AIX is the flagship rose of Maison Saint Aix, a 75-hectare Coteaux d'Aix estate built on Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault on limestone with mistral exposure. Pale, dry and saline, a serious entry to Aix rose for under twenty-five euros.
Tip: The magnum is the bottle to look for; AIX Rose holds its freshness across a long lunch and the larger format slows the chill loss on a terrace.
Chateau Routas's Coteaux Varois rose is the easy-drinking value play from the cooler inland Var, built on Grenache and Syrah with a splash of Cinsault. Pale, dry and freshly fruited at an everyday price, well under twenty euros.
Tip: Coteaux Varois sits at slightly higher altitude than the coastal AOCs, so the rose tends to hold acidity better; serve well chilled with grilled fish.
The entry rose of Chateau Leoube, an organic Cotes de Provence estate on the seaward coast at Bormes-les-Mimosas. Pale, citrus-driven and dry, the affordable expression of the estate's certified-organic Cotes de Provence rose at under twenty euros.
Tip: Look for the Secret de Leoube; the higher-priced La Londe and Rose de Leoube cuvees climb fast but the entry bottling carries the same organic-farming pedigree.
Symphonie is the Cru Classe entry rose of Chateau Sainte Marguerite, a 1955-classified Cotes de Provence estate at La Londe. Pale, fresh and structured at twenty to twenty-five euros, the most affordable way into Provence's Cru Classe roster.
Tip: The Sainte Marguerite Symphonie is sold at most French wine merchants; ask for the magnum format if you can find it for the same wine with slower ageing in bottle.
Mas de Cadenet farms on the limestone foothills beneath Mont Sainte-Victoire and bottles a Cotes de Provence Sainte-Victoire rose that captures the cooler-night signature of the sub-appellation. Dry, savoury and tense at under twenty euros.
Tip: The Sainte-Victoire sub-AOC sits at higher altitude than the coastal Cotes de Provence; the resulting rose is a touch leaner and longer-lived than the Saint-Tropez style.
Rouvier is the Coteaux Varois red of Chateau Routas, built on Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon with Grenache fleshing out the mid-palate. Approachable Provençal red at supermarket prices, well under twenty euros.
Tip: Coteaux Varois reds are the least-known face of Provence; this is the inexpensive way to taste the cooler inland Var alongside the appellation's better-known rose.
Cassis Blanc from one of the appellation's reference estates, the cliff-edge Clos Sainte Magdeleine. Marsanne and Clairette make a dry, saline, citrus-driven white that drinks with grilled rouget and bouillabaisse for around twenty-five euros at the cellar.
Tip: The Cassis cellars sell at producer prices; for the best value, buy at the Clos Sainte Magdeleine domaine on the road out toward the corniche, where the view is the dividend.