For the 2021 Château Malherbe Côtes de Provence Rouge, there are very few published professional critic reviews.
What is available:
- Community rating (Vivino): 4.2/5 for the 2021 vintage (about 60 ratings), making it one of the estate's highest-rated recent vintages on the platform.
Estate tasting notes (2021)
The winery describes the wine as:
- Blend: Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre
- Farming: Certified organic and biodynamic (Demeter)
- Aromas: Violet, elderberry, white pepper, licorice, and subtle wood smoke
- Palate: Fresh attack with violet and spice, silky tannins, and Mourvèdre providing depth and freshness
- Aging: 12 months on the lees, with maturation in 600-L demi-muids and 2,500-L foudres
- Alcohol: 14.5%
Community tasting profile
Across user reviews, the most common descriptors include:
- Blackberry and plum
- Cherry
- Leather
- Smoke
- Mushroom
- Rosemary, thyme, and other garrigue herbs
- Coffee and baking spice from oak
Overall assessment
Although it lacks broad coverage from international wine critics, the 2021 Château Malherbe Rouge appears to be a serious Provençal red with a strong reputation among experienced drinkers. A 4.2/5 Vivino score is roughly equivalent to a wine that many collectors would view as being in the 90–92 point quality range, though that is an interpretation of consumer sentiment rather than an official critic score.
Château Malherbe is above all the story of the Ferrari family.
The property was acquired in 1940 by Louis Ferrari, a textile industrialist of the Lyon region.
Then Maurice Arène, a child of a family of hyéroi horticulturists who became a famous florist in Paris, bought the property from the Ferraris, just after the war. In 1952, his only daughter Mireille, married Serge Ferrari, the grandson of the seller. In 1960, Mireille and Serge Ferrari, transformed the property into a 100% wine estate that gradually became a recognized estate in Provence.
