Château Minuty

Château Minuty is the global leader in Côtes de Provence rosé, and beyond that it can be argued is the most important estate in the history of Provence rosé. The Saint-Tropez based, family owned estate has been, since its founding, one of the quality leaders for the region. Minuty then became one of the most visible producers in the second half of the 20th century, a result of quality production and commercial foresight when no one in the region could imagine the global phenomenon Provence rosé would become. And then in the last two decades, Minuty defined the vision for and led the unbelievable growth in Provence rosé around the globe.

One of the original 18 classified growths of Provence, Chateau Minuty has always been considered a quality leader for the region. Over decades it became the top selling rosé in its home of the French Riviera, where it abounds in leading beach clubs, restaurants and luxury retailers from Saint-Tropez to Monaco. From the winery, which its half a mile from the sea, you can actually see the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, dotted with sailboats and yachts. In the second half of the 20th century, Minuty created the elongated “Provencal bottle”, adopted by any number of other estates. If in the last 50 years you sat on the beach in the South of France, glass of rosé in hand, watching the blue of the sea and the blue of the sky play their game until sunset turned everything, yes, pink, you were almost certainly drinking Chateau Minuty.

In the last decade of the 20th century, Minuty made critical decisions in the vineyard that would come to define what is now seen as the style of Provence rosé. The first step came from the realization that the greatest plots in their vineyard were old Grenache. When handled with overwhelming gentleness, Grenache can produce wines of aromatic complexity as well as complex and deep flavors and body without tannin or aggressiveness. Minuty’s rigorous attention to viticulture, gentle handling of fruit (Minuty is the last regional estate to 100% hand harvest grapes), and preservation of aromatics and freshness, allows them to achieve their overall objective of producing wines of elegance, complexity and accessibility. It is hard to understate the freshness and total seamlessness of the wines. Minuty also utilizes from its Saint-Tropez vineyards small amounts of the local Tibouren grape, which imparts a distinct ocean salinity to the wines, as well.

Today, Minuty continues to push the quality envelope. They have followed through on their strong commitment to sustainable viticulture by quickly achieving the French government’s High Environmental Value certification for the estate’s biodiversity, farm management to limit inputs, and broader commitment to limiting environmental impact. All wines are strictly from the Côtes de Provence AOC and grown without the use of chemicals.

Above all, Minuty is defining what a great, luxury rosé should be. They are not interested in making more wine, and are not going outside of their Côtes de Provence home. With their Prestige, Rose et Or, and rare 281, they are putting greater and greater emphasis on making truly distinct and outstanding wines from their estate holdings. That is their vision of the future.