Team - my wife and I are taking a trip to the south of France in August.
She’s getting 4 days in Provence and I get 4 days in Southern Rhône.
I’d love recommendations on which vineyards to visit as my familiarity with producers outside of CdP is nominal at best. Also - any awesome places you would recommend staying? Towns to visit? Restaurants?
Anything and everything is welcome. Thanks in advance!
Hi Chris,
Adore the southern Rhone and was there in 2010, 2014 and 2017. Friends and I have based ourselves in Sablet which is both an attractive village but also has a good range of services with a couple of bakeries, butcher, pub, a couple of restaurants etc, etc. Handily located close to Rasteau, Seguret, Cairanne, Gigondas, Vacqueyras and Beaumes de Venise, but probably not so useful if your focus is more on Chateauneuf du Pape.
Gordes and Roussillon are delightful hilltop villages for a day trip (though both can be hectic with tourists in high season): Vaison la Romaine also very much worth a visit (particularly on market day which if my memory serves me correctly is a Tuesday) as is Seguret & Crestet. The Pont du Gard is a must.
The Gigondas Cave in the centre of Gigondas is fantastic, selling all the local wines at cellar door price with everything available for tasting. Friendly staff in my experience and a great way to taste across the AC.
Coteau et Fourchettes close to Cairanne a great restaurant. Also Le Mesclun in Seguret with gorgeous views from the terrace out over the plain.
Have fun!
My wife and I did a full day tour with this sommelier guide in CDP and Gigondas. Best $350 I’ve spent. He took us to 6 wineries. 3 in CDP and 3 in Gigondas and the surrounding area. We went into the vineyards, had private wine tastings, talked to the winemakers and all of it was super low key. He speaks perfect English and is very accommodating. Highly recommend him.
Thanks guys
I definetly agree that Sablet is the best village for a long term stay. It is also walking distance from Seguret and Gigondas.
Next to CdP, Gigondas has the most tastings located in a central area.
I agree on the hill towns of Gordes and Roussillon. We also enjoyed the market in Forcalquier, which I believe is on Mondays.
If you’re looking for a central place to stay in Provence, I highly recommend Hostellerie de L’Abbaye de la Celle.
While in Provence, I also recommend the Verdon Gorge and Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, a boat ride to see the Calanques (departing from Cassis) and the Fondation Maeght art museum. Visit Domaine Tempier if you can.
Watch a Good Year with Russell Crow before you go. Most of it was filmed in the area and it has a wine subplot. All the scenes in town and in the restaurant are from the village of Gordes.
Would definitely try to make an appointment at Beaucastel - they were super nice and informative at our group tour and opened a bunch of great stuff (including VV Roussanne and 1989 rouge out of magnum). And I’m a nobody. Still can’t figure out why they treated us so well but won’t soon forget it!
All very helpful everyone thanks a bunch. Definitely going to check out beaucastel Gordes and Roussillon
It is an understatement to say the Southern Rhone is huge and 4 days is not so much. I’ve been there 5 times in the last 10 years and am going again this summer. Gordes, Roussillon and Moustiers-Sainte-Marie (which is far afield) are beautiful but overrun with tourists. Consider quieter towns in the area (the Luberon) like Menerbes, Lacoste, Bonnieux and Cucuron. Of course, Chateauneuf du Pape is a must but other than the wine it is not so beautiful. Actually if you stick to a wine oriented tour you will not run into the tourist crowd. That said, obvious must-sees if you have the time include Orange which is near CDP with the ancient massive Roman amphitheater, the Palais des Papes in Avignon, the ancient fortress in Les Baux de Provence, the amphitheater in Arles and Roman aqueduct known as the Pont du Gard. Of course all these sites (other than maybe Les Baux) are crowded with tourists. The best restaurant meal I’ve had in the area was at Auberge des Seguins in Buoux, very off the beaten path and adjacent to Fort Buoux, a spectacular site of continual human habitation for 30,000 years. You can spend a few hours in Fort Buoux and not see another tourist. If you happen to be in Bonnieux some evening get an outdoor table next to the wall at Les Terrasses and have a pizza with the house wine (it’s grown and made less than five miles away.) Delicious and cheap and probably the best view you’ll see on your trip as the sun sets and the village lights of Provence come on in the distance. (Thank me later.)
I agree with Daniel that the Southern Rhone, and especially Provence, are huge and many attractions are far afield. I found it helpful to group attractions together. For instance Bandol/Domaine Tempier/Cassis/Calanques are all not too far from each other and make a good grouping, but getting there could take hours depending on where your launching point is. I found the Verdon Gorge and Moustiers to be wholly worth the drive in getting there, and absolutely worth a day trip. The hill towns of the Luberon are a good grouping also.
I agree with much of what Daniel says.
There is a spectacular hike to Les Baux from St Remy behind the Roman settlement and close to Van Gogh’s asylum. The trail leads to an ancient fort where they launched catapult attacks on Les Baux. Second photo below. I think this is a better way to see Les Baux than with 1000 bus tourists. LOL. I am not sure the trail is too well known. We saw no one else on the trail the whole day.
I also included a photo (top one) of close to where Daniel describes in Bonnieux. You can also do a short hike to Lacoste from there. It is a quiet, little town.
Since you say you already have CdP planned, I will limit myself to other wines, except to say that Beaucastel, alas, no longer offers the magnificent tours that one response above referred to.
If what you want to do is taste wine, there are three Caveaus, one in Gigondas, one in Vacqueyras and one in Cairanne. In each, you can taste wine for free and buy them at the prices sold by the domaines. In all these cases, though, the domaines can have wines that are not at the caveau. One domaine in Cairanne that is really worth visiting is Rabasse-Charavin. There tastings can entail twenty different wines from Cairanne, Rasteau, CdR, Plan de Dieu, often in multiple vintages. Plan de Dieu, which is one of the newest lieu-dits (since 2004) mostly flies under the radar and some of these wines are every bit as good as Vacqueyras or Gigondas. But to find some, you will have to taste at Domaines or try them in restaurants. One domaine I recommend seeking out for their Plan de Dieu (and their Vacqueyras for that matter) is Espigouette. They have a tasting room on the main road going from the D8 to Vaison (with Sablet and Seguret on the way).
For restaurants, the newest one star is l’Oustalet and I highly recommend it. We have also eaten very well at Les Florets. For slightly less money, you can get excellent meals at Table de Mas, a little outside of Violes and at CGV, a little outside of St. Cecille. I would check their menus on line before going, since their menus may not have a lot of choices and change every month and you have to want to eat what they are offering. I should add that l’Oustalet has a very good wine list with some quite attractive prices.