Provence

Côtes de Provence rosé: pale, dry, citrus and red berries - the everyday star.

Mostly Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah and Mourvèdre, pressed gently for pale colour. Expect strawberry, citrus peel and a fresh, dry finish. Drink it young and cold; an estate bottle has more depth than a supermarket brand.

Mostly Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah and Mourvèdre, pressed gently for pale colour. Expect strawberry, citrus peel and a fresh, dry finish. Drink it young and cold; an estate bottle has more depth than a supermarket brand.

Grenache: the backbone of Provence rosé - red berries and soft body.

Brings strawberry fruit and roundness, and handles the heat. It leads most Côtes de Provence and Coteaux d'Aix rosés, usually with Cinsault for lift.

Brings strawberry fruit and roundness, and handles the heat. It leads most Côtes de Provence and Coteaux d'Aix rosés, usually with Cinsault for lift.

Bouillabaisse with Cassis blanc or a Bandol rosé.

Provence's rockfish soup, served with rouille and garlic croutons, needs a full, saline white or a serious rosé. Cassis blanc is the local answer.

Provence's rockfish soup, served with rouille and garlic croutons, needs a full, saline white or a serious rosé. Cassis blanc is the local answer.

Bandol: dark, meaty Mourvèdre red from sea-view terraces; needs years.

France's great Mourvèdre. Young it is firm and dark, with blackberry and licorice; with age it turns leathery, herbal and savoury. Bandol also makes the deepest, most serious rosé and a little full-bodied white.

France's great Mourvèdre. Young it is firm and dark, with blackberry and licorice; with age it turns leathery, herbal and savoury. Bandol also makes the deepest, most serious rosé and a little full-bodied white.

Daube provençale or slow-cooked lamb with Bandol rouge.

Beef braised in red wine with olives and herbs matches Bandol's dark, meaty Mourvèdre; give the wine a few years first.

Beef braised in red wine with olives and herbs matches Bandol's dark, meaty Mourvèdre; give the wine a few years first.

Off the beaten path: Clos Cibonne's Tibouren rosé.

A rare-grape rosé aged in cask, meant for food. Few friends at home will have tasted one.

A rare-grape rosé aged in cask, meant for food. Few friends at home will have tasted one.

Côtes de Provence Sainte-Victoire: cooler foothills, structured stony rosé.

Under Mont Sainte-Victoire, poor stony soils and cooler air give rosé more shape and acidity than the plain; reds are firmer and herby. It was recently promoted to Provence's first cru.

Under Mont Sainte-Victoire, poor stony soils and cooler air give rosé more shape and acidity than the plain; reds are firmer and herby. It was recently promoted to Provence's first cru.

Coteaux d'Aix: warmer western hills; fuller rosé and Cabernet-touched reds.

West of Sainte-Victoire. Grenache-led rosé is riper and rounder than on the coast, and Cabernet Sauvignon appears in the reds. Several organic and biodynamic estates.

West of Sainte-Victoire. Grenache-led rosé is riper and rounder than on the coast, and Cabernet Sauvignon appears in the reds. Several organic and biodynamic estates.

Cooler sites and the mistral wind keep rosé fresh and shaped.

The mistral dries the vines and keeps them healthy. Cooler spots hold acidity: Sainte-Victoire gives structure, the coast at La Londe a salty note, higher Coteaux Varois a taut feel. Inland foothill sites generally beat the hot coastal plain.

The mistral dries the vines and keeps them healthy. Cooler spots hold acidity: Sainte-Victoire gives structure, the coast at La Londe a salty note, higher Coteaux Varois a taut feel. Inland foothill sites generally beat the hot coastal plain.

Palette: a tiny area by Aix, home of the long-lived wines of Château Simone.

A small area in the hills under Sainte-Victoire, dominated by one estate. The wines, old-vine whites led by Clairette and structured reds, are made to age.

A small area in the hills under Sainte-Victoire, dominated by one estate. The wines, old-vine whites led by Clairette and structured reds, are made to age.

