Château Les Valentines
Not far from the picturesque towns of Nice and Saint-Tropez, the owners of Château Les Valentines, Gilles and Pascale Pons, produce wines that reflect the summery lightness and intense sensuality of the beautiful Provence countryside.
Ever since the two owners turned their backs on the IT industry in Paris in 1997, they have dedicated their hearts and souls to the wines of Château Les Valentines. The estate is more than a century old and was recently extended by a modern building. The château and one of its wines are named after the two children Valentin and Clémentine. The former owners were so-called grape growers who sold their grapes to the local cooperative for further processing.
Rosé wines from Château Les Valentines
from Château Les Valentines
Located above the vast bay by La Londe-les-Maures, in the AOC Côtes de Provence, 35 hectares are planted with Ecocert-certified organic Cinsault, Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Carignan, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tibouren, Rolle, Clairette and Ugni Blanc. These are old vines at an average age of 30 years. They produce rosé cuvées such as the elegant and mineral Château Les Valentines and Le Caprice de Clémentine, its fruity and delicate little brother. The Pons family vinify a total of 75% of their grapes into rosé wines, 20% into red wine and 5% into white wine.
The vines enjoy a spectacular view of the Mediterranean Sea and the offshore island Hyères. They grow right at the foot of the Massif des Maures, just a few kilometres from the beaches of the Côte d’Azur. It would seem that Gilles and Pascale have perfectly captured this spirit of yearning in a glass. Their wines embody the liquid essence of this landscape and the Mediterranean climate: more than 300 days of sunshine per year, a cool blowing mistral, the Mediterranean Sea, the mountains in the background and a barren, rocky soil form a unique terroir. These conditions result in relatively low yields, but provide a much higher quality. And you can taste it. Santé!
For more details on the winery, please visit www.lesvalentines.com.
Producer
Bonvin
High above Sion, on the Clos du Château, is the heart of the oldest wine trading house in Valais – today's winery Charles Bonvin SA. The view sweeps over the wide Rhone valley, meets the two castle hills of Tourbillon and Valère and grazes on the magnificent Valais vine landscape with its countless terraces.
Sacchetto
For over a hundred years, the Sacchetto family has devoted itself to winemaking with passion. The winery is led by the siblings Beatrice and Paolo, together with the people who work alongside them and help shape its identity. They all share one vision: to create wines that express their origin – and tell a story.
Weingut Nicolussi-Leck
The Kreithof, as the ancestral estate is known, is located near the idyllic Lake Caldaro in South Tyrol (Alto Adige) and has been cultivated by the Nicolussi-Leck family since 1915. Standing guard over it are the medieval ruins of Leuchtenburg Castle, which – like the estate – dates back to the 13th century and was presumably also associated with nearby Laimburg Castle in the Etsch Valley.