Côtes de Provence

The 20,000 ha/50,000 acres of vineyard is by far the most significant appellation in Provence, although the sites vary enormously. The appellation applies to a large part of the Var département (other than the enclave entitled to the Coteaux Varois appellation) from the subalpine hills above Draguignan, cooled by the influence of the mountains to the north, to the coast at St-Tropez, the epitome of a Mediterranean wine zone. But it also includes pockets of hotter terrain between Cassis and Bandol, and land immediately south and east of the Palette appellation near Aix-en-Provence. The appellation even encompasses a tiny isolated area of vines at Villars-sur-Var high up in the mountains 40 km/25 miles north of Nice in the Alpes-Maritimes département.