Mourvèdre: Bandol's dark, meaty grape; adds backbone to rosé too.

Late-ripening and tannic. In Bandol it leads the red and gives the rosé a firmer, more savoury frame than anywhere else in Provence.

Late-ripening and tannic. In Bandol it leads the red and gives the rosé a firmer, more savoury frame than anywhere else in Provence.

Celebration: a Bandol rouge from Tempier or Pibarnon.

Worth a splurge: a single-vineyard Tempier (La Migoua, La Tourtine, Cabassaou) or Pibarnon's Bandol rouge. Cellar it for years.

Worth a splurge: a single-vineyard Tempier (La Migoua, La Tourtine, Cabassaou) or Pibarnon's Bandol rouge. Cellar it for years.

Bellet: Nice's tiny hill vineyards with grapes found almost nowhere else.

A few dozen hectares on terraces above Nice. Folle Noire and Braquet make light, perfumed red and rosé; Rolle makes the white. Little leaves the Riviera, so buy it there.

A few dozen hectares on terraces above Nice. Folle Noire and Braquet make light, perfumed red and rosé; Rolle makes the white. Little leaves the Riviera, so buy it there.

Tibouren: rare local red grape for floral, savoury, long-lived rosé.

Planted in small amounts. Its rosés are floral and savoury and often more age-worthy than the norm. Clos Cibonne is where to taste it.

Planted in small amounts. Its rosés are floral and savoury and often more age-worthy than the norm. Clos Cibonne is where to taste it.

A Bellet from Nice: Clos Saint-Vincent blanc or Château de Crémat rouge.

From a tiny Riviera appellation that exports almost nothing. Buy it in Nice.

From a tiny Riviera appellation that exports almost nothing. Buy it in Nice.

Clos Cibonne: Tibouren rosé aged in big old casks - rich, savoury, made to keep.

A family estate behind the coast near Toulon and the Tibouren specialist. Cuvée Spéciale des Vignettes and Cuvée Caroline are its main bottlings.

Clos Cibonne sits on the Colle Noire massif, behind the low hills of the coast, and has been run by one family line for generations. It is organic and works with Tibouren, a rare local grape that ripens unevenly, keeps natural acidity and gives floral, savoury rosé. About 500 hectares of Tibouren exist across Provence, mostly in small plots, and Clos Cibonne is the estate that put it on the label. The wine is richer and rounder than the pale norm: ripe fruit, some oak, and ageing in large old casks of about 5,000 litres, where a thin yeast layer sometimes forms without making the wine taste oxidised. It is still bottled in dark glass, not the clear glass fashionable for pale rosé. Serve it less cold than ordinary rosé and with proper food: grilled fish or roast chicken.

A few rosés are made to be kept: old vines, Mourvèdre, oak.

Most rosé should be drunk young, but structure from old vines, certain grapes, oak or longer skin contact lets some age. Bandol and the top cuvées are the ones to cellar.

The usual rule is to drink rosé within a year or two of the harvest, and for ordinary wines the newest vintage is still the safest buy. A small group is built differently. Estates that start from old, low-yielding vines, add Mourvèdre or Tibouren for backbone, ferment or age part of the wine in oak and bottle later can make rosé that evolves rather than fades. Vertical tastings of top cuvées such as Château d'Esclans Garrus and Les Clans showed the wines changing, not collapsing, and Clos Cibonne's cask-aged Tibouren is made for the same purpose. Good Bandol rosé keeps for years and gains a savoury, spicy note. Colour is a poor guide, because a deeper glass is not proof of age-worthiness. Look for old-vine or single-vineyard wording and a Cru Classé or Bandol address, and expect to pay more.

Sainte-Victoire is now Provence's first cru, for rosé and red.

The foothills of Mont Sainte-Victoire have recently been promoted from sub-zone to cru. Stony, poor soils and cooler air give rosé with shape and reds with firm tannin.

