What We're Drinking Now: Chateau Tremouries Rouge
We discovered Château Trémouriès off the windy back roads from Bormes les Mimosa just before reaching St. Tropez. A gate with intercom welcomed us at the opening to the entrance. When we pushed the button, an older gentleman mumbled, 'what do you want?'. We responded and several moments passed before the gate opened for us.
The man who greeted us seemed to be in his 60's or 70's and he led us slowly up the winding staircase to the tasting room located atop the old castle that was on property. Open bottles were spread across the table in this room but our host was adamant about opening new bottles for us.
The wine was fantastic! For the reds, you could tell they were crafted with care and were carefully blended for a fully pleasing tasting experience. In addition, they release their wines later than most from Côtes de Provence and the current offering was a 2007. With each sip, these wines left my palate yearning for one more drop of juice.
After talking with our host over a couple of glasses of wine, we learned he was related to the owner of the winery and had been living on property during his vacation from the States. He explained the fascinating history of this property as well. The castle on property was originally a Knight's Templar stronghold during the Crusades that had survived many attacks. Much later the Château produced silk through the presence of silkworms eating through the three mulberry trees growing next to the castle, thus the name Château Trémouriès (three mulberry trees).
We ended up having a great time and highly recommend this to anyone who is traveling near St. Tropez through the vineyards of Provence.