Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur

Often associated with pleasant rosé wines, the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region nevertheless offers the wine lover a wide range of original and sometimes fairly unknown wines. Indeed, rosé wines dominate with nearly 90% of the wine production dedicated to this colour, representing nearly 40% of the national rosé production. But like other southern vineyards, the region offers a wide range of grape varieties and the whole range of colours is produced. Some of the appellations also produce magnificent red or white wines.

Provence, zoom région

THE OLDEST WINE REGION IN FRANCE

The vineyards that cover nearly 5,000 hectares, i.e. nearly half of the farmed area, marks the Provençal landscape. This vast region stretches for almost 125 miles from East to West, from Nice to the South of Avignon, and 40 miles wide between the Alpilles and the Mediterranean. Located in the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Var and Alpes Maritimes, the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region stretches from Nice to Marseille along the Mediterranean Sea and reaches Aix-en-Provence.

There are 5 appellations that can be grouped together under the term "Vin de Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur": these are the Côtes de Provence AOC, Coteaux Varois AOC, Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence AOC, Baux de Provence AOC and the Alpes de Hautes Provence IGP.

In addition to the wines of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur, there are other well-known appellations such as Bandol AOC, Bellet AOC, Cassis AOC, Palette AOC and Alpilles IGP.

This diversity certainly has its origins in the region's viticultural history. Provence is the oldest wine region in France, which gives the wines of Provence-Alpes-Côtes-d'Azur a special heritage value. It dates back around twenty-five centuries, to the time when the first Greek colonies settled on the sunny shores of the Mediterranean. The Phocaeans who landed in Marseille in 600 BC multiplied the Lambrusques plants. Lambrusques are wild vine plants growing naturally in the woods of the Mediterranean regions. Then it was the Romans, in the 2nd century, who developed the cultivation of the vine in the Provincia Romana. This work was continued in the 5th to 12th centuries by the monks who improved the cultivation of the vine, followed by the nobility from the 14th century onwards. The king and winegrower René d'Anjou, count of Provence in the 15th century, founded, with his numerous domaines, the modern Provence wine region.

MAIN APPELLATIONS

Alpilles IGP Bandol Côtes de Provence Méditerranée IGP

Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence Coteaux Varois en Provence Palette Var IGP

Le vignoble méridional

TYPICITY OF THE SOUTHERN VINEYARDS

Like all southern vineyards, the grape varieties used are numerous: Grenache, Cinsault, Mourvèdre, Tibouren, Carignan for the red wines and Rolle, Ugni Blanc, Bourboulenc for the white wines. A mention of the region's wines always refers to the pine trees, thyme and rosemary and suggests that these wines owe their character to the summers punctuated by the song of the cicadas. Alongside the pines and olive trees, the vineyards occupy very diverse plots offering the 3 colours of wine. But in this land of sun and wind, it is the rosé wine that reigns supreme. It should also be added that the rocky hills of limestone or shale can give distinction to certain wines, especially together with a fresh maritime breeze. From the creeks and beaches of the Mediterranean between Marseille and Nice to the fragrant edges of the pine forests, the wine is filled with wonderful scents.

Vignoble provençal

A WELL-ESTABLISHED REPUTATION

The wine of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur was a real success at the first international wine competition organised in 1214 by King Philippe Auguste of France. In the 15th century, the winegrower king René d'Anjou, who owned a small vineyard at the gates of Aix, produced an excellent Palette wine in his small estate at the gates of Aix, a wine that has endured through the ages, since it is just as much appreciated today under the Palette AOC. This same king made Marseille a free port, thus favouring the wine trade and production. He also introduced the process of making clairet and rosé wines. Rosé wine very early on played a major role in the history of the vineyard. But the following centuries saw the vineyard suffer: phylloxera crisis in 1880, distance from the main communication routes, overproduction favouring yield over wine quality at the beginning of the 20th century. It was necessary for the industry to organise itself, notably in cooperative movements, and for the first AOCs to appear in the 1930s to honour the greatness of this vineyard through the ages. These efforts have developed the wines of the region in France and beyond. The craze for rosé wines that we know today is also the result of new lifestyles and consumption patterns, linked to tourism, especially during the summer.

Provence vin

DIVERSITY OF GRAPE VARIETIES

The great richness of the region's vineyards is expressed by the existence of thirteen grape varieties.

For the red and rosé wines, first of all we have very fruity Cinsault, Grenache which gives a generous, warm and perfumed wine, Mourvèdre with its peppery taste so characteristic of Bandol, Carignan which produces a coloured and very robust wine, Tibouren, little coloured but light, fresh and fruity, Cabernet Sauvignon, this noble grape variety which ensures a long guard, Syrah introduced by the Romans in Provence which brings to the wine aromas of cherry and violet and finally Barbaroux which completes the whole.

For the white wines, we have Ugni Blanc that gives a light and crispy wine, Clairette that produces fairly fine wine, Bourboulenc rustic and generous and Rolle that gives wine a lovely citrus and floral character.