Provence, France

La Blaque

Situated high in the Alps of Haute Provence, the tiny appellation called Pierrevert is among the highest altitude appellations in France. Funded nearly thirty years ago, La Blaque has 60 hectares of vines planted on clay and limestone soils at between 1300 and 1500 feet.  Under the direction of the husband and wife team of Gilles and Laurence Delsuc, Domaine La Blaque is producing some of the most striking wines in Provence. Sunny Mediterranean days and cool nights permit the fruit of the vines to achieve ripeness and maintain acidity. The reds vines are syrah, grenache, cinsault and carignan.  A little vermentino is also planted to give lift to the rosé.

Pierrevert Rose

Pierrevert Rouge

Domaine de la Fouquette

Nestled into a forested plain amid the Massif des Maures mountains, the 35-acre Domaine de la Fouquette sits in the heart of the Côtes de Provence appellation. For Isabelle and Jean-Pierre Daziano, rosé is the foremost priority, not an afterthought.  They have instituted a labor- intensive, organic regimen that includes green harvesting in early summer to limit yields and picking the grapes at night during harvest. The domaine completed the Ecocert certification process in the 2013 vintage. In the cellar, the philosophy is minimal intervention. The Cuvée Rosée d’Aurore is named for the Daziano’s daughter.

Domaine d’Eole

D’Eole is a magical spot near St-Rémy-de-Provence at the base of the Alpilles mountains on the western edge of Provence.  The vines are surrounded by an ocean of olive trees and garrigue. This unique terroir has a rocky, rapid-draining mixture of limestone and sand that forces vine roots to extend deep into the subsoil to find nutrients. Thirty years ago, what was once a small co—op winery is now a thirty- hectare estate with organically farmed vines. Abundant sunshine and a low fan setting on the Mistral provide ideal conditions for to produce superb Provence wines.   The estate is now being managed by the dynamic Ludovic Vançon.