By Ott Cotes De Provence Rose 2020 1.5 L

The nose is as shy as the wine is pale. All about this is subtle: tender red fruit, tender lemon freshness all bedded in a most subtle structure. This just is lightness bottled – a barely-there wine as light and bright as a summer breeze, yet there is zesty length.

Producer Information
Domaines Ott is a wine producer based in the south of France and the producer of some of the most prestigious rosé wines in Provence. The domaine is made up of three estates: Clos Mireille, Château Romassan and Château de Selle, and covers wines falling under both the Bandol and Côtes de Provence appellations. Being Provence, rosé makes up an important proportion of the domaine’s wines, and is made from classic Mediterranean varieties like Grenache, Mourvèdre, Cinsaut and Syrah. Domaines Ott also produce several red and white wines across the appellations and the estates. A fourth line, By.Ott, was added recently and comprises a rosé, white and red wine made in the refurbished Château de Selle winery. The estate was founded by Alsatian Marcel Ott, who arrived in Provence in 1896 and began buying vineyards in the post-phylloxera period when vineyard land was reasonably cheap. The three estates were added over the course of the 20th Century: Château de Selle was acquired in 1912, Clos Mireille in 1936, and finally, Château Romassan in 1956. Each of the three estates makes two wines, and all are bottled in the distinctively shaped bottles which represent the undulating landscape of Provence. Château de Selle is the most inland of Ott’s estates, found in Taradeau, in the Var department. The 14 hectares (34 acres) vineyards are planted on terraced slopes on soils that are a mixture of gypsum, red clay, sandstone, gravel and stone with some chalk. It makes a red wine and a rosé, both from a blend of varieties planted in the vineyard, which include Grenache, Cinsaut, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. Clos Mireille and Château Romassan are both located on the coast, the latter in the Bandol AOC (appellation). Romassan makes rosé and red wines under the Bandol AOC from Mourvèdre, mainly, with some Grenache. Clos Mireille, which is close enough to the ocean to feel the influence of sea spray, makes Domaines Ott’s flagship rosé, from Grenache, Cinsaut and Syrah. This vineyard also produces a white wine, made from Semillon and Rolle.