2025 Domaine Ott - Cotes de Provence Rose Chateau de Selle (750ml)

Marcel Ott, a young agronomy graduate from Alsace, arrived in Provence in 1896 and eventually purchased Château de Selle in 1912, his first estate and the birthplace of what would become Domaines Ott. At the time, phylloxera had recently devastated the region's vineyards, and Ott set about replanting with noble grape varieties, determined to prove Provence could produce serious, age-worthy dry rosé rather than the sweeter wines that had long dominated. Today, nearly 130 years later, cousins Christian and Jean-François Ott, the fourth generation, continue that work, backed since 2004 by parent company Louis Roederer, which funded a striking new gravity-fed winery at the estate in 2017, designed by Swedish architect Carl Fredrik Svenstedt.

Château de Selle sits on high limestone hills near Taradeau, its vineyards terraced across stony soils rich in gypsum, sandstone, and red clay. This rosé blends Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah, and Mourvèdre, vinified plot by plot in small vats before a brief period of skin contact and cool fermentation in stainless steel, a process meant to preserve freshness and the wine's delicate pale color.

The wine shows a pale, almost white-gold hue, with fresh floral notes of melon and rosemary lifted by crushed stone. The palate is tangy and energetic, with seashell minerality and a chalky, tactile finish. It pairs beautifully with oysters, grilled fish, or glazed monkfish.