Coteaux varois en Provence

France · AOC (PDO) · Provence-Corsica

Styles

Natural factors

The vineyard area extends across 28 communes in the Var department, grouped around Brignoles, within the natural region of 'Provence calcaire'.
The geology combines argillo-calcareous folds oriented east–west, alternating with gravettes (coarse alluvial and colluvial deposits) and flint, as well as a high plateau of Triassic formations.
The soils of the winegrowing area are exclusively calcareous or argillo-calcareous, formed over a base of decalcification clay and coarse colluvial footslope deposits.
The elevation of the vineyard, ranging from 350 to 500 metres in the highest parcels, and the surrounding limestone massifs lend the Mediterranean climate a more continental character, with very cold winters and summers with cool nights.
Annual rainfall varies from 700 to 900 millimetres, and mean temperatures hover around 13 °C, contrasting with the rest of the Provençal vineyard.

Human factors

The practice of oullières — cultivating vines, cereals, and olive trees within the same parcel — creates a characteristic landscape tied to the continental nature of the zone.
The vineyard is first mentioned in 558, and its wines were consumed notably at the tables of the Counts of Provence and at the Parlement d'Aix through to the end of the nineteenth century.

Product characteristics

The reds, produced mainly from Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre, develop rich, silky tannins and then evolve towards notes of leather and truffle with age.
The rosés, with a clean, vivid pink colour, display aromas of fresh red fruits, sometimes enriched by spiced notes or garrigue recalling thyme, rosemary, and juniper.

Terroir / wine link

The stony argillo-calcareous soils, with their well-balanced water regime, warm up readily, limiting water stress and promoting full ripeness in both the fruit and the polyphenols.

Facts drawn from the cahier's terroir-link section (Lien au terroir) by automatic interpretation — see the source.