Provence Bevond Rosé

White-wine specialists are crafting some of the region's most interesting wines

- KRISTEN BIELER

Provence is correctly famous for rosé. Approximately nine out of 10 bottles from this sun-drenched Mediterranean region sport some shade of pink (although some are so pale it can be hard to tell).

But Provence’s rosé reputation obscures the reality that some of its best wines are white. While many rosé-focused estates produce a small amount of white wine (and some of them are great), in general the finest examples come from white-wine specialists. These are small producers handcrafting wines with white grape varieties historically tied to their place of origin, often employing Burgundian techniques like barrel fermentation and extended lees aging. Anyone who loves complex, mineral-driven white wines with savory density and the ability to age should be seeking these out.

“White is the second color of Provence, and with vines grown on terraces in clay and limestone soils with the strong influence of the Mediterranean, we can achieve wines that are refreshing and also show depth,” says Jonathan Sack, fourth generation winemaker at Clos Ste.-Magdeleine in Cassis, whose family has owned the estate for over a century. “We’ve made white wines since the beginning; it lets us show Provence in another way.”

Few appellations in the world are as picturesque as Cassis, nestled between rugged limestone cliffs and the blue Mediterranean sea, just east of Marseille. Unlike the rest of Provence, Cassis is dedicated to white wines, which represent over 70% of its production. Like most vintners here, Sack uses primarily Marsanne, Clairette and Ugni Blanc (there are seven permitted varieties) and his wines are among Cassis’ best: dry, dense and marked by herbs, honeyed notes and salinity.