The Wine Routes of Europe · Route 06
Rhône · Provence · Côte d'Azur
Sun, Syrah & the Sea — Southern France in Full Colour
The Route
Sun, Syrah & the Sea — Southern France in Full Colour
Three pleasures in one arc: the muscular Syrah of the northern Rhône, the sun-baked Grenache blends and lavender hills of the south, and the glamour of the Côte d'Azur to finish. The famous appellations anchor it; the small growers make it memorable.
A History in the Glass
Rhône · Provence · Côte d'Azur, across the centuries.
This is where French wine begins. Around 600 BC, Greek settlers from Asia Minor founded a trading city on the Mediterranean coast and planted vines behind it — making Provence, by a wide margin, the oldest wine region in France. Everything else in the country descends from that beachhead. The Romans expanded it enormously, and cut the first terraces into the brutal granite slopes of the northern Rhône, where they remain the only way to farm ground too steep for anything but hand work.
The southern Rhône's fame is medieval and papal. When the papacy relocated to Avignon in the fourteenth century, the popes planted and drank the wines of the surrounding plain, and built a summer residence among the vines — the 'new castle of the pope' that gave the appellation its name. The ruined tower still stands over the vineyards, and the region became, six centuries later, the first in France to codify strict appellation rules that the entire national system was then built upon.
Rosé is the quiet story. For most of history, the pale wine of Provence was simply how the region drank — unserious, local, drunk young in the sun. Only in the last three decades has it become a global category worth billions, and only recently has the trade begun to notice that Provence also makes deeply serious, age-worthy reds and rosés from Mourvèdre on the coast, which comprehensively overturn the assumption that pink wine cannot be profound.
Sommelier Notes
The terraces of the northern Rhône were cut by the Romans and are still worked by hand. Standing on that granite, looking down at the river, with a glass of steep-slope Syrah — that is when guests understand why these wines cost what they do.
Head Sommelier — Northern Rhône programme
Provence is the oldest wine region in France — the Greeks planted here six centuries before anywhere else. Tasting serious coastal Mourvèdre that ages for decades overturns, in one glass, everything guests thought they knew about rosé.
Wine Director — Private client travel
Interesting Facts
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Greek settlers planted vines in Provence around 600 BC — it is the oldest wine region in France by roughly six centuries.
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The terraced slopes of the northern Rhône were first cut by the Romans and are still worked entirely by hand.
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Châteauneuf-du-Pape is named for the fourteenth-century papal court at Avignon; the ruined papal summer residence overlooks the vines.
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The appellation's famous rounded pebbles absorb the day's heat and radiate it back to the vines overnight.
Things That Make This Region Extraordinary
Six reasons this route is unlike any other.
Greek settlers planted vines in Provence around 600 BC — it is the oldest wine region in France by roughly six centuries.
The terraced slopes of the northern Rhône were first cut by the Romans and are still worked entirely by hand.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape is named for the fourteenth-century papal court at Avignon; the ruined papal summer residence overlooks the vines.
The appellation's famous rounded pebbles absorb the day's heat and radiate it back to the vines overnight.
The southern Rhône pioneered the strict appellation rules on which the entire French AOC system was later modelled.
Coastal Mourvèdre from Provence produces reds and rosés that age for decades — the strongest argument against pink wine being unserious.
In the Glass
What you will be drinking.
Steep-slope Syrah of real gravity in the north; generous Grenache-led blends in the south; then pale, precise rosé tasted at source among the vines — and the coastal Mourvèdre that quietly re-educates anyone who thinks they know what rosé is.
Grapes
Syrah + Grenache + rosé
Character
Wine + Mediterranean
The arc from Syrah to Grenache to the sea is the most complete southern French journey we offer. The ruined papal tower at Châteauneuf, the galets underfoot, and a closing dinner on the Côte d'Azur — incentive groups never forget it.
Cellar Master — Southern Rhône grand cru tasting
The Journey
How the days unfold.
A long, deliberate arc from France's gastronomic capital down the river and east into the light: terraced granite, a ruined papal tower, hilltop villages, lavender in season, olive groves, a market morning and a vineyard picnic — closing with a glamorous dinner by the sea.
Best suited to
Mixed-interest luxury groups
Duration
7 days / 6 nights
When to go
May–Jun · Sep
More to know
Further facts from the route.
The southern Rhône pioneered the strict appellation rules on which the entire French AOC system was later modelled.
Coastal Mourvèdre from Provence produces reds and rosés that age for decades — the strongest argument against pink wine being unserious.
Continue exploring
The other nine routes across Europe.
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