Provence rosé specialist Château Sainte Marguerite has unveiled an ambitiously priced line-up of three high-end wines, its first new range since being acquired by Pernod Ricard in 2022 – and CEO Olivier Fayard is just as keen to talk about the white and the red as he is the rosé. Richard Woodard reports. Provence rosé has been arguably the greatest wine industry success story of the past decade, its elegant bottles and pale pink hues making household names of the likes of Whispering Angel, Château d’Esclans and Miraval – and spawning a host of me-too takes on the style from Argentina to Australia. As demand – and prices – have soared, properties have changed hands, with Moët Hennessy snapping up d’Esclans, Minuty and Galoupet – and Pernod Ricard taking a controlling stake in Château Sainte Marguerite in 2022. Two of the big questions following the Pernod acquisition revolved around the potential to create new ranges under the Sainte Marguerite banner, and whether the new owner would make more – or less – of the property’s white and red wines. The new Marguerites en Provence collection answers both questions. As with the Fantastique range created five years ago, there’s a rosé (2023 vintage, 15,000 bottles), a white (2022; 4,000 bottles) and a red (2021, less than 15,000 bottles), but this time the pricing is rather more ambitious, spanning €55 (rosé) to €65 (red and white). Compare that to Fantastique: €30 (rosé) to €38 (red and white). The aim of the new
This Article was originally published on The Drink Business - Fine Wine
