Your favorite town in Provence, and your favorite Bandol not named Tempier

[Brad_B_a_l_l_i_n_g_e_r]

Favorite town: Saint Paul Trios Chateaux. Also Montelimar.
Favorite Bandol: Mas de la Rouviere

[Craig_G]

I’m going to say Valbonne, and Pibarnon.

[Hank_Beckmeyer]

Another vote for Cassis. (and Aix is one of my favorite towns anywhere)

Ch. Simone is a singular wine.

Pradeaux for old-school Bandol.

[Keith_Levenberg]

Pradeaux

[Martin_Steinley]

Cassis is lovely, and Terrebrune, blanc, rose and rouge, is terrific (if he used Gros Nore labels, he would never have enough to sell).

[Herwig_Janssen]

All the beautiful villages have been named ( Gordes , Menerbes… ) . Another vote for Aix en Provence , a beautiful city and perfect place for a home base . Avignon is also a great place to stay at in summer , plenty of festivals and a great hub .
The Bandol area is beautiful and I would also suggest Chateauneuf -du-Pape , it’s really not that far away by car .
Read the book " a year in the provence " by Peter Mayle ( again ) and you will leave tomorrow !

[Marty_Glembotzky]

Evan

Last July I stopped here on the recommendation of relatives:

Domaine des Campaux (Provence)

The Ose Rose was incredible as were the reds. Unlike any I have had from the region. They also have an inn on site.

I also stopped here, another rec from locals:

http://www.gavaisson.fr/en.html

Only white wine and very interesting. Rolle and semillon blend. At the time I was there the winemaker was in talks with Brad and Angelia to be thier winemaker. I guess the went with Perrin. Again the wine was incredible.

[Thor_Iverson]

Bandol-sur-Mer is actually a nice place to stay. Not much to do or see in the town, but it’s quiet (unless you’re there during peak summer), with some decent (and a very few good) restaurants, and it’s a good base for exploring in all three directions. The Ile Rousse is a great hotel with an ambitious restaurant.

But “favorite town in Provence” covers an awful lot of ground. Somewhere near Les Baux or along the Dentelles would be my choice, but that’s a zillion kms from Bandol. Aix is truly beautiful.

Non-Tempier…well, it’s a bit of a stylistic choice. I like Pradeaux, Tour du Bon, and in a different style Pibarnon. Elsewhere, regarding Simone, it can be a difficult appointment, so start trying now.

Restaurants…just ones that I’ve been to:

Nice

La Mise au Verre (a natural-ish bar à vin/cave à manger)
17 rue Pastorelli
04 93 85 69 90


In or within striking distance of Bandol:

Le Clocher - http://www.leclocher.fr
1 r. de la Paroisse, Bandol
04 94 32 47 65

l’Espérance
21 rue L.-Marçon, Bandol
04 94 05 85 29

Île Rousse - http://www.ile-rousse.com
25 bd Louis-Lumière, Bandol
04 94 29 33 00

l’Oulivo
19 rue des Tonneliers, Bandol
04 94 29 81 79

La Villa Madie - http://www.lavillamadie.com/
ave. du Revestel, anse de Corton, Cassis
04 96 18 00 00

Côté Rue - http://www.restaurant-coterue.com/
42 Grande-Rue, Draguignan
04 93 11 50 55

L’Oustaou)
5 pl. Joseph-Brémond, Flayosc
04 94 70 42 69

L’Éveil des Sens - http://www.leveildessensrestaurant.fr/
42 rte de Marseille, Nans-les-Pins
04 94 04 41 65

La Table du Vigneron
724 chemin de la Tourelle, Ollioules
04 94 88 36 19


Aix-en-Provence

Les 2 Frères - http://www.les2freres.com/
4 av. Reine-Astrid
04 42 27 90 32


Arles

Le Gibolin
13 rue des Porcelets, Arles
04 88 65 43 14


Les Baux & environs

l’Oustalet Maïanen
16 av. Larmartine, Maillane
04 90 95 74 60

Ou Ravi Provençau - http://www.ouravi.net/
34 av. de la Vallée des Baux, Maussanne-les-Alpilles
04 90 54 31 11

