Provence

Provence is the world reference for dry rosé. Most production is pale, herbal, and Mediterranean, made by direct press or short maceration of red grapes. Bandol on the coast is the prestige outlier, where old-vine Mourvèdre yields some of France's longest-lived rosés alongside dense, age-worthy reds. Garrigue herbs — rosemary, thyme, lavender — recur in tasting notes for a reason.

Famous appellations

• Côtes de Provence
• Bandol
• Cassis

History

Greek colonists planted the first vines around Marseille around 600 BCE, making Provence one of France's oldest wine regions. Through the medieval and early modern periods the wines were largely local. The post-2010 global dry-rosé boom transformed Côtes de Provence into a luxury export category, with sales to the US and UK growing several-fold in a decade.