I had the good fortune earlier this year to taste a number of superb red wines from Provence as I judged at the Concours Mondial, one of Europe’s most important wine competitions.
The exceptional quality was a revelation to me. Provence has always enjoyed a decent reputation for its ubiquitous rose wines, but not so much for its reds and whites. It has been almost seven years since I toured the region extensively, but I can vividly remember the disappointing reds.
Obviously, things have changed. Our good friend Nick Passmore, writing over at Portfolio.com, has noticed, too. Nick rightly points out that given the advantage of so much “old vine” vineyard material in the region, there’s no reason a dedicated vigneron shouldn’t be able to make world-class wine across the full spectrum.
Says Nick:
People from outside the region are, for the most part, the driving force behind this transformation in winemaking. Well educated, well funded, and extremely conscious of the global wine market, the new arrivals couldn’t be more different from the old-time farmers Peter Mayle wrote about in A Year in Provence, the ones who sold their grapes to the local co-op in September to put money in their pockets for Christmas.
Nick’s observations are spot on, and he’s an entertaining writer to boot. And don’t miss the slide show!
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