Château Léoube - Rouge de Léoube

Reputedly the source of Louis XIV’s favourite wines, Côtes de Provence lies in the south-east of Provence and overlaps with the Var department. Eighty percent of its production is dry rosé wine, distinguished by an inimitable pale-pink colour and elegant flavours. Cinsault and Grenache dominate in the region’s rosés, augmented with the occasional dash of the local, intensely aromatic Tibouren.

The Côtes de Provence appellation spans more than 20,000 hectares (nearly 50,000 acres) and three departments: the Var, the Bouches-du-Rhône and one village in the Alpes-Maritimes, for a total of 84 communes.

The rosé wines display light to very light, brilliant, clear hues. Their nose offers aromas of fresh flowers (rose), yellow fruits (melon, peach) and red fruits (strawberry, raspberry, cherry), coupled with touches of citrus zest, tropical fruits and marshmallow. Their palate exudes a supple, rounded feel, counterbalanced by a crisp feel to varying degrees depending on the vineyard site. The wines show balanced generosity and light tangy freshness lifting a persistent finish often suffused with abundant fruitiness.

The white wines are very focused and very clean. The Rolle-based wines offer up a wonderful zippy freshness.

The year’s red wines are just coming to the end of the winemaking phase and display stellar ageing potential with good tannin density for the longer vatting periods and lovely fresh fruit profiles for the more easy-drinking wines.