Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Rolle

Food pairings: Sea bass carpaccio or sea bream ceviche with olive oil and citrus, roast chicken with preserved lemon and fresh herbs, burrata with white peach, and light desserts such as a red-berry tartlet or pavlova with raspberries and blood orange.

Winemaking: The grapes are pressed directly, and the juice ferments cold. Vinification and maturation take place in stainless steel and concrete vats, and the wine rests for several weeks on its fine lees before bottling. In the blend, Grenache brings roundness, delicacy and subtle aromas, Syrah power and color, Cinsault finesse and fruit, and a touch of Rolle adds freshness.

Vineyards and terroir: Roseblood is grown in the Coteaux Varois en Provence appellation, in the heart of "limestone Provence", on hillsides at about 350 to 400 meters. The soils are mostly clay and limestone, with red earth and patches of gravel and flint, and the climate has mild continental influences: often gentle springs and autumns, sometimes torrid summers, and colder, harsher winters than elsewhere in Provence. The terroir gives the wine its expression, freshness, balance and minerality.

Winery history: Château d'Estoublon lies at the foot of the Alpilles near Fontvieille. In 1489 the estate, then known as "Le Grand Mas", was bought by the de Grille family, part of the nobility of Arles; the château was destroyed during the capture of Les Baux-de-Provence in 1561 and rebuilt from 1642, and in 1674 the family became Marquis d'Estoublon. The first olive mill was built in 1731, and Estoublon's olive oils are still among the most renowned of the Vallée des Baux-de-Provence. The Schneider family bought the château in 1998, and in 2020 it was acquired by entrepreneur Stéphane Courbit in partnership with the Prats family of Bordeaux; Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and Nicolas Sarkozy are also among its owners. The new owners created Roseblood d'Estoublon as the estate's emblematic cuvée. Since May 2023 the technical director has been Victor Joyeux, an agricultural engineer and oenologist who worked in France, California, Argentina and Australia before eight years as winemaker at Cloudy Bay in New Zealand.

In the pictures: Technical director Victor Joyeux in the vines (photo courtesy of Château d'Estoublon via its US importer Vintus); Château d'Estoublon and its formal gardens (photo: Cloowiki, 2024, CC0); and vines on the Estoublon estate in the Alpilles (photo: Renée Kemps, courtesy of Château d'Estoublon).