Les Baux de Provence

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Accessory grape varieties

Terroir

• The Alpilles range, whose highest peaks reach 490 metres, consists of east–west-oriented limestone ridges stretching approximately thirty kilometres between the Rhône, the Durance and the plain of La Crau.
• The eroded massif carves its relief into the marl-limestone formations of the Lower Cretaceous and the hard limestones of the Jurassic, with small depressions hollowed out in the claystones of the Upper Cretaceous or in the sandy and calcareous molasse of the Miocene.
• The Mediterranean climate delivers average annual rainfall of 750 millimetres, with hot, dry summers and particularly wet autumns and springs, and an average sunshine total of 2,800 hours per year.
• The Mistral, a cold northerly wind that is often violent, blows for around one hundred days a year; north-facing slopes are cooler because they are exposed to this wind, while south-facing slopes benefit from maritime influences.
• Viticultural soils develop on slope wash and cobbly colluvium taking the form of glacis, alluvial fans, scree or bedded frost-shattered deposits, with vines planted on terraces or hillsides on well-drained, stony piedmonts.

• The local viticultural history goes back to around 600 BC, when the Phocaeans founded Marseille and introduced the vine to France for the first time.
• Shortly after the Second World War, Robert Faye, the former owner of Mas de la Dame, gave fresh impetus to the vineyard on the advice of his friend Baron le Roy, one of the founding fathers of the appellations d'origine contrôlées.
• The appellation d'origine contrôlée Les Baux de Provence was recognised on 20 April 1995, following a campaign by producers convinced of the geographical and climatic unity of their territory.

• The red wines, which account for 60% of production, have a cellaring potential of 5 to 10 years and display a deep ruby and garnet colour with tannins of great finesse.
• The rosé wines, made by pressing and saignée from Grenache and Cinsaut, show a colour ranging from salmon pink to peony, with fruity and floral aromas.
• The white wines, drawn mainly from a blend of Vermentino, Grenache blanc, Clairette and, to a lesser extent, Roussanne, express notes of stone fruits such as peach and apricot, as well as anise and rosemary.
• When white wines are aged in oak, they take on toasty accents alongside notes of ripe fruit and vanilla.

• The Mistral, present in this vineyard sheltered at the foot of the ridges, dries and cools the atmosphere, enabling good phenolic ripeness to be achieved, particularly in the more sensitive Provençal varieties.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in France

Sources

• Product specification (BO Agri, PDF) — approved 24 octobre 2024 publié au JORF du 30 octobre 2024, JORF 30 octobre 2024
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — CIVP