Côtes de Provence Sainte-Victoire was a named sub-zone for years; it has now been raised to cru status, the first in Provence, covering rosé and red. The land sits under the limestone ridge of Mont Sainte-Victoire on poor, shallow, pebbly soils, and the zone works with lower crops than the general appellation. Almost all of what it makes is rosé, pale and fresh with red-berry fruit and lively acidity, while the reds are firmer, darker and herby. The status is meant to demand more care in the vineyard, and the zone's growers do not expect prices to jump. On the shelf, look for 'Sainte-Victoire' after Côtes de Provence. Estates to know include Mas de Cadenet, Château Gassier, Château Coussin and Domaine La Grande Bauquière; Jas Monges sits at the top of the price scale. A cru label is a sign of intent and site, so the producer still decides how good the bottle is.

Domaine Tempier: the Bandol reference; La Migoua, La Tourtine, Cabassaou.

The family estate that made Bandol's name. Three single-vineyard reds show how site shapes Mourvèdre, and the rosé is among the most serious in Provence.

Domaine Tempier is the estate most people name first for Bandol. The Peyraud family runs it, and Lucien Peyraud helped win Bandol its appellation. Its first rosé was bottled in 1943 and its first red in 1951, and the estate still makes red, rosé and a little white. The reds to know are the three single-vineyard wines: La Tourtine, La Migoua and Cabassaou, the last almost pure Mourvèdre. They share a dark, dense, savoury frame but differ in site, so tasting them side by side is a lesson in terroir. The rosé is deeper than a Côtes de Provence and built for food. Buy young bottles to cellar for a decade or more, or ask whether older vintages are available at the cellar door. Tastings are by appointment, so book ahead.

Château de Pibarnon: high Bandol estate on blue marl; Bandol rouge and Restanques.

One of the highest estates in the appellation, with terraced vines up to about 300 metres. Elegant, mineral Mourvèdre with a rosé to match.

Pibarnon was bought by the de Saint Victor family in the late 1970s and is run by Eric de Saint Victor. It sits on the hills above La Cadière-d'Azur, in a semicircle open to the sea, on terraced vines of blue marl that reach about 300 metres. The altitude and marl give the wines a cooler, more mineral frame than many warmer Bandol sites. The main red is built mostly on Mourvèdre and can reach very high proportions of the grape. It is firm in youth, with black fruit and spice, and settles into leather and herbs. Restanques de Pibarnon is the estate's other red, and it also makes rosé. The cellar takes visitors by appointment.

Château Simone: organic family estate, old-vine Clairette white and age-worthy red.

The one estate that defines Palette. Its white and red are cellared before release and drunk years later.

Château Simone belongs to the Rougier family and is the dominant estate in the Palette appellation. Its vineyards sit among pine-covered hills, including north-facing terraces that ripen slowly, and have been farmed organically with no pesticides or herbicides. The unusual part is the mix: about half of the production is white, mostly Clairette from vines that include some around a century old, with Bourboulenc, Ugni Blanc, Grenache Blanc and Muscat. The red is a blend of Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah with other local grapes, and a rosé makes up the rest. Average vine age is high and replanting is done vine by vine, not field by field. These are wines for patience: the owner drinks his white at about ten years and his red later still. Young whites show almond, brioche and heather, and older ones quince, yellow apple and verbena; the reds show black cherry, pastis and bramble.

Clos Cibonne: Tibouren rosé aged in big old casks - rich, savoury, made to keep.

A family estate behind the coast near Toulon and the Tibouren specialist. Cuvée Spéciale des Vignettes and Cuvée Caroline are its main bottlings.

