June 6, 2022 – Chateau Routas (Coteaux Varois en Provence) is pleased to announce the appointment of Fabrice Grossmann as winemaker. A native of Toulon, Fabrice grew up in beautiful Aix-en-Provence surrounded by a Provençal region rich with biodiversity, vineyards and culture. His appointment comes as the estate celebrates 30 years of fine winemaking. Fabrice Grossmann follows Jean Louis Bavay, who was with Chateau Routas over three decades as winemaker.
Says Routas owner Keith Murray, “We are delighted to welcome Fabrice to Routas. He’s an exceptionally talented winemaker deeply knowledgeable about our unique terroir and region, with a passionate love for the natural world.”
Originally studying world history, Fabrice became intrigued about wine after harvesting grapes for the first time at the age of 19. Serious training began in 2003 at Domaine de la Brillane, close to Aix-en-Provence. In 2003 he passed the BPREA (Le Brevet Professionnel Responsable d’Enterprise Agricole) at the Institut Chimie Oenologie Provence (ICOP) in viticulture and continued his studies there, passing the BTS Viticulture-Oenology degree (Le Brevet de Technicien Supérieur) in 2007.
After completing his studies, he worked with organic vintner Peter Fischer at Chateau Revelette in Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence. Then for 11 years, he worked at the neighboring Chateau Vignelaure (also organic), where he assisted both the vineyard manager and winemaker. Fabrice left the position there to work at Domaine du Vallon des Glauges, close to Les Alpilles as cellar master, before finding his dream position at Chateau Routas. At Routas he looks forward to enhancing a shared vision with the Murray family of building upon the sustainable practices already in place while soon converting the estate to organic farming.
ABOUT CHATEAU ROUTAS
In 2005, Scottish entrepreneur Sir David Murray and his son Keith Murray took ownership of the chateau and the 642-acre property. In addition to being managing partner of Chateau Routas, Keith Murray manages all wine investments for both Wine Importers (Edinburgh) Ltd and Cockburns of Leith, which are also Murray Capital portfolio companies.
After the Murrays undertook a meticulous replanting program,135 acres are under vine. The array of soils upon the high-altitude region coupled with thirty years of savior-faire, gives Routas the ability to produce excellent estate wines with consistency.
Diverse soil variation drives grape complexity as well as visual aesthetics. Some vineyard plots are red as crushed brick, while others are of a crumbly grey limestone mixed with bright red stones that bleach in the hot summer sun. All of this is surrounded by an array of red poppies, sunflowers, wild thyme and lavender against a backdrop of majestic mountains and a forest bordering the vines, brimming with Aleppo pines and plant diversity.
The sustainably-farmed estate is nestled between the old town elegance of Aix-en-Provence and the white sand beaches that line the Gulf de Saint-Tropez.
Their renowned Rosé and Viognier consistently deliver quality at an approachable price of $15 (£10), with 300,000 bottles produced annually.
