5, 2014 0

Out Out Damn Rosé

Red wine grabbed the spotlight from their much-lauded rosés at Château Léoube's recent portes ouvertes on the Cap Bénat peninsula in Bormes-les-Mimosas. The star of the show was the first official vintage of Léoube Collector, a single varietal Cabernet Franc, a first of its kind [...]

November 2, 2014 22

MY DINNER WITH SACHA LICHINE

When the invitation for dinner with Sacha Lichine popped up on my screen, I couldn’t help but think of my grandfather.

Just above my desk, wedged into the middle of a crowded shelf, stands a faded purple book entitled “Wines of France.” The book belonged to my grandfather and the author was Alexis Lichine, Sacha’s father, otherwise known as “the Pope of Wine.” [...]

October 4, 2014 9

WITH RECORD-BREAKING EXPORTS OF PROVENCE ROSÉS TO THE U.S., MARCEL OTT COMES TO MIND

When I read the news earlier this month about the continued dramatic growth of exports of Provence rosé to the United States, I couldn't help but think of Marcel Ott, the brilliant founder of Domaines Ott*.

The widely circulated news - lest you have been locked in your wine cellar - is that Provence rosé exports to the US increased 20% on volume and 26% on value from May 2013 to May 2014 (based on data from the French customs agency). [...]

August 31, 2014 0

New President of AOP Côtes de Provence Heeds the Cry for Rosé

Although he may not be known to readers of Provence WineZine, Eric Pastorino, elected president of the Côte de Provence Wine Syndicate in July, is a pretty familiar face on the Provence wine scene. For the last fifteen years, this 52-year-old winemaker has [...]

August 18, 2014 0

Dancing in the vines of Pierrefeu

Much cause for celebration at Château Montaud last week as their long anticipated 2013 AOP Côtes de Provence Pierrefeu hit the shelves. This new offering from owner and winemaker Frédéric Ravel represents eleven years of perseverance, as president of the region's [...]

August 17, 2014 2

FOLLOWING CHÂTEAU COUSSIN’S ROSÉ FROM NEW YORK TO PROVENCE

Have you ever locked eyes with a stranger from across the room and wondered what it was about that person—among all the other handsome folks in the room—that caught your attention? That happened to me at Lafayette Grand Café & Bakery in New [...]

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