Clos Cibonne sits on the Colle Noire massif, behind the low hills of the coast, and has been run by one family line for generations. It is organic and works with Tibouren, a rare local grape that ripens unevenly, keeps natural acidity and gives floral, savoury rosé. About 500 hectares of Tibouren exist across Provence, mostly in small plots, and Clos Cibonne is the estate that put it on the label. The wine is richer and rounder than the pale norm: ripe fruit, some oak, and ageing in large old casks of about 5,000 litres, where a thin yeast layer sometimes forms without making the wine taste oxidised. It is still bottled in dark glass, not the clear glass fashionable for pale rosé. Serve it less cold than ordinary rosé and with proper food: grilled fish or roast chicken.

Domaine Hauvette: biodynamic; Cornaline red, Amethyste Cinsault, Jaspe white.

Dominique Hauvette's small estate in the Alpilles, biodynamic since the early 2000s, fermenting and ageing in concrete eggs.

Dominique Hauvette, a former lawyer, founded the estate in the early 1980s and made her first wine in 1988 from two hectares. The estate now covers around 16 hectares of clay-limestone soil rich in fossil shells near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, farmed biodynamically since 2003. In the cellar she uses native yeasts, avoids heavy filtration and was an early adopter of concrete eggs for fermentation and ageing. The range uses many grapes: Cornaline, the main red, blends Grenache, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon with dark fruit and garrigue; Amethyste is a single-grape Cinsault red, lighter and more perfumed; Jaspe is a textured white built on Roussanne; Petra is the rosé. Some of the wines fall under Les Baux and some under IGP Alpilles. The style is precise, with dark fruit and garrigue in the reds and texture in the whites.

Rosé ladder: generic Provence, named estate, sub-zone or Cru Classé, Bandol and top cuvées.

At the bottom is simple pale rosé sold under a brand or supermarket label. Next comes an estate bottling from Côtes de Provence or Coteaux d'Aix. Higher up sit named zones like Sainte-Victoire, Cru Classé estates and Bandol. At the top are old-vine or single-vineyard cuvées that can age.

At the bottom is simple pale rosé sold under a brand or supermarket label. Next comes an estate bottling from Côtes de Provence or Coteaux d'Aix. Higher up sit named zones like Sainte-Victoire, Cru Classé estates and Bandol. At the top are old-vine or single-vineyard cuvées that can age.

In the glass: From light, neutral and fruity to savoury, structured and long

Paler is not better: colour is a style choice, not a quality mark.

Pressing red grapes straight away gives very pale juice, and stripping out extra colour can strip flavour too. Judge by taste: depth, a savoury or salty edge and a long finish, not how pale the glass looks.

Pressing red grapes straight away gives very pale juice, and stripping out extra colour can strip flavour too. Judge by taste: depth, a savoury or salty edge and a long finish, not how pale the glass looks.

In the glass: Pale can mean delicate or just thin; the finish tells you which

Best rosé starts as old, low-yield vines picked for rosé.

Provence makes rosé as its main product, so grapes are picked at the right ripeness for rosé, not left over from red. Top estates use old Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre that could have gone into red wine, and sort carefully.

Provence makes rosé as its main product, so grapes are picked at the right ripeness for rosé, not left over from red. Top estates use old Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre that could have gone into red wine, and sort carefully.

In the glass: More depth, texture and length than simple pale rosé

Cooler sites and the mistral wind keep rosé fresh and shaped.

The mistral dries the vines and keeps them healthy. Cooler spots hold acidity: Sainte-Victoire gives structure, the coast at La Londe a salty note, higher Coteaux Varois a taut feel. Inland foothill sites generally beat the hot coastal plain.

The mistral dries the vines and keeps them healthy. Cooler spots hold acidity: Sainte-Victoire gives structure, the coast at La Londe a salty note, higher Coteaux Varois a taut feel. Inland foothill sites generally beat the hot coastal plain.

In the glass: Fresher, stonier, more precise rosé

A few rosés are made to be kept: old vines, Mourvèdre, oak.

Most rosé should be drunk young, but structure from old vines, certain grapes, oak or longer skin contact lets some age. Bandol and the top cuvées are the ones to cellar.

