Bouches-du-Rhone is the IGP title for wines made in the administrative department of the same name on the southern coast of France. Bouches-du-Rhone lies within the Provence wine region, and is also home to the more-famous AOC regions Coteaux Aix-en-Provence and Les Baux de Provence. Because of the AOC’s restrictive laws and fierce loyalty to the traditional grape varieties, many of the IGP wines – which are made from a wider pool of grape varieties – are considered among the department’s best.
The boundaries of Bouches-du-Rhone are mostly geographical: the Durance river delimits the north, while the Rhone river (flowing south from the Rhone Valley wine region) makes up a portion of the western border. A swampy wetland area known as the Carmargue lies in the very southwestern corner of the department, on the western side of the river. The Mediterranean makes up the southern border.
© Wikimedia/Henri Bergius
The combination of climate and geography makes Bouches-du-Rhone well suited to viticulture and grapes have been grown here for thousands of years. While there is an array of different landscapes, from rocky limestone hills to vast plains, soils tend to be poor, free draining, and made up of anything from limestone clay to gravel and sandstone. A lack of water in the soils leads vines to produce more concentrated grapes, leading to more concentrated, flavorful wines.
This effect is exacerbated by the department's dry Mediterranean climate. Mild winters are followed by hot, dry summers with cooling influences provided by the Mistral wind from the north. Rain comes mainly in the form of sudden storms in spring and autumn. This said, cooler mesoclimates exist, particularly in the higher-altitude areas where there is a greater diurnal temperature variation.
Most IGP production takes place around the town of Aix-en-Provence in the northeast of the department, although the one sub-region specified in the law, the Terre de Carmargue, lies in the southwest.
The Bouches-du-Rhone IGP title provides growers with a wide list of permitted grape varieties. The Bordeaux stablemates of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot do well in the terroir here, but are excluded from any of the AOC wines. Many excellent examples are instead made under the Bouches-du-Rhone IGP designation. Traditional Mediterranean grape varieties like Grenache, Cinsaut and Mourvedre are also used widely, particularly in rosé wines, which make up about half of production.
The departmental classification was previously known as Vin de Pays des Bouches-du-Rhone. However, after a short crossover period, the Vin de Pays category of French wine has been renamed as Indication Géographique Protégée, bringing it closer in line with European Union labeling practices.
