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His Royal Highness Prince Félix of Luxembourg presented the latest wines from Château Les Crostes, his Provencal estate, at Tero House 17 in Luxembourg on Thursday the 23rd of February. Since 2013, with his wife, Princess Claire, they have been developing this château and its 55ha of vines. The wines, white, red, and especially rosé, from this estate located in Lorgues, are distributed in the Grand Duchy by Bernard Massard. Do you consider yourself a winemaker?
HRH Prince Félix: Today, if anyone asks me “what is your job?”, yes, I am a winegrower. It was only natural for me when we inherited the castle from my wife’s father. I’m an entrepreneur by nature and I think you have to take care of what you have. It’s such a joy to own such a beautiful estate! For the past seven and a half years, I have been working towards becoming a winemaker, especially with the help of our oenologist Ted Garin, who has taught me a lot, including a lot of technical knowledge.
What has been the hardest part of this learning process? What is your vision for the future of the estate?
HRH Prince Felix: Hard to say, I don’t know, but the biology, the physics, the reactions of the vine… it’s all so exciting that I didn’t consider it difficult.
And it’s important to have new ideas. Of course, we are thinking about organic, but it is very complicated to set up, it will take time, we are studying the question. We mustn’t forget that there are about twenty people in charge of the château and the vines and for that we can’t make any mistakes!
Is it complicated to produce a good rosé? What is your definition of a “good rosé”?
HRH Prince Félix: Unlike white or red wine, which fluctuate with the vintage, rosé is not a wine for which we expect many variations. We have to make the same rosé every year, so it is very important to be meticulous in the blending, there are many different codes to respect.
A good rosé is a balanced wine, with flavours, easy to drink, light, dry and fruity. It’s a wine that should give you “a buzz”, a wine that you want to share. Once the bottle is finished, you want to open another one. I think that today I produce what is my favourite rosé.
More information: www.chateau-les-crostes.com