The usual rule is to drink rosé within a year or two of the harvest, and for ordinary wines the newest vintage is still the safest buy. A small group is built differently. Estates that start from old, low-yielding vines, add Mourvèdre or Tibouren for backbone, ferment or age part of the wine in oak and bottle later can make rosé that evolves rather than fades. Vertical tastings of top cuvées such as Château d'Esclans Garrus and Les Clans showed the wines changing, not collapsing, and Clos Cibonne's cask-aged Tibouren is made for the same purpose. Good Bandol rosé keeps for years and gains a savoury, spicy note. Colour is a poor guide, because a deeper glass is not proof of age-worthiness. Look for old-vine or single-vineyard wording and a Cru Classé or Bandol address, and expect to pay more.

In the glass: Savoury, nutty, spicy depth with age instead of just fading fruit

Bandol's sun-trap terraces and sea air are what ripen Mourvèdre.

Mourvèdre needs long heat and shelter. Bandol's south-facing amphitheatre of stone-walled hillside terraces gives it both, plus mistral air to keep the vines healthy.

Mourvèdre ripens late and fails in cool or cloudy sites, which is why it matters that Bandol is a south-facing bowl of hills running down to the sea, with long sunshine and a regular mistral. Only hillside plots on poor soils make the appellation, not the valley floor. The vines sit on restanques, dry-stone terraces that hold the soil and trap warmth, and the soils vary from limestone and clay to marl and sandstone. At Château de Pibarnon, one of the highest estates, vines reach about 300 metres on blue marl, which gives the wine a firmer, more mineral frame than lower, warmer sites. The result is a red that is dense and tannic when young, with blackberry, licorice and violet, and that turns leathery, herbal and meaty in 5-10 years. Top estates then keep the reds in big old casks before release.

In the glass: Ripe but firm Mourvèdre with mineral grip and long life

Direct pressing: red grapes pressed gently and fast for pale juice.

Most Provence rosé is made like white wine: grapes are pressed almost on arrival, so the juice picks up little colour and stays fresh.

Most Provence rosé is made like white wine: grapes are pressed almost on arrival, so the juice picks up little colour and stays fresh.

In the glass: Pale colour, light body and fresh fruit

Saignée: juice bled off a red ferment gives deeper, more tannic rosé.

Less common in Provence, but used for fuller, darker styles. It makes rosé closer to red in weight, built for food.

Less common in Provence, but used for fuller, darker styles. It makes rosé closer to red in weight, built for food.

In the glass: Deeper colour, more tannin and structure

Big old casks shape Bandol red and rich rosé such as Clos Cibonne's.

Large wooden foudres add texture without strong oak flavour. They are used for Bandol reds and for a few cask-aged rosés.

Large wooden foudres add texture without strong oak flavour. They are used for Bandol reds and for a few cask-aged rosés.

In the glass: Rounder texture, savoury depth, little obvious oak

Organic farming is normal here: mistral keeps vine disease low.

Dry air and wind make organic growing easier. Les Baux has gone fully organic, most of Cassis is organic, and many of the best Provence estates farm without herbicides.

Dry air and wind make organic growing easier. Les Baux has gone fully organic, most of Cassis is organic, and many of the best Provence estates farm without herbicides.

In the glass: Cleaner fruit and sense of place; not a style by itself

Parcel-by-parcel picking and careful sorting for top rosé.

Serious rosé estates harvest and ferment small plots separately, sort grapes twice and control temperature and oxygen closely, as for fine white wine.

Serious rosé estates harvest and ferment small plots separately, sort grapes twice and control temperature and oxygen closely, as for fine white wine.

In the glass: Cleaner, more complex blends

Biodynamic farming, native yeasts and concrete eggs in the Alpilles.

Domaine Hauvette is the clearest example: biodynamic since 2003, wild yeasts and concrete eggs for fermentation and ageing.

Domaine Hauvette is the clearest example: biodynamic since 2003, wild yeasts and concrete eggs for fermentation and ageing.

In the glass: More texture and mineral precision