Provence

Wine-growing region located in the south-east of France, stretching along the Côte d´Azur from Marseille in the west to Nice in the east. On its borders to the north lies the Languedoc wine-growing region, and the Rhône region lies to the north. Many sources consider the island of Corsica, located 160 to the south-east of the coast, to be included in a joint wine-growing region with Provence. In fact, there are many similarities. Province, together with the Languedoc-Roussillon region, is often also referred to as the Midi. This is one of the oldest wine-growing regions in France, the Greeks planted vines here in the 6th century BC. Quite possibly, the Celts (Gauls) may already have planted vines even before that. The name is derived from the Romans, who founded the „Provincia Romana“ in 154 BC, and supplied wine from here to Rome. Legionaires who were honourably retired were given a small property in the area, which they generally used for the production of wine. The region was always hotly disputed, and was owned in succession by the Roman empire, the Franks, the kingdom of Burgundy, the Spanish county of Barcelona-Arágon, the house of Anjou, the kingdom of Sardinia, and eventually France. Large tracts of vineyards were destroyed by phylloxera in the 19th century. The Mediterranean climate is characterised by mild winters, a wet spring, hot summers and a long, sunny autumn. The vineyard area totals around 25.000 hectares. As is usual in the south of France, numerous grape varieties are permitted, including many indigenous varieties, some of which are by now extremely rare. The most important varieties are Barbaroux (Barbarossa), Cabernet Sauvignon, Calitor, Carignan, Cinsaut, Clairette, Grenache Blanc, Grenache Noir, Mourvèdre, Rolle, Sémillon, Syrah, Tibouren and Ugni Blanc. Rosé wines make up more than half the total production, red wines account for 40%, and only 10% are white wines. The appellations are:

* Alpes de Haute-Provence (vin de pays)
* Bandol
* Bellet
* Cassis#Cassis (Provence)
* Coteaux d´Aix-en-Provence
* Coteaux de Pierrevert
* Coteaux Varois
* Côtes de Provence
* Les Baux-de-Provence
* Maures (vin de pays)
* Mont-Caume (vin de pays)
* Palette
* Principauté d'Orange (vin de pays)
* Var (vin de pays)
* Vaucluse (vin de pays)