Le Bristrot du Paradou
57 av. de la Vallée des Baux, Paradou
04 90 54 32 70

Le Bistrot Découverte - http://www.bistrotdecouverte.com/
19 bd Victor Hugo, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
04 90 92 34 49


Marseille

La Cabanon de l’Estaque
568 rte nationale du Rove, Port de Corbières
04 91 03 18 12

l’Enoteka
28 blvd Notre-Dame
04 91 91 62 08

La Cave de Baille - http://www.lacavedebaille.typepad.fr/
133 blvd Baille
04 96 12 05 68

(I grossly under-explored Marseilles, alas)

[Tim_Ramey]

Favorite town: Vaison-la-Romainie - walled hilltop city that is 1,000 years old. have twice stayed at Le Beffroi which is charming but the bells are real and go off all night. Didn’t bother me but drove my wife crazy. Close proximity (north of) to Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Sablet, Seguret.

[Peter_Petersen]

Never visited, but my fav wine comes from Terrebrune.

[Bill_Mauger]

@Jim Anderson

Isle-sur-la-Sorgue does an incredible (truly) market on Sundays and is otherwise pretty compelling. If the restaurant Le Jardin du Quai is still open I would highly recommend that. Menerbes and Bonnieux are both great cliff towns to walk around in. The Hotel and Restaurant Cesar is a great spot for lunch (the views amp up the food quality which is solid if not spectacular). Other spots mentioned are excellent as well. I would suggest a visit to Domaine de la Canourge which is just outside of Roussilon. They have wonderful rose and it is a beautiful winery to boot. I actually found the town of Bandol to be too coastal touristy for my tastes (I grew up in coastal Maine so I am perhaps more sensitive than many).

[Howard_Cooper]

@Herwig Janssen

Read the book " a year in the provence " by Peter Mayle ( again ) and you will leave tomorrow !

Given the weather lately, I am ready to leave tonight.

[Hank_Gillespie]

We have stayed several times in a small villa outside the
hilltop village of La Cadiere d’Azur - a lovely spot with
views of a number of the other hilltop villages.

Noteworthy producers for us are La Suffrene and Sorin,
both offering excellent quality at moderate pricing.

Agree that Chez Berard is an outstanding restaurant,
especially for lunch. We prefer to eat dinner at the
villa, which then doesn’t require tackling the tricky
road up to the villa in the dark.

Hank

[cepotts]

Roussillon is a nice visit for an afternoon, and if you are going there from near Avignon, be sure to drive the D routes. The drive up over the mountain and drop down into the valley is quite lovely.

Banyuls - we stayed in Collioure last summer for a couple nights and visited Dom Templiers (not Tempier). Great visit and wonderful tasting and wines.

[Cliff_Rosenberg]

If you go to Roussillon, read Laurence Wylie, A Village in the Vaucluse first.

[Leonard_Taylor]

This may not technically be Provence but it is a fantastic B & B and their rose is incredible.
http://www.lagrandemaisondescampaux.com/

[Marty_Glembotzky]

Leonard

Went by last summer, absolutely stunning Rose. I heard while there a small amount is being imported to the USA.

Evan, you really need to look into this domaine.

[Zachary_Ross]

Haven’t been, but I really like the Bandols of Jean-Pierre Gaussen. Old-school.

[Arv_R]

We have stayed several times in a small villa outside the
hilltop village of La Cadiere d’Azur - a lovely spot with
views of a number of the other hilltop villages.

Noteworthy producers for us are La Suffrene and Sorin,
both offering excellent quality at moderate pricing.

Agree that Chez Berard is an outstanding restaurant,
especially for lunch. We prefer to eat dinner at the
villa, which then doesn’t require tackling the tricky
road up to the villa in the dark.

Hank

We had a 2000 Dom. Sorin ‘Cuvee ULM’ [VdP] last week which was surprisingly good. I think the ULM stands for ultra long maceration as it gets a few years on its skins in barrel. Not sure but that also might be why it only carries VdP designation or perhaps its cepage is not AOC compliant. Heavy bottle, fancy label, and a wax seal. I wasