Trip to Nice - need recommendations

Some close friends are going to Nice at the end of Feb/beginning of March. They absolutely love wine, but know little about the area. I, unfortunately, am the same way when it comes to this region. I suggested they do a day trip to Domaine Tempier. They’re mostly old world, heavy red wine drinkers, with a little rose thrown in once in a while. Do you all have thoughts on wineries to visit? Other attractions or food destinations would be appreciated too. Cheers!

I just checked a few Southern France & Alpine labels which came to mind, and they are a really really long way away from Nice - two to four hours.

Even Tempier is almost two hours, according to Bing.

The distillery which makes Henri Bardouin Pastis is in Forcalqueier, France, but Bing says that that’s two and a half hours.

Maybe you could scan the Michelin restaurants near their hotel and find one with a nice wine list which doesn’t look too touristy?

BTW, according to Bing, they can get to Alba, in Italy, in about two and a half hours, and that puts you into Barolo & Barbaresco…

Th AOC of Rossese Dolceacqua is in Liguria (Italy) and is less than 1-hour drive from Nice. From our base in Eze/Nice, we didn’t do wine visits but did a couple of day trips to visit markets and have lunches in western Liguria. I passed by a few vineyards and the region looks to be a very small AOC and the wineries appear to be not clustered together. The wines are light reds and mineral/fruity whites and they’re good with a lot of different pesto-based dishes that the region is known for. If they’re looking for Italian/Liguarian restaurants, the hill town of Apricale will have a lot of good ones.

Btw, in Menton, which is the last French town in Cote d’Azur by the border of Italy and only about 30 minutes drive from Nice is a very good restaurant called Mirazur. Expensive, but the food, service and views are top notch.

On the subject of Menton, my wife and I were in Nice, got on the train to Liguria, but got dumped in Menton for one unexpected night due to a one-day train strike. Menton turned out to be a delightful little coastal town. We took a hike up to the cemetery at the top of a local hill, and we also strolled the waterfront.
Back on the subject of Nice, one of the best restaurants in town (perhaps the best) is Jan, owned by a young chef named (wait for it) Jan. Make reservations. A bit spendy, but very good.
We used Nice as a base camp to make day trips by train to neighboring towns/cities, such as Antibbes and Monaco/Monte Carlo. Buy the Rick Steves guidebook; you won’t go wrong.
Bon Apetit!
Phil Jones
Portland, OR

I really like Tenuta Selvadolce in Liguria. The Rossese is fantastic. If you can visit (no idea). Looks like its about 45 minutes from Nice. Here is website. http://www.selvadolce.it/

I have an afternoon in Nice next Sunday. I’d love suggestions for what to do in the city – while seriously jet lagged.

Not an answer to your question but…i love love love the alpes de Provence - just drive 30-60 mins north of nice and it’s a different world. Barcelonette is a favourite but it is hard to go wrong in that part of the world.

I live in Nice. Afraid I am away myself, with only an ipad and a busy schedule, hence brevity and excuse typos please.

In wine terms, no need really to go further than Nice’s own appellation, Bellet.
I wrote a piece about it , which I put here: Bellet the Blue Sky - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers
Feel free to contact me for more if needed.

In Dolceacqua, then Filippo at Terre Bianche (book in advance, especially at this time of year, as he works on his own) maker of the first Ligurian wine (Rossese) to get Tre Bicchere in the Gambero Rosso. (The particular wine may be available to taste, but probably not to buy as it sells out in advance).

If going there, then visit Apricale, 4km further inland. The most exquisite and Tolkien-esque of all the medieval villages on the whole coast, in both countries. Apricale del Degli is the best of several very good restaurants. And you should try local ‘thing’ rabbit (coniglio) with olives. Other villages on the Italian side with great historical interest are Bussana Vecchia (ruined by earthquake and preserved as it was) and Seborga (declared independence as a principality) both worth googling for more.

In Nice, Petite Maison is probably the ‘best’ on a classic basis, but undoubtedly in some respects Jan is superior. It’s tiny, and you HAVE to book (some considerable time in advance for a weekend). Jan Hendrik van Westerhuizen is a South African ex-yacht chef, using entirely local ingredients and creating some very special food indeed, with a wine list that reaches far beyond the French norm. Pricey(ish) but well worth it.

An overnight to the Auberge Le Robur in Roure, which is very simple accommodation adjoing a 1*Michelin restaurant that offers a crazy degree of quality and innovation for the price. You wake up above the clouds having had the best-ever night’s sleep. Possible also for lunch. Requires a hire car. Check opening times and snow reports at this time of year.

