Provence trip

Will be spending about 5 days in Arles in September. Looking for recommendations for some nice wineries to visit. Anywhere from CnDP down to the Mediterranean coast.

Thanks

I visited Charvin, at the far northern edge of CdP, two years ago. That was a treat. It’s down a long dirt road, and there are no fancy gates, no concessions to tourists (I suspect there are few). Madame Charvin speaks good English and was charming. And I love their wines, which are made in a less ripe, fresher style than most. You definitely need to call ahead, as I think it’s just M. and Mme. Charvin. I tasted in the cellar. No tasting room staff here! It’s a contrast to the center of the village, where the streets are lined with tasting rooms and tourist shops.

I would suggest allotting a half day at least to drive through the Cotes du Rhone-Village towns northeast of CdP, such as Gigondas. It’s a pretty area, lying against ridges, so you can see why these villages deserve appellations distinct from that of the broad plain around the Rhone. In Gigondas, Dom. Cayron and Les Pallieres would be at the top of my list to visit.

If you have time, the towns of Cassis and Bandol on the coast to the east are a bit touristy, but charming, and the wines can be great. They’re 90 to 120 minutes from Arles via the autoroute. The wineries are up in the hills above the coast.

Charvin has an assistant named Fanny who welcomes visitors when Laurent isn’t available. I don’t know how her English is as we only speak in French. If you can, it’s better to make an appointment as you will get a much richer visit that way.

In Bandol, we had wonderful visits several years ago at Chateau Pradeaux and Pibarnon.

Ditto, plus Tempier

Domaine Trévallon is halfway between Arles and Avignon. Not sure if there is anything else worth visiting close by, but tasting the individual components of Trévallon in cask was one of the wine highlights of my time in Provence.

Thanks to all of you for the quick and helpful replies. I was definitely thinking Pradeaux as well as this is one of my faves.

Get out into some of the other towns too. We really enjoyed St Remy, Gordes and Avignon.

If you are staying in Arles, I HIGHLY recommend going to Chez Bob for dinner: http://www.restaurantbob.fr/. It’s in the Camargue - you have to navigate by GPS - but only ~ 20-25 minutes from downtown Arles

My wife and I went there several years ago, and it was one of the best and most unique dining experiences we had - AND one that we talk about most to this day.

In addition to the suggestions above (Bandol is a must-see), if you like the style of the wines and want to see some of the Languedoc side, then Chateau la Negly is a very good place to visit. Grange des Peres isn’t too far from Arles also although i’ve not visited. A little further out Domaine Gauby is interesting as well and in a pretty cool area to check out (on the Spain border)

Parc Naturel des Alpilles was a very beautiful area and we enjoyed experiencing the hilltop town of Les Baux de Provence (although the amount of tourists probably goes up huge in the high season). There are at least three interesting wineries in this area: Domaine Hauvette, Mas de Gourgonnier and Henri Milan.

Not winery related, but was just in Avignon for 5 nights, try La Miranda for dinner if you get the chance. Very good and a great setting outdoors in the shadow of the Palace des Papes.

Brian

Our favorite part of France. Highly recco the wed mkt at St Remy. The Van Gogh starry nite show in the quarry near Les Baux-which is also worth visiting. Then lunch at Café Paradou in Paradou-must have a reservation as they do not take walk ins. Mas Gourgonnier SE of St Remy and Domaine d’eole is making some stunning rolle-which is vermentino. Henri Milan is near st remy-an early leader in no sulfur movement with eric texier.

The drive up to Pibarnon is beautiful-at the top of the hill so don’t give up. For Tempier u need a reservation but can book online I believe.

Sat mkt in Arles is big.

Chateau Simone is very interesting visit but not great for tasting. Buy a couple bottles of the Blanc!

Thanks to all for your helpful ides.

I second the restaurant in La Mirande hotel in Avignon and recommend trying white CdP while there.

We also enjoyed Domaine de la Mordorée in Tavel (though it felt very much like Southern California!)

Must have been their wines.

Not sure whether to post this, as it would require a drive to the north of where you are… but if you want a very interesting tasting in the Rhone, I’d consider going to Domaine des Accoles. Here’s why:

• It’s a fairly new domaine founded by Olivier and Florence Leriche who were the highly regarded winemakers at Domaine L’Arlot in Burgundy.

• What they’re doing is to my mind really interesting; they’re making wines that are in some ways Burgundian, but using grenache, carignan etc. They pick very early.

• They not only speak English, but their backgrounds give them a really interesting perspective; their reference points are not Chateauneuf, etc. It’s also a fascinating life story – how they quit Burgundy for the Ardeche (yes, they’re in Ardeche on the right of the Rhone (heading south)).

• You’ll need to make an appointment, but they like having visitors, so that’s easy to do.

• If you want more info, I wrote a report on the wine-pages.com forum (hope it’s OK to cross reference that here), and JLL has written about them, and there’s another good report that’s easy to Google.

• You could combine it with a visit to La Boria restaurant in nearby Privas; it’s a fabulous find (also flagged by JLL), with great food (and do NOT miss the cheese course… it’s just incredible), though off the beaten track.

• Other combos would be Dom Ste Anne where the Steinmaiers moved from Burgundy (for that theme) and make ageworty yet inexpensive CdRs (especially with mourvedre) and sell aged bottles (unusual) from their dusty cellar (again, make an appointment, but that’s easy), as well as whites (one of which is the house white at the Beaugraviere restaurant – high praise). Or on the restaurant front, pair with Auberge Montfleury near Lavilledieu, where I first tried a mature Accoles) with about five years on it, and was seriously impressed. They also have some other interesting things on the list.

• To be clear, I’m hopelessly biased. At La Boria for lunch, the sommelier (who’s full of enthusiasm and well worth talking to) took my three-year-old son for a tour of the kitchen so my wife and I could enjoy our cheese, and was also kind to seat us in a remote part of the restaurant (helpful with a little boy). Olivier Leriche later invited us for dinner at his home (it was a pleasure to bring a white Gonon to someone with such an interesting perspective). Auberge Montfleury are always lovely to us, and if it’s true they’ve got a Michelin star, chapeau! While Dom Ste Anne are lovely, with the kindest smiles, and sell aged bottles.

Lastly, while I live in London, my wife is Ardechois. So there you are… A hopelessly biased post, full of conflicts of interest, and out of scope geographically. Could I possibly make a worse debut on this board??

Btw, if you do go to Gigondas and have a car, and don’t mind dirt tracks, the road up into and over the Dentelles is a brilliant drive. Beautiful back up there. And the drive to the top of Ventoux is also very good, too. I could go on and on and on…