Provence rosés are blooming

Provence is experiencing a lucrative boom that other wine regions can only envy, says Dr Jamie Goode. And it’s all been driven by pink wines.

Provence
Provence

Halfway through a vineyard tour at Château Léoube, the guide, winemaker Romain Ott, gets a call on his radio. He stops, turns back the Land Rover Defender, and heads for home. “I’m sorry,” he explains, “but the owner is here and wants to meet with me.” The owner in question is Anthony Bamford, who owns the construction equipment manufacturer JCB, and whose net worth is reported by Forbes as being $1.96bn. Later, the tour resumes and reaches the top of the property, with a view out to sea. Léoube owns 4 km of prime Provence coastline, and just off shore there’s a huge yacht parked, in front of a grand residence – it’s Bamford’s 204-ft (62 m) motor yacht, ‘Virginian’. “Please don’t photograph those,” the guide asks. 

Provence is proving to be a magnet for wealthy people who want to spend some cash on a wine estate. It’s always had the glamour factor, with the likes of Cannes and Saint-Tropez, and their marinas chock full of expensive yachts, but of late those who have parked their money in wine estates have also been able to ride the wave of rosé. Pink wine is on a roll at the moment, and it’s Provence that produces the most sought-after rosés of all. 

By the numbers

Since 2001, export sales have increased, and in the last few years have taken a sharp turn upwards in key markets. From 2001 to 2015, volumes of exports trebled (303%), and value rose eightfold. The average ex-cellars bottle price rose from just over €1.50 ($1.60) to €4.29. This has been driven by a global rise in interest in rosé and its association with the positive image of Provence – it’s a simple, clear marketing message. In 2015, export sales rose 31% in volume, and in the first six months of 2016 they rose 25%. Prices and value are also following this trend. Other wine regions must be watching with intense jealousy.

The US is the largest market, with 36.5% of the volume and 44.5% of the value. The UK comes in at third with 10.7% and 9.5% volume and value. Both are showing significant growth, with year-to-date volume increases of 42% and 34%, respectively. In second place sits Belgium, with 10.9% by volume and 6.9% by value, although this market is quite static. Australia and Germany are also important, fast-growing markets. In contrast, the French market is struggling, and export is driving the region’s success. In France, where more rosé is consumed than white or red wine, Provence is in danger of losing market share to cheaper pinks from the Languedoc.

With the success of rosé have come the boats. Mark Dixon of Château de Berne has Elena, a 55-m racing schooner that’s an exact replica of a 1911 boat, built in 2009. Dixon is an entrepreneur who left school at 16, and in 1989 set up office space rental company Regus. When it was floated in 2000, its valuation was $1.9bn, and at the time he had a 60% stake. Since Dixon bought the estate in 2007, he’s grown it from 60 ha to 117 ha of vineyards, and also added a couple of other domains, bringing the area of estate vineyards to almost 300 ha. The focus is rosé, as with most estates in the region, although they have initiated a red wine collaboration with Saint-Émilion-based consultant Hubert de Boüard.

“The demand today is just for rosé,” says Thomas de Lagarde, general manager in charge of wine (there’s also a luxury hotel complex). “When people are here they drink the whites and the reds and think they are fantastic, but the market is only rosé.” Three years ago, de Berne exported just 10% of production; now it’s 30%. Of the 70% sold domestically, 40% is retail, 25% is on-trade, and 5% direct sales. De Berne found out by accident that the market for Provence rosé welcomes innovation in bottle shapes. De Lagarde jokes that the square bottle shape that they use for some of their wines, very successfully, is a tribute to the square towers of the house. The real story is somewhat different. They were making a Viognier, but it wasn’t selling very well. “So we put it in a square bottle with a glass top and it sold out,” he recalls. 

The rules are indeed different in Provence. It’s the one region where there is successful innovation with wine-bottle shape. Other regions have tried and failed, or have only succeeded on a very limited scale. In Provence, specialist bottles seem to be the norm, and consumers embrace them. “Provence is an outsider,” says Alexis Cornu, de Berne's newly hired winemaker. “Other regions are built on wines that can age, and the best wines age longer. Provence is different, and it’s part of the success of the region.” The fact that even the best wines get to market quickly improves cash flow in a capital-intensive industry. De Lagarde emphasizes that its success is largely pull, not marketing push: “The success of Provence has come from consumers themselves, not sommeliers.” He also thinks part of the recent success is because of gains in quality. “Twenty years ago Provence wines were of average quality,” says de Lagarde. “We’d have to add lots of sulphites to get a stable wine. Provence moved up first because it improved wine quality.” He cites factors such as better pressing, cooling systems, trellising and applied research as factors that have contributed.

