Where is Cotes de Provence?
The Cotes de Provence is a famous wine region in the South of France. It is famed not just for its wine but also for its cultural contributions to the world. However, in regards to wine, many wine lovers consider the region as a benchmark for its speciality. By which, I refer to rosé. Around 90% of the wines sold from this area of France are rosé wines. It is a wine style that the region has taken on as being their flagship despite there being other excellent wines produced there too.
It might be surprising to know that the region has a history for growing grapes dating back 2,600 years according to vinsdeprovence.com. Certainly, with the arrival of the Romans, Provence was making wines by 200BC. It was from their base in Provence that the Romans spread their wine making techniques across France. From Provence, they settled regions such as the Rhone valleys, Burgundy, and even Bordeaux.
Lovers of Provence wines will be familiar with the main wine region, Cotes de Provence. However, there are some regions that you should also get to know. Those are regions such as Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence,and particularly Bandol and Sainte-Victoire.
The sun and the sea
Cotes de Provence is heavily influenced by the Meditteranean Sea. There are some regions, such as Sainte-Victoire that have a cooler climate due to the mountain ranges. These ranges lessen the intensity of the famous Mistral wind.
This means that the summers are warm to hot and dry, with mild winters. This is an optimum climate to ripen grapes and produce flavourful wines.
The grapes of Provence
Of course, to make rosé wines, it is necessary to have grapes with either red or deep pink colours. Without this skin colour, the wines would only ever get to be a deep golden hue or an amber colour. While red wines have extensive contact with the grape skins to colour the wines, rosé wine may have as little as 4 hours skin contact.
Therefore, it is no surprise to see the most common red grape varieties of southern France featuring in the wines of the region. The most popular being Cinsault, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre.
However, amongst these grapes you will also find the white grape Rolle. Rolle adds roundness and adds flavour. Rolle is a probably better known in Italy as the grape Vermentino.
Food & Culture
The wines of Provence are generally made to match very well with food. Of course, that is not to say that they are not delicious without food. These wines are excellent as an aperitif.
They are good to go with lighter meats, seafood and other Mediterranean inspired flavours. Including salads. Don’t be afraid to match these wines with spiced foods, such as spice and herb rubbed chicken. Or salt and pepper calamari.
Don’t forget to ask in store for rosé wines recommendations! And don’t forget to like us on Facebook or instagram.
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