Rosés are red? Love for Provence’s big red wines and Château Calissanne #winophiles

Ahh Provence. Those of you who know me well know that this is a region that is close to my heart, since half my family lives there. When it comes to wine, the area is best known for its rosés, but its reds should not be overlooked. Today, the French #winophiles and I are exploring these hearty red wines from Provence. I’ll be tasting Château Calissanne’s Rocher Rouge.

Provence rosés

As I’ve mentioned, Provence is best known in the wine world for it’s quaffable rosés—to the point where the Vins de Provence website’s main colour swatch/scheme is (you guessed it) pink. It makes sense: Provence produces the most rosé of all the wine regions in France, with 89% of its production being the pink stuff (that’s 6% of the world’s rosé production).

Provence red wines

Only 7% of the wines made in Provence are red wines, which explains why they are so hard to find here in Ontario (and I suspect across North America). I finally managed to get my hands on a red wine from the Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence, the second-largest appellation d’origine protégée (AOP) in Provence.

Provence climate: a perfect place to grow grapes

This wine-making region spans from Arles to Aix-en-Provence. It is strongly influenced by the Mistral, a strong, cold wind that blows through the south of France in the winter. Funnily enough, I spoke with my grandmother today, who lives halfway between Aix and Marseille, and she was complaining about it, saying how it absolutely chills you to the bone (I challenged her to try our -25 temperatures here in Ottawa!).

The wind blows away any excess moisture from the vines and protects them from rot and other diseases. To add to this perfect climate, Provence’s growing season is sunny, dry and hot, with vines getting 2,800 hours of sun a year (that’s a lot). This allows grapes to fully ripen, increasing their sugar content, thereby increasing potential alcohol content, particularly in red wines.

Château Calissanne

The vineyards of Château Calissanne face south for optimal sun exposure, yet are protected from the worst of the Mistral’s damaging winds by a large cliff.

These carrières are former limestone quarries, which were worked until right before WWI. The limestone is an important part of the Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence terroirTerroir is essentially the geographical, environmental and climatic elements of grape-growing (that allow the same grape grown in two different places to make two completely distinct wines). Here is a non-exhaustive... More, and can be detected in the wines by astute noses and palates.

The Provençal climate is ideal not only for grapes, but for olives and almonds as well.

Château Calissanne is certified “Haute valeur environnementale” (high environmental value, or HVE) level 3, meaning it’s fully committed to protecting the natural environment and its biodiversity through sustainable farming practices.

While half of its products are rosés, a whopping 40% are red wines.

Rocher Rouge*

🍇 95% mourvèdre and 5% syrah – all grapes are hand-picked, and the wine is barrel-aged for at least 14 months

👁️ Deep ruby red, almost opaque.

👃 This wine is bursting with ripe red and black fruit aromas (black cherry, red currant, fig, plum, blackberry) backed with minerality from the limestone quarries, baking spice, cedar, and slightly peppery notes.

👄Whoa this is a serious wine. The first thing that hits the palate is bitter tanninTannins help form a wine’s structure, but generally only in red wines. Tannins come from the grape’s stems, seeds and skins, and to a lesser extent from the wood in... More. You have a few options for mellowing this out: cellaring for up to five years, decanting for 2 hours or aerating, or pairing with some delicious red meats (since bitter tanninsTannins help form a wine’s structure, but generally only in red wines. Tannins come from the grape’s stems, seeds and skins, and to a lesser extent from the wood in... More are softened by fats). The palate also shows juicy red cherry, blackberry, fig, plum, savoury herbs/garrigue (a typical descriptor of Provence wines referring to a mix of lavender, juniper, thyme, rosemary and sage), cedar, tobacco/spice and leather.

🍽️This is a typical old-world red, in that it’s not really meant to be sipped—it begs for food. The classic pairing with a Provençal red is braised lamb shanks, but a medium-rare pepper steak would also work really well, with the peppery notes from the syrah while bringing out the wine’s fruit flavours. Osso bucco would also be a stellar choice.

Where to buy: Attention wine agents! Château Calissanne is not yet available in North America. Get in touch with their export manager if you are interested in representing this Château!

Sorry readers – you’ll have to start planning your next trip to Provence (once the world opens up again, of course) to get your hands on this bottle.

Happy wining!

*This wine was graciously provided as a sample from the winery. No other compensation was received. As always, opinions are my own.

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Don’t forget to check out what the other #winophiles have to say!

• Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla presents Provençal Pork Stew + Clos Cibonne Cuvee Speciale Rouge 2019.
• Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm shares Beef Daube Provencal with a Bandol Rouge.
• Payal at Keep the Peas serves A Bandol Red and Lamb Biryani.
• Jane of Always Ravenous showcases Provencal Braised Beef with Bandol Rouge.
• Lynn over at Savor the Harvest offers Winning Red Wines from Provence with Lamb Meatballs: Domaine Hauvette and Clos Cibonne.
• Susannah from Avviranre tells us how Beef Stew and A Glass of Bandol Rouge Warms the Heart.
• Jeff of Food Wine Click! shares Provençal Memories and Mas de Gourgonnier Rouge.
• Gwendolyn from Wine Predator posts The Magique of Provence.
• Robin at Crushed Grape Chronicles writes Bandol Rouge – An Elegant and Wild Provençe Red Wine from Château Ste. Anne.
• Cathie of Side Hustle Wino offers Off the Beaten Path in Provence.