The Garrus effect

Sacha Lichine may not have as much money to play with as some of the richest in the region, but after the sale of his Bordeaux property Château Prieuré-Lichine in 1999, he had enough to purchase the mid-19th century Château d’Esclans for €13m. Lichine has been clever in his branding and ambitious in his pricing. When he started out, the most expensive Provence rosé was Domaine Ott, retailing at around €30.00. His top wine, Garrus, was launched at €100.00. Made from a block of 70- to 100-year-old vines, it’s made in a Burgundian style under the direction of consultant winemaker Patrick Léon, who adapted a special cooling system so it would work in barrel, allowing for temperature-controlled barrel fermentation. The success of Garrus has raised the price bar for Provence rosé. But as well as his pricey estate wines, Lichine also began making a part-negociant wine, Whispering Angel. Last year, 3.3m bottles of this beautifully packaged wine were sold, and this year the hope is to take this past 4m, with a goal to reach 7m in a few more years. The success of the €100.00-bottle of rosé, unthinkable in the past, has raised the price ceiling for all the aspirational producers. And Whispering Angel has shown that a good product, stylish packaging, and skilled marketing makes a €15.00 negociant wine in large volumes possible.

A wine of terroir?

While Provence rosé is widely regarded as a wine of style, driven by fashion and winemaker intent, rather than terroir, some are setting out to challenge this idea. Now there is a move to delineate specific sub-regions in Provence on the basis of terroir. If the wine can be linked to place, it cannot be copied. In some ways, there are parallels with Champagne. Champagne has powerful branding, but there’s something about the region’s soils that helps make compelling wines that have proved hard to emulate.

The Syndicat des Côtes de Provence has been studying the different terroirs of the appellation of Côtes de Provence. There are 84 communes in the Côtes de Provence in three Départments. In this big territory, there are subregional differences, and this is what they are trying to tease out. Currently, the classification has two levels – regional and sub-regional. The goal will be to develop these sub-regions into regional AOCs, and then to add sub-regions to these. The job of the syndicate is to prove to the INAO that the terroirs are specific and result in different wines. So far, there are four sub-regions recognised: Sainte Victoire (established 2005); Fréjus (2005); La Londe (2009) and Pierrefeu (2013). The next one looks like it may be Notre Dame des Anges. If the wines from these sub-regions are recognised as having different qualities by consumers, this would be a way of adding interest and value. 

“Soils matter,” says de Berne’s Alexis Cornu. Their lower properties, at sea level, have acidic granites and sandstones, giving richer, slightly salty wines – whereas the de Berne property, which is at 300 m with Jurassic limestone soils, gives fresh, fragrant wines. “We can make completely different wines because we know our terroir,” he says. “But both terroir and style of the maison matter. The challenge over the next few years is to build the de Berne style, but also to show the different estates.” De Lagarde agrees, “You need to stay true to your style, but we don’t make the wines for ourselves – we have too many hectares to do this. We make the wines for consumers.” He gives an example, “Today there is great demand for thiol-dominated wines. Consumers like the grapefruit nose. Here we try to see if we can introduce a bit of this character, but we stay in the style and structure of de Berne.”

Back at Léoube, there is a tasting with Romain Ott. While this estate may have begun as a rich person’s plaything, it is clear there’s something special about these wines. There’s a texture and personality to them, no doubt a combination of the thoughtful winemaking style of Ott, and the soils and climates of the La Londe sub-region. “Provence is the leading producer of rosé because it is our main product,” says Ott. “We are really careful with the quality. Provence is the only region where rosé is 80% of production. Except in Provence, rosé has always been a second product. In Provence, it is our white.”


When it comes to Provence A-listers, none glitter as brightly as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, co-owners of Château Miraval since 2008. Their first rosé (the 2012 vintage) sold out within hours of its release and has continued to do well. One of the first questions the tabloids asked when the couple split in 2016 was, who will get the Château? So far, there has been silence.

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