SITE AND SOIL

Les "COTEAUX D'AZUR" prestige of the Bandol appellation

   Located on a soil where wine-growing traditions go back to antiquity, La Roque vineyard produces exclusively AOC BANDOL wines. In fact, it is from this region that Phoenician ships used to get their supplies of wine. Many material and handwritten traces were found in the antique Greek-Roman colony of Tauroentum, whose ruins still dominate St-Cyr-sur-Mer.

   La Roque vineyards stretch over six communes of the Bandol AOC: La Cadière, le Castellet, St-Cyr-sur-mer, le Beausset, Ollioules, and Sanary.

  Benefiting from an exceptional microclimate, they are limited by a large cirque of hills open to the Midi and south-west winds and favoring aeration and maximum sun exposure (over 3.000 hours per year, the loveliest sunshine in Côte d'Azur). Hemmed in by a large and natural amphitheatre of mountains (Ste Baume at 1100 m., Mont Caume at 800 m) and surrounded by hills rising 400 m., the vineyard goes down in terraces (the "restanques") all the way to the sea, facing due south. Wildlife is preserved with its complexity and contributes to ecological balance. The surrounding aromatic species (pine bouquets, scrublands and vines living in symbiosis) confer to the grape a wide range of characteristic scents.

   Nearly the entire area of production is located on silico-chalky soils of the Late Cretaceous period (Santonian, Coniacian, Valdonian); only a small part of the vineyard is situated on Triassic slopes of Canadeau and Télégraphe islets and on chalky scree of the Cenozoic, Jurassic and Lias periods.

  "COTEAUX D'AZUR" can pride itself on converting into red and rosé exclusively three noble grapes of the appellation: mourvèdre (over 60%), cinsaut and grenache. As for the whites, they are composed of ugni, clairette and sauvignon. While whites and rosés are matured for six months, special attention is paid to reds that stand long aging and will acquire a part of their maturity by settling for 18 months in oak tuns. No chaptalization for " Coteaux d'Azur " wines. The microclimate allows the production of authentic vintages strictly limited to 40 HL/ha. Grape-gathering is entirely manual.

   "COTEAUX D'AZUR", prestige of the Bandol appellation, occupies a privileged position at the Appellation level and benefits from an impeccable reputation thanks to the superior quality of its wines.