The Provence wine route
From the gates of Nice to those of the Camargue, the Provence wine route brings together nearly 430 estates and cooperative wineries committed to a quality reception approach in order to offer visitors a personalised and commented tasting of their wines.
The website of the Provence wine route(www.routedesvinsdeprovence.com)
offers advice, ideas and practical tools. It allows you to find out about the latest news from the region, to search for and discover estates or tours and to build your own itinerary. Once you have selected your criteria, all you have to do is choose the wineries, add them to a roadmap that can be printed and downloaded to a GPS and set off. You can then easily find the domains and wineries indicated by a common road sign.Appellations of origin
In the Var, your wine tour will take you to the heart of 4 appellations d'origine contrôlée: Côtes-de-Provence, Coteaux-d'Aix-en-Provence, Coteaux-Varois-en-Provence and Bandol, the latter two having vineyards 100% in the Var.
Coteaux-varois-en-provence
The coteaux-varois-en-provence appellation d'origine contrôlée is located in the centre of the Var, in 28 communes of the department, from Brignoles in the east to Ollières in the west, from Villecroze in the north to Rocbaron in the south. 300 winegrowers are divided into 77 private cellars and 10 cooperative cellars. A.O.C. since 1993, the vineyard extends over marked clay-limestone soils. Its altitude, 350 metres on average, as well as the presence of the rocky massifs of the Sainte-Baume to the west, the Bessillons to the north and the Cuers bars to the south, which stop the maritime influences, give the climate of the Coteaux-Varois-en-Provence a continental character, with harsh winters and hot, dry summers.
Bandol
Classified as an appellation d'origine contrôlée - AOC - since 1941, the vineyard extends over eight communes, whose terroir is sheltered by a marvellous amphitheatre of wooded hills, which slopes down to the sea in terraces. 180 vineyards work on 260 ha in Bandol. Mourvèdre, the king grape variety, which must represent at least 50% of the vines for the reds, has found its favourite territory here and produces full-bodied, tannic red wines for ageing, after an obligatory eighteen months in wood. The main grape varieties for the reds and rosés are Mourvèdre, Grenache and Cinsault, and for the whites, Ugni Blanc, Bourboulenc and Clairette.
4 terroir designations in the Var
Côtes-de-provence La Londe
After several years of work by the members of the La Londe winegrowers' association, with the support of the Côtes-de-Provence union, the La Londe terroir designation of the AOC Côtes-de-Provence has been recognised since May 2008. The vineyard of this terroir denomination is located at the coastal end, southwest of the Maures massif. Four communes (all or part) of the Var are included in the Côtes-de-Provence La Londe delimited area: Bormes-les-Mimosas, La Crau, Hyères and La Londe-les-Maures. Current production is 6,600 hectolitres (rosé and red), or approximately 900,000 bottles.
Côtes-de-provence Pierrefeu
The Cuers - Pierrefeu - Puget-Ville Winegrowers' Association, created in 2003 and grouping together 26 private wine cellars and 4 cooperative wine cellars, is delighted with the INAO's decision to officially recognise the "Pierrefeu" complementary geographical indication within the Côtes-de-Provence appellation in 2013. Twelve communes (all or part) are included in the Côtes-de-Provence Pierrefeu delimited area: Carnoules, Carqueiranne, Collobrières, Cuers, La Crau, La Farlède, La Garde, La Valette, Le Pradet, Pierrefeu, Puget-Ville and Solliès-Pont. The first bottles bearing the Côtes-de-Provence Pierrefeu appellation on their labels were produced with the 2013 harvest; current production is 5,100 hectolitres (rosé and red), or 680,000 bottles. Every year in May, gourmet walks are organised over three days. On the programme: a walk through the vineyards punctuated by gourmet stops and wine tastings with the winemakers, a great opportunity to discover the rosé and red vintages of the year.
Côtes-de-provence Dracénie
With nearly 100 estates, 9 cooperatives and 4 appellations, one of the highest estates in the Var, the Château de Lagarde, at an altitude of over 500 m in Figanières, and the village with the most wine estates in Provence in Lorgues, the Dracénie has been awarded the "Vignobles et Découvertes" label since 2017. It has 5 of the 19 classified growths in the Var: Domaine du Jas d'Esclan in La Motte, Château Roubine in Lorgues, Château de Saint-Martinet Château de Celle in Taradeau, Sainte-Roseline-aux-Arcs in particular. With a range of 15 to 1096 m altitude on its 27 communes, the domains of Dracénie are essentially located south of Draguignan at 80 % on Lorgues, Vidauban, La Motte, Les Arcs, Le Muy and Taradeau. The AOC Côtes-de-Provence area in Dracénie covers 11,160 ha with a production of more than 90,000 hl of an average of 80 % rosé, 10 % red and 10 % white, and a turnover of more than 16 million euros from the wine industry.
Côtes-de-provence Fréjus
At the end of a long process led by the association Vins et Terroir de Fréjus, with the support of the Côtes-de-Provence syndicate, the AOC Côtes-de-Provence Fréjus was recognised by the INAO by decree of the Minister of Agriculture on 5 October 2005. Located at the eastern end of the Côtes-de-Provence appellation, the Fréjus sector is drained from west to east by the coastal river Argens and its tributaries, and benefits from a direct opening onto the Mediterranean Sea. Eight communes - all or part - of the Var department are included in the delimited area of the Côtes-de-Provence-Fréjus appellation: Callas, Fréjus, La Motte, Le Muy, Puget-sur-Argens, Roquebrune-sur-Argens, Saint-Raphaël and Trans-en-Provence. The production is 500 hectolitres (rosé and red), i.e. approximately 70,000 bottles.
