Château Miraval, Correns-Var

Château Miraval is a château and vineyard located in the village of Correns, just north of Brignoles, a village in the Var département in the south of France. The château hit headlines in late May 2008 when it was revealed that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had leased it for three years with an option to buy, after surveying prospective properties by helicopter,[1] with the intention of having the twins they expected born in France. It is now owned by Pitt and Jolie, who were married in the château's chapel in August 2014.[2] In 2017, a new product was released by Château Miraval, an organic extra virgin olive oil. L'Huile d'Olive Miraval is packaged in black stoneware bottles and contains blended extra virgin olive oil produced from olives grown on the Miraval estate and locally-sourced Verdale, Pichouline, Tanche, Lucques, Aglandau, Cayon and Arboussane organic olives.[3]

History

Miraval estate is located on a site first inhabited in pre-Roman times. The château, in a modest vernacular style, has thirty-five rooms. It is surrounded by gardens with a moat, fountains, ancient aqueducts, a pond and a chapel, and by its vineyard, recently planted olive grove and by the surrounding garrigue and woodlands of evergreen and white oak, and Stone Pine, Aleppo Pine and Maritime Pine.

A previous owner, the French jazz pianist Jacques Loussier, installed a recording studio in the château: Sting recorded there, as did the Cranberries,[4] and Pink Floyd laid down tracks for The Wall album, released in 1979. Its more recent American owner, Tom Bove, who bought the domaine in 1993 and modernised its viticulture, which had been producing simple vin de pays, has added a spa, Jacuzzi, twin gyms and an indoor pool.

The château is known for its wines, white wines under the Coteaux Varois appellation and red, white and rosé wine under the Côtes de Provence appellation:[5] the Guide Hachette des Vins called it one of France's top 500 wine producers.[6] The domaine consists of 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of which 30 hectares on the valley floor are devoted to vines.

A series of winding stone terraces following the profiles of the slopes are planted with thirteen varieties of olives. The immense wine cellar of Miraval was built in 1850 by Joseph-Louis Lambot, the inventor of reinforced concrete, who owned the nearby domaine of La Celle.

The Côtes de Provence Rosé Miraval has won plaudits from Wine Spectator magazine.[7]

In January 2020, co-owner and winemaker Marc Perrin confirmed that Miraval is set to release a Rosé Champagne in collaboration with Champagne grower-producer Rodolphe Péters.[8]

References
  1. MediaPlanet; Purepeople.com Archived 29 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Brangelina's château Miraval not for sale". www.thedrinksbusiness.com. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  3. "The Brangelina Extra Virgin Olive Oil". Ikon London Magazine. 29 May 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  4. AP: Brangelina buzz Archived 2 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Travel-Watch
  6. "Château Miraval". Archived from the original on 4 June 2008. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
  7. "Here's the French Château Where Brad and Angelina Wed". Time. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  8. Zylberberg, Shawn; O'Donnell, Ben (14 January 2020). "Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's Château Miraval to Premiere Rosé Champagne". Wine Spectator. Retrieved 22 January 2020.

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