We had the lucky fortune to return to the Provence to visit this year’s edition of the Just Rosé Festival & to discover new Rosé treasures in the South of France!
One of the highlights of our trip was visiting the winery & vineyards of Château Léoube one of our favorite discoveries from last year's Just Rosé Festival. The winegrower genius behind these great Rosés, Romain Ott welcomed us and made the day a truly wonderful experience.
A little background history about Romain Ott and his wines: As the son of a winemaker from the legendary winemaking family for four generations, the Ott family of the famous Domaines Ott, he is responsible for all the wines of Château Léoube. As a agricultural engineer, who specializes in oenology, Romain Ott has been passionately committed to the identity of Léoube since 2000. "Producing the best of what the earth can give with love and gratitude..." is his philosophy. He creates wine with the utmost respect for traditions and the product itself. Using only the healthiest best grapes for the highest quality and to ensure consistency of his wines. His own style, as he emphasized, is extremely important. The Rosés of Léoube are "An authentic, precise, fine, balanced and elegant wine, dedicated to the enjoyment of every moment," as Romain describes. His wines have a round acidity and a great minerality due to its direct location by the sea and the fresh sea breezes. The Rosés have a slight creaminess and an impressive finish.
(click here for the Leóube Rosés)
We arrived at the winery around 10.30 to a very warm welcome. Romain personally drove us in his white Land Rover through the vineyards and informed us about the organic cultivation of the vines. In some areas soil is removed before planting with new vines, in order to eliminate unwanted soil layers and at the same time to level the surface. The main reason for this is that the vines receive each the same amount of water and to avoid that individual vines stand in depressions or puddles. We have seen how much precision and attention to detail Romain cultivates and nurtures the terraces. In the vineyard starts the work necessary for the absolute top quality of the wines. Romain stands for the old wisdom: great ingredients make great products.
After the tour through the vines, Romain droves us up a small mountain with a chapel, from where we had a great view of the sea. There was a stiff breeze, which was ok at pleasant temperatures around 23 degrees. We got a great overview of the vineyard located in the nature reserve. We could also see the private beach of Château Léoube. Before heading over to Léoube’s beach restaurant for lunch, we toured the wine cellar. Here like everywhere at Léoube quality is top priority. New machines all shiny and polished ready for the coming harvest.
During a relaxed lunch in the sun with Romain, we talked a little bit about the Rosé world and new trends. For the pairing of the delicious fresh caught fish in the Léoube beach restaurant, we had a perfectly matched bottle of "Secret de Léoube". The love for detail and the uncompromising quality of the vines and grapes can be tasted in all Léoube Rosés. It was a truly special day and we will never forget the wonderful hospitality we received from Romain Ott. We will definitely be enjoying Léoube wines for years to come!
Cheers,
Julian & Nicole
Click Here for the Leóube Rosés
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