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"So far in our rosé series, we’ve recounted the pink hue’s travels from France to Portugal, and then finally to the U.S. But today, we’re heading back to where the phenomenon all began: Provence.
Well, sort of. Our story today actually begins in 19th-century Alsace, where there was an agricultural engineer by the name of Marcel Ott who wanted to pursue a career in wine. He and his wife, Elizabeth, bounced around from France to Algeria before finally landing in Provence in 1896 — right in the midst of the phylloxera epidemic. A few years later, the pest issue was largely under control, and Ott established Château de Selle, which went on to become one of the most famous châteaus in the region.
While other wine-producing countries started crafting rosés of their own over the following 100-plus years, Provence was the region that became synonymous with the style. And on this episode of “Wine 101,” we’re going to discuss how it did so. Tune in for more."
