Saint-Roux one year on: How the New World can shape Provence wine tourism

db found out how Provence group MDCV is using New World inspiration to breathe life into its first organic estate, Château Saint-Roux.

(Photo: Saint-Roux)

In the summer of 2018, after two years of “intense” labour and investment to revive an abandoned farm and vineyard, Provence estate Château Saint-Roux opened its doors to the public.

The estate, currently the only full-organic winery within the MDCV stable, was “totally renovated,” according to a spokesperson in keeping with its original heritage, and an “uncompromising respect for the environment.”

“We are quite different,” the group’s CEO Sebastien Latz told db, “because we mix wine and tourism.”

The Saint-Roux estate obtained EU-certified organic classification not only for its vineyard, but also a 5,000 sq ft vegetable garden, and a small goat farm which the staff use to produce and sell cheese on-site. The vineyard is also lined by olive trees that are used to produce oil sold to locals.

When it came to bringing this concept of a farm-to-table estate to life, group sales director Anthony Carfantan said the group took inspiration from a winery in South Africa that had a similar brand identity.

“We’ve got goats, chicken & rabbits and everything that comes out of there comes from on the spot.”

The vineyard itself spans 85 acres around the village of Le Cannet des Maures with iron-rich clay and chalk soil.

Iron, according to the estate, acts as a catalyst for the growth of richly-aromatic grapes – a specificity that produces punchy wines. Planted in a windy corridor, the vines are naturally protected from disease and are therefore, like many estates in Provence, ideally suited to organic farming, something Latz has said is a “big ticket item” for the rosé group. It is the reason why the company is working to turn its vineyards over to organic production, first securing Saint-Roux’s certification earlier this year.

The estate offers six apartments, five bedrooms and a loft, overlooking the organic vineyards and the garden, reinforcing its earthy credentials.