The south,
with restraint.
Old vines, native varieties, sea winds and ancient soils. The Mediterranean, not as a single flavour profile, but as a mosaic of rugged landscapes and shared sensibilities, producing wines of salinity, tension and unexpected precision.
Too often the Mediterranean south is reduced to a single idea: ripe, generous, powerful. The producers in this section tell a different story. From Roussillon's wind-scoured schist slopes to the volcanic hillsides of Sicily, from Languedoc's ancient Carignan vines to the luminous limestone plateaux of Provence, these are wines shaped as much by altitude, wind and restraint as by the sun itself. Organic and biodynamic farming throughout. Native varieties throughout. A commitment to freshness, salinity and site definition that reframes what southern France and Sicily can be.
One of the defining estates of contemporary Roussillon.
Olivier Pithon left Bordeaux, Beaujolais and Jurançon to settle in the small village of Calce, drawn by its singular landscape and its potential to produce wines of freshness and finesse in a region too often associated with sheer power. His domaine sits at around 300 metres, on an extraordinary mosaic of schist, marl, clay and limestone, swept for much of the year by the powerful Tramontane wind. Farmed organically from the beginning and biodynamically since 2010, the twenty hectares of old-vine Grenache, Carignan, Macabeu and Grenache Gris produce wines that balance Mediterranean generosity with a mineral precision that genuinely surprises.
A cultural project built around the Mediterranean itself.
Founded by Antoine Isenbrandt and Athénaïs de Béru, Mare Nostrum Vini is not a single estate but a shared vision : a project dedicated to the landscapes and heritage of the Mediterranean basin. Working across coastal vineyards in Roussillon, Languedoc and Sicily, the project sources from historic native varieties grown near the sea and shaped by the region's defining climatic forces. Each cuvée takes its name from a local wind, anchoring the wine to its place of origin. Hand harvested, slow élevage in amphora, barrel or glass vessels. Wines of genuine coastal character.
Mediterranean classicism, grounded in freshness.
Situated near the village of Carcès in the heart of Provence, Château Sainte-Croix has cultivated vines since the early twentieth century. The estate draws on the region's Mediterranean climate, limestone soils and the cooling influence of the mistral to produce wines defined by balance rather than weight. Farmed organically, with temperature-controlled fermentation and gentle élevage that preserves fruit purity and aromatic clarity. Their Charmeur Rosé captures exactly what great Provençal rosé should be : elegant, precise, a pleasure to pour.