Trois Filles: the three daughters of the pink house

Nine hectares of vines in Les Lauves, and for years the whole harvest went to the cooperative. Then the eldest daughter suggested making the wine themselves. Since 2013 Audrey, Léonie and Justine Arlon have made their own wines with their parents, in a house painted pink. We carry two of them: a Bandol rosé and a Côtes de Provence.

How grape growers became a winery

Les Lauves is a district of La Cadière-d'Azur. The name comes from the large limestone slabs that break through the ground there. Among old olive trees and broom, Madame and Monsieur Arlon grew vines, almost all of them in the Bandol appellation, and delivered the grapes to the cooperative.

Audrey, the eldest of the three daughters, studied agriculture. She then worked for three years in Chile and Bordeaux and became cellar master at an estate in Bandol. She suggested to her parents that they make the wine themselves. Their first own vintage came in 2013. Léonie, who had specialised in food, joined a year later. Justine was still studying at the time.

They had the house painted pink. When the team of Bandol Vins & Comestibles visited in March 2019, they wrote in their magazine Millésime that it stood out from the green landscape “like a marshmallow in a meadow”. In the logo, the dot on the i of “Filles” turns into a flower, and the same flower hangs on the door frame.

The Domaine des Trois Filles in Les Lauves, among olive trees.

Vineyard and cellar

The vineyard lies on a slope above the Mediterranean, looking over the bay of Les Lecques near Saint-Cyr. Garrigue and hundred-year-old olive trees surround it. According to the family, the site protects the vines from fog, frost and the mistral.

The Arlons work the soil and do most of the vineyard work by hand, from removing shoots to thinning the bunches. They pick early in the morning, into small crates, so the grapes reach the cellar cool and whole.

They built the cellar into the hillside, into the rock of their own vineyard. The grapes fall into the press by gravity, without a pump. The cellar stays at 14 to 16 degrees all year. Inside, the surfaces are lacquered in plum red and pink.

Audrey Arlon in the cellar. Both rosés age in concrete tanks.

Two rosés from one cellar

Both rosés are made the same way: picked by hand, pressed directly, fermented cool and aged in concrete tanks. The difference lies in the vineyard and the grapes.

The Côtes de Provence is 60 per cent Grenache, with Cinsault, Carignan and 5 per cent Mourvèdre. Almost all of its vines grow on wires and yield 45 hectolitres per hectare. In the glass it is pale and fragrant, with grapefruit and other citrus notes. This is the rosé for the apéritif. In May 2019 it was Millésime's wine of the month.

The Bandol rosé turns the ratio around: 60 per cent Mourvèdre, 25 per cent Grenache, 15 per cent Cinsault. Most of the vines are bush-trained and yield only 35 hectolitres per hectare. Mourvèdre ripens late and needs a lot of warmth well into autumn. In a rosé it adds structure and a long finish.

How the Bandol rosé tastes

Very pale in the glass. On the nose exotic fruit, peach and citrus. Creamy and dense on the palate, with a long finish.

Audrey recommends it with scallop risotto. She also names shellfish, spiced meat and, a little surprisingly, apple and cinnamon crumble. She pairs the Côtes de Provence with stuffed Provençal vegetables, grilled red mullet or sea bass.

Drink both at 12 to 14 degrees. So take the bottle out of the fridge half an hour before the meal.

Two of the three Arlon sisters on an old tractor.

Our two other Bandol estates

La Suffrène in La Cadière-d'Azur delivered its grapes to the cooperative until 1996. Then Cédric Gravier started making the wine himself. His Rosé Tradition has 45 per cent Mourvèdre and ages on its fine lees in stainless steel.

Gros'Noré belongs to Alain Pascal. Until 1995 he sold his grapes to Château de Pibarnon and Domaine Ott. After his father's death he built the estate by hand with his brother. His rosé has 54 per cent Mourvèdre, and part of the grapes stays briefly on the skins before pressing. Of the three Bandols it is the most powerful.

Our advice: if you take only one bottle, take the Trois Filles Bandol rosé and drink it with a meal. If you want to know what Mourvèdre does in a rosé, open it next to the Côtes de Provence. Both come from the same cellar, so what you taste above all is the difference between the grapes. There is more about the family on the Trois Filles winery page.