Côteaux Varois en Provence is a key appellation in the Provence wine region in the far southeast of France. It was introduced in March 1993 to complement the Côtes de Provence title created 16 years earlier. It covers the vineyards of 28 communes North of Toulon, essentially constituting the western third of the Var department. Côteaux Varois wines are red, white and rosé, although the latter is the dominant colour (as is the case almost everywhere in Provence).
Rosés, which account for about 85% of total production, are essentially made from the same Grape varieties as the reds - namely the classic southern French cocktail of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsaut. These wines may also contain the traditional Provençal grapes Tibouren and Carignan. Tibouren is renowned for the spice it brings to rosés, while the less favoured Carignan was the subject of a large harvest in the early 21st century. Cabernet Sauvignon, imported from Bordeaux to Provence in the 1960s, is also allowed in small quantities.
Decanter attended Tesco’s spring/summer 2022 portfolio tasting at the end of April where over 140 wines were on show, 38 of which are new to the range. In anticipation of the full list of top buys, to follow soon, we’ve rounded up a few of our favourites to get you in the mood for spring. Tesco’s wine buying team highlighted 24 wines as their must-try buys, and five of these have featured in our initial spring roundup below. We think they showcase the diversity of the Tesco range and the value t ...
I’d like to say we took advantage of the lockdown and its related commotion to do a stock-take, explore new avenues, turn over intriguing stones, widen and deepen our drinking, taking careful notes as we went. Sadly, no. I won’t say we got stuck in a rut, but we did tend to stick with comfort wines – and “comfort”, in our case, means familiar. Regular readers of this quarterly column can probably guess the labels on the resulting empties. We have a wider range of comfort foods, I’m afraid, than ...
Fleur de Miraval will be poured at the Dolby Theatre during the Oscars (27 March), as well as during the Governors Ball – the Academy’s official afterparty – and at other Oscars-related events in Los Angeles, New York City, and London, including the Oscars Nominees Luncheon on 7 March. Serving Fleur de Miraval Rosé Champagne, best known for its association with Pitt, was a ‘natural choice’, the champagne brand said in a statement announcing the news. ‘Fleur de Miraval will now ...
