Fabre en Provence

As winemaker, Henri Fabre Jr. likes to puts it, “on est né dans le vin.” Translated, this means “we were born in wine”, and after 17 generations producing in the same town, we can certainly grasp his meaning! Famous for helping create the Côtes de Provence AOC and omnipresent in the French marketplace, the Fabre family has been an icon in the south of France for nearly a century. After the estate’s official creation in 1920, Henri Fabre Sr. acquired Château de la Clapière (1928) and Château de L’Aumérade (1932), quickly morphing into one of the region’s most dynamic and stylish producers. Today, the Fabre family produces France’s best-selling, most spectacular estate grown rosés, including 2 of the region’s highly coveted 18 Cru Classés.

While Fabre en Provence is now the largest family-run estate in Southern France, with 550 hectares under vine, what is most striking about their operation is how hands-on they remain, and how their philosophy rivals a small, boutique estate. No expense is spared, and yields remain 10 times lower than most corporations. Likewise, everyone in the family plays a daily role, and together they treat each of their 6 domaines as its own destination. Most proudly, the Fabres are their nation’s largest producer of cru classé (the “best of the best" rosé), with 112 hectares planted. As a result, their surname has become synonymous with Provence.

Forming one third of the renowned ‘Triangle d’Or’ (with nearby Cuers and Puget-Ville), the village of Pierrefeu-du-Var is home to the family’s flagship Château de L’Aumérade and sits just 20 minutes inland from the Mediterranean Sea. Grapes for the Côtes de Provence blend come from three separate terroirs: 50% from this same site in Pierrefeu, with its calcareous soils that impart spiciness and Provence’s world-class acidity; 30% from the cool, seaside vineyards in La Londe, providing distinct aromas of rose petals and sea salt; 20% from Hyères, noted for its sandstone soils and Mistral winds. Here, ripening is longer, helping to create a beautifully structured, viscous mouth feel.