Provence through rose-coloured glasses

Anyone who travels down the route du soleil knows: nowhere is a better place to be than in the sunny south of France. Travel with WINELIFE to the vast lavender fields, lovely beaches and lovely village squares, where a glass of rosé is always within reach and where winemaker Guillaume Philip of MiP helps us fathom the soul of Provence.
Text: Renée Salome | Image: Domaine des Diables

You can bet your entire annual salary on it: as soon as you pass Lyon, the sun shines. It is not only us from the drizzly north who intensely enjoy the Provençal climate. So do the grapes grown in the France's oldest wine region. Yes indeed, this is where the ancient Greeks who founded the city of Massilia (Marseille) planted the first grapes some 2600 years ago. Earlier, therefore, than the Romans who more or less supplied the rest of Europe with viticulture. Today, vineyards are spread over 27,700 hectares in the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Var and Alpes-Maritimes. The sun shines here some 300 days a year, and thanks to the mistral, the wind that occasionally runs off with your tent pegs, fungal diseases are naturally prevented. More than 90% of Provence's wine production is rosé, 6% is red wine and 4% is white. Not surprisingly, we identify this region with rosé.

Provence has three appellations: Côte de Provence (since 1977), Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence (since 1985) and Coteaux Varois en Provence (since 1993). Within the Côte de Provence there are five more separate DCGs, which stands for Dénomination Géographique Complémentaire, distinguishable: Sainte-Victoire, La Londe, Fréjus, Pierrefeu and Notre-Dame des Anges. Hot off the press: Sainte-Victoire was recently promoted to cru, Provence's first.

Mont Sainte-Victoire

The vineyards of Sainte-Victoire lie at the foot of the mountains of the same name and that is where we are going to have a look. Here, just east of Aix-en-Provence, is the wine estate of Guillaume and Virginie Philip: Domaine des Diables. Their village Puyloubier is one of nine communes within this DCG. 

The limestone massif is part of the French Pre-Alps and was a favourite subject for painter Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), who himself came from the region. If you visit Provence in the near future, know that 2025 is his year, with his birth and deathplace Aix-en-Provence at the epicentre of all the festivities. This is your chance to see his many paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire!

That mountain, whose 'inner structure' Cézanne wanted to capture, has another meaning for Guillaume. For instance, the mountain range, together with the Massif de Sainte-Baume a little further south, provides a continental microclimate by tempering the influence of the Mediterranean. Thanks to the mountain, it is warmer during the day and colder at night in Guillaume's vineyards, good for slow ripening, which in turn is good for the wine. In addition, the mountain has a soothing effect on the sometimes intense mistral - although it can still blow heavily. Which is good, because the wind keeps things free of moisture and so fungal diseases don't get a chance to develop. This natural protection is the reason why Provence has the highest percentage of organic winemakers within France, 55 per cent. That includes Guillaume and Virginie. The poor, well-drained soil on which the couple's grapes grow consists mainly of clay, loam, sand and pebbles. As for grape varieties, they work with typical Mediterranean varieties such as grenache, cinsaul and syrah, complemented by cabernet sauvignon. The small amount of vermentino, called rolle here, is mainly for the house's white wines. Grenache provides minerality and body, while cinsault adds finesse, fruitiness and suppleness. Finally, Syrah contributes to the aromatic power of the wines.

Everything must change