Rosé house Mirabeau: Englishman in Provence

Stephen Cronk emigrated with his family to the south of France 10 years ago to start Rosé house Mirabeau. -TEXT KARIN LEEUWENHOEK | IMAGE PEXELS.COM

A BIT LIKE THE ENGLISH VERSION OF I'M LEAVING OR THE HELM? 

'The beginning was intense yes. We didn't speak French and it took a long time for my middle son to stop crying at his new school. As parents, we felt terrible that we had taken our three children away from their familiar surroundings. On paper, our life in London was perfect: a house in the middle of the city near a big park and I had a high-paying job in telecoms. Yet it itched for me. As a twenty-something, I had worked in the wine trade for years and it was always my dream to make wine one day. My wife Jeany is the real hero in this story, as many young mothers would say, "Why, for goodness sake! But she knew I wouldn't be happy if I didn't try this. I spent 10 years thinking about how I wanted to go about it and talked a lot with former colleagues. When our third was born, we sold our house and moved south.'

AND THAT WINE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ROSÉ?

'Yes. We were always huge fans of Provence rose. As in the Netherlands, in London you have long, grey, wet winters, but with rose you always have sunshine in your glass.'

WHAT IS MIRABEAU'S STYLE?

'There are seven different Mirabeau roses as well as a sparkling rose and a unique rose gin. The roses each have their own character, but all revolve around fruit, purity and freshness. I buy grapes from lots of different vintners because that way you can blend a similar style of wine every year, a rose that people recognise. That's how Mirabeau has really become a global brand, now sold in almost 50 countries. The Mirabeau Classic Provence Rose, typified by fresh red summer fruit, is our main wine, followed by the Pure, a tighter rose with more citrus notes and minerality.'

DO YOU STILL DREAM OF HAVING YOUR OWN VINEYARDS?

'In 2019, we went for the axe and bought a 20-hectare vineyard near Saint-Tropez, to also make a Domaine Mirabeau Rose from our first homegrown grapes from 2020 - at least if the quality meets our requirements. Unfortunately, a severe frost at the end of March damaged the new buds on the vines, so we are expected to lose about 70 per cent of the harvest. And to make matters worse, all the work in our farm currently has to be done with a fraction of the workforce because of the corona crisis. (winking) No one ever said this was going to be an easy life.'

MIRABEAU'S SUNNY PROVENCAL ROSES ARE AVAILABLE AT GALL & GALL.

This article is from Winelife 65 2020. The latest Winelife edition 69, order here!

Don't want to miss a single edition? Subscribe then subscribe to Winelife Magazine now!

Want to stay up to date with the best articles? Follow Winelife magazine on Instagram, Facebook and sign up for our fortnightly newsletter.