Winegrowers’ Portraits Bormes les Mimosas
A little piece of heaven and divine wines
Rooted since four generations in the Provençal terroir of Château Malherbe, the Ferrari family cultivates exception. Heir of the fourth generation, Sébastien Ferrari, faithful to the tradition, also swims against the trend. He did not focus on rosé as unique wine, but balanced the production between the three colours, started the renovation of the vineyard, and improved the cellars, in the name of excellence!
He does not care about the craze for rosé. His dearest wish is “to pursue his family’s efforts to reach excellence during his chairmanship”. His requirements make the difference. “Our wines, stemming from ripe grapes and long vattings, are bottled later than most of the Côtes de Provence. The Rosé is not a panacea here, it also gives way to our historical white wine and our red ones, fruit of long work. In the name of quality, Château Malherbe assumes much lower yields than the average practiced in Provence. The vineyard is maintained in integrated farming and is certified organic.”
In the twenty-five hectares of this coastal domain, there are two distinct ensembles: the Pointe du Diable along the coast; and Malherbe on a gradual slope within the lands. Two soils, two identities. The “Pointe du Diable”, on the sandy alluvia mingled with quartz, with strong sunshine tempered by the breeze from the sea, gives birth to fine and iodized wines. Malherbe has a clay and schist terroir and produces wines worth to lay down, broad, solar with a beautiful minerality. Managed since 2006 by Arnaud Ferrier, technical manager, the vineyard of which the oldest stocks date back 1942 is subjected to an important work of tillage: the plots have been renewed by complantation and yearly deep ploughing was introduced.
In the cellar, the by-plot vinification was added with vinification per grape variety. Rolle and Sémillon for the white wines are separated; Grenache, Cinsault, Mourvèdre, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, for the production of red and rosé, also. Other peculiarity, Château Malherbe Rosé is vinified by bleeding to become, with its material on the palate, a wine to lay down and for gastronomy. All the rosé and white cuvées of the domain are aged on the lees. The white Malherbe ages in 600 litre barrels (demi-muids). The rosés and the Pointe du Diable are crafted in stainless steel vats that preserve their freshness. The red wines slowly develop in oak tuns.
The originality of these wines is also evidenced by the elegance of the packaging, in dark glass bottles to be protected from light, with a seal of red wax affixed to indicate the vintage with nobility. Sold at the estate on the land, or on sea at the pontoon where some privileged persons berth in summer, these divine vintages also flourish on the tables of great restaurants like Laurent or Jules Verne in Paris, Le Petit Nice in Marseille or Robuchon’s in Singapore … This family property between sky and sea, this little piece of heaven is worth a visit, let’s make an appointment!
Château Malherbe
83230 Bormes les Mimosas
Tél. +33 (0)4 94 64 80 11
www.chateau-malherbe.com
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