We stopped at all manner of châteaux, wineries and restaurants to taste the local rosés and discover what makes the Wines of Provence so exceptional. So after spending the next day browsing the open-air markets along the grand, tree-lined Cours Mirabeau and touring modern sculptures installed across the sprawling grounds of a nearby château wine estate, we began our weeklong journey east, toward Nice.

Here, the diversity of soils and grapes - not to mention 300 days of sunshine each year - are ideally suited to high-quality rosé. We toasted to the pursuit of happiness and our Dionysian plans to linger over lunches featuring niçoise salads and the fromage of our dreams, float in cool translucent waters and experience why the rosés of Provence are the most celebrated by discerning wine drinkers around the world. With a refreshing balance of dryness, fruit and acidity, the wine cut through both the creamy chèvre and the sultry late-spring night. Seated outside Le Bistroquet in Aix-en-Provence for our first proper meal, we rejoiced with forks of figs and goat cheese in one hand - and glasses of perfectly chilled rosé in the other. But we had one more source of inspiration: the region’s renowned rosé wines. The artists were lured by the light, the landscapes and the slow, elegant lifestyle, just as my travel companion and I were when we arrived in mid-June. Scenes of the St.-Tropez seaside portrayed in muted blues and flaxen by Matisse and Signac. Majestic Montagne Sainte-Victoire brushed in deep greens by Cezanne. By car, boat and bicycle, a writer explores its quintessential French vineyards to investigate.

Rose wine provence