The Rise and Rise of Provencal Rosé

The Rise and Rise of Provencal Rosé

You have to hand it to Provence. Until very recently, it was pot luck for the average wine drinker to know whether their pink wine was sweet or dry, especially when it appeared in various shades from barely blush to neon red. While all these styles of rosé still exist, thanks to the work Provence has done, we now have a benchmark for high quality, dry rosé that’s celebrated the world over.

The Provençal, light salmon hue has become the shade of choice for winemakers around the globe as they notice wine drinkers muttering ‘pale is best, right?’ in the wine aisles. This is down to Provence offering a reliable, versatile wine style that’s dry, with just the right amount of fruit and a slick of refreshing salinity, almost regardless of where in the region the wine hails from. Made largely from Cinsault and Grenache with a smattering of other grapes like Syrah and Mourvedre, Provençal pink is the prima ballerina of wine styles: elegant in pink, satin ballet shoes, yet capable of effortlessly complex twists and turns. It helps that the colour is infinitely instagrammable, of course. 

Provence is to rosé wine what Champagne is to sparkling and while there’s increasing competition from around the world, there’s still plenty more for Provence to offer curious wine explorers.

The next natural next step for lovers of Provençal pink is to look at the differences the various appellations and terroirs bring. The largest and most famous of these is Côtes de Provence AOC, which spans 50,000 acres and recognises five smaller, terroir-focussed areas within it: Côtes de Provence Fréjus, La Londe, Pierrefeu, Sainte Victoire and now, since 2019, Notre-Dame des Anges. 90% of Côtes de Provence wine production is dedicated to rosé and the style is famously crisp, aromatic and fresh, often citrus dominant (think pomelo, white flowers and herbs), with subtle, tropical and red fruit flavours on the palate.

The smaller Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence and Coteaux Varois en Provence appellations also produce significant amounts of rosé, with the former to the west giving more fruit-forward wines with defined minerality and the latter, full-bodied, expressive pinks with fleshy white and red fruit thanks the chalky soils and higher altitudes of these more central vineyards. There are also tiny amounts of pink produced in much smaller AOCs such as Bandol and Pierrevert to discover.

Appellations aside, the Provençal rosé category itself is constantly evolving with new formats and styles to explore. As well as key producers bringing out their rosés in cans and boxes, we are also seeing a move towards more ‘foodie’ pinks, as Jeany Cronk of Mirabeau explains:

“It’s lovely to see consumers look beyond those perfect outdoor tipples to more complex and food friendly wines. We’re seeing lots of experimentation with wines tuned to gastronomy that don’t necessarily conform to the light styles we’ve come to expect.”

Indeed, there has been experimentation in Provence lately to create more ‘gastronomic’ styles, with extra lees aging for weighty complexity as well as a considered use of oak, largely for the texture it brings rather than any overt oaky flavours.

“We’ll be releasing a partially oak aged rosé ourselves soon, where colour and ease of drinking is a lesser parameter,” says Jeany. “We used three different barrels for layers of gorgeous flavours that complement the mineral profile of our estate wine.”

Another thing to look out for are sparkling pinks - and not just those made in the traditional or regular tank methods, but some producers such as Léoube are looking back to the ‘ancestral’ method, adding frozen must from the first pressing to start the second fermentation in tank. 

“I prefer a low sugar content, so for ‘Love by Léoube’, I started the second tank fermentation with fresh grape juice, not sugar,” says winemaker Romain Ott. “It gives good roundness, delicate fruit and is a nice change from the norm!”

Perhaps the boldest claim to Provence's position in the world of fine wine however, is the start of a luxury, ‘Super Provence’ movement, with the ‘Godfathers of Provence’ Domaines Ott* leading the way with their cuvée Étoile: a blend of their finest terroirs across several appellations. Who will be next to do that? Watch this space.