The Louis XV in Monte Carlo (was on annual closure last week) usually offers an out-of-season lunch ‘deal’, rather like the Gavroche in London. Last time I went is was €140 per person for four courses, including water, coffee and half a bottle of (local but perfectly okay) wine. I suppose it depends how rich you are the degree to which this is a bargain, but it is food of the very highest order (obviously) with a chance, I believe, that Ducasse may have actually cooked some of it himself (he still likes to do this).

The Miramar in Menton is exceptional. Go early. For some reason the service seems to get somehow ‘tired’ after 10pm.

A simple evening meal is some socca (chick pea pancake, which I am surprised has not taken the world by storm because it’s gluten free) from a stall on the street, folowed by an ice cream from Fennochio - one of the best gelato producers in the world. In the main square in the old town, it’s the one with the queue (line) when none of the others have. Join the line.
Steven, this is probably the best way to spend your afternoon, just get yourself lost in the lanes of the old town and see where your nose takes you…

Nearest wineries in Provence AC would be the line of Esclans, headed perhaps by Château d’Esclans itself, producer of the in-vogue Garrus ‘most expensive Rosé in the world’ cuvée (and a good red wine). Domaines Ott is difficult to visit. Bandol is really quite a long way further. I’d save the time and see Bellet, discover something that can only be accomplished in situ.

If I think of anything else I will re-reply.

Santé

Rod

Cafe de Turin in Nice was amazing for shellfish. With so much to do in Nice and nearby, advice to go to Liguria seems dubious. A short drive from Nuce is Cannes, the Villa Ephrusi, the Villa Keryla, Eze, St. Paul de Vence, a drive on the Grand Corniche, Monaco. I live Liguria, but why leave the Cote d’Azure?

Between Cafe de Turin, Jan, Petite Maison and another I forgot the name of, an amazing 4 day stretch of dinners.

We were at Jan in in May last year and we found it okay, but not great. For me, some courses were a bit too heavy and I found the wine list pretty boring and way overpriced. My favorite restaurant in Nice is Keisuke Matsushima which has a great wine list, too. I also really like La Part des Anges and its bistro. And my favorite restaurant in the region is apart from Mirazur Les Bacchanales in Vence.

One winery to possibly visit in the region would be Domaine Rasse in Saint-Jeannet, around a half-hour drive from Nice.

Dubious? The original poster’s note appears to be primarily a request for a close winery visit. We all weighed in with the closest to Nice without having to do a 2+ hour drive to Domaine Tempier in Bandol.

This is wonderful, thank you. And thanks to everyone else for chiming in too!

Last week I drove a colleague from Beijing on the “Riviera Tour”, and it took 28 minutes from his hotel on the Promenade des Anglais to get to Ventimille, the Italian border town (whose Friday market is another good recommendation). The next day we drove from the hotel to Cannes. That took 1h40m, such is South of France traffic. Actually, I’m not even sure it’s geographically nearer, either. Having run the Nice - Cannes marathon many times, I know it doesn’t feel like it…

What might put your friends off Dolceacqua though Austin, is that Rossese is very far from a heavy red wine, the best resembling Pinot Noir, and pretty light Pinot Noir at that. But they can be delicious, and the scenery is spectacular.

I wholly second Georges Rasse at Vignobles de St Jeannet (and there’s a lovely restaurant in the village too). Georges has been making largely sulfur-free wine for decades, since well before it was fashionably ‘natural’. He ages the wines in glass demijohns in the sun, and UV does the trick. He says. And I’ve tasted no evidence to the contrary. The wines are good. But he’s completely loopy. 30 varieties on 5ha, making about 13 different wines.

Sorry and surprised that Jan gave a less than stellar performance Steven. I’ve eaten there three times, always exceptional. But I do think it might depend on whether he is in the kitchen himself or not, and he does travel a lot. Quite how you can ascertain this when booking I really don’t know.

We enjoyed this and the train ride is pretty spectacular once you’re riding along the coast.

I think we went on a Saturday, checked out the market and had a nice lunch before returning to Nice.

That market at Ventimiglia right by the Italian border is a lot of fun, and highly recommended even by locals in Nice. The food and produce market, by itself, was open pretty much all week, iirc. The market foods were very, very good.

Each had there own traffic experience. When I went to Ventimiglia, took me over an hour just to get back across the border.

I hope the newbies appreciate the quality of advice that they get on a thread like this.

I wouldn’t be surprised if there were travel agents and maybe even Hollywood celebrity handlers who are busy taking notes from this thread.

And certainly wine importers, who need to add new labels to their line cards.

make sure you eat at flaveur in nice, it was one of the most surprising meals i had last year. incredibly good food for only 1 star. also the wine bar vinivore is worth a look.

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I always appreciate the advice. My postings may look like a newbie here, but I rest assured, I lurk with the best of them. I am neither a travel agent, nor a handler, nor an importer (though I did used to work for an importer). Just a guy looking to help out some friends.

put in my request for a reservation at flaveur !