France Provence
Provence! The name alone has such resonance, let alone the place, that visiting wine drinkers were long prepared to forgive a region whose most distinctive offering used to be an excess of over-strong and under-flavoured rosé.
Happily this quintessentially Mediterranean region has been invaded by the same sort of individuals hellbent on upgrading quality as have been making their mark elsewhere. An increasing proportion of rosé, Provence's most important and increasingly fashionable wine, is gently made, intriguingly perfumed, and dry enough to be the perfect foil for the garlic and olive oil that characterize the region's cuisine. Seriously interesting reds are also being made all over Provence.
The different Appellation côntrolees ("AC's, and highlighted in bold) in Provence naturally vary in style and quality.
The classic appellation Côtes de Provence alone, France's most extensive, encompasses the northern outskirts of Marseille, the southern flanks of the Montagne Ste-Victoire, Mediterranean islands, the warm coastal hinterland of resorts such as Le Lavandou and St-Tropez, cooler, sub-alpine retreats north of Draguignan, and even a pocket of vines around Villars well north of Nice.
The generally cooler, limestone enclave of Coteaux Varois (where Domaine Triennes is found), a much more recent recruit to AC status, is sheltered from softening maritime influence by the Massif de la Ste-Baume so that some vineyards in the wooded hills north of Brignoles may not be picked until early November, while vintage time on the coast is early September.
In the west, the landscape of Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence is less dramatic, as the wines tend to be- although Counoise grapes add interest to some rosés. The hillside vineyards of the Cotes du Luberon on the other side of the River Durance enjoy cooler nights and a more Rhone-like environment. Coteaux de Pierrevert makes noticeably lighter wines.
Between Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence and the River Rhone itself is the splinter appellation created in 1995 and named after the extraordinary hilltop tourist trap Les Baux-de-Provence. Warmed by the sea and buffeted by Provence's famous mistral, this area is even better suited to organic viticulture than most of the rest of Provence. It also provides a notable illustration of the current tensions between the Provençal wine fraternity and the INAO, the headquarters of the French AC system in Paris. The point at issue concerns grape varieties: whether to encourage "tradition" or sheer quality. Having been ruled by successive waves of invaders from the east, north, west, and south (Sardinians for much of the 19th century), Provence boasts a fine and varied legacy of grape varieties, some of them such as Tibouren and Calitor (Pécoui Touar) apparently unknown elsewhere. The lNAO's current preoccupation seems to be to reduce and eventually eliminate the Carignan that was planted here, as in the Languedoc, to supply cheap, light reds for northern France in the early 20th century, while encouraging the Grenache and Cinsault (so useful for rosés), and the sturdier Mourvédre and Syrah which preceded it. Cabernet Sauvignon is officially viewed as a somewhat sinister intruder, whose influence should be strictly controlled.
Many fine Provençal reds (and some whites) are therefore sold today as Vin de Pays.
As might be expected of a region with a history of wine-growing that dates back to Roman times, Provence harbours some well-established individual wine zones. Perhaps the most historic is Palette on the north-facing, limestone-influenced bank of the River Arc just east of Aix, where the Rougier family of Château Simone has been making extraordinarily dense wine of all three colours for more than 200 years from a palette (hence the name?) of local grape varieties, more numerous even than are allowed in Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
Cassis, centred on the small port to the east of Marseille, also makes a serious effort with its white. In the far east of Provence, a handful of vignerons continue to resist the encroachment of Nice on the vineyards of Bellet, cooled by winds from the sea and the Alps and enriched by such ltalianate grapes as Braquet (Brachetto), Folie Noire (Fuella), and Rolle (Vermentino). Wines made close to tourist centres are rarely underpriced.
Above information from World Atlas of Wine, 6th Edition. Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson.
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