Домейнс Отт

Кот дьо Прованс · Франция

A young agricultural engineer from Alsace named Marcel Ott set out in search of his first vineyards. The search would take him as far as the dry lands of Algeria, but his wife Elisabeth finally persuaded him to settle in Provence. With the Mediterranean just a stone's throw away, the wine region is breathtakingly beautiful. The year was 1896. Before acquiring Château de Selle in 1912, Marcel Ott came to know every aspect of this ancient and many-sided wine region. Determined to produce fine Provençal wines from noble grape varieties, he set about transforming the estate step by step. Clos Mireille and Château Romassan, acquired in 1936 and 1956 respectively, would later receive the same care and attention. A visionary in many respects, Marcel used his expertise to introduce sustainable viticulture and winemaking practices, combined with yield control, which would become core practices for the generations that followed. This vision of making little but making it well, still alive today, established Marcel as the first producer to demonstrate the excellence of the wines of Provence. 1932 marked a turning point in the identity of Domaines Ott. Marcel Ott entrusted his son René with the design of a distinctive bottle, which he initially hoped would be adopted by all Provençal winemakers. In the end, however, this emblematic bottle came to be used solely by the Ott family and remains one of the symbols of the house. Marcel Ott soon turned his attention to the international market. In 1933, after the end of Prohibition, the first bottles of Château de Selle red and rosé were exported to the United States. They were an immediate success, and other countries were soon won over by the unprecedented quality of these wines from Provence. Careful, sustainable, organic viticulture and winemaking have always been practised across the estates. In keeping with an ethos built on craftsmanship and an individual approach, the family uses biodynamically inspired practices that go beyond the requirements of current sustainable and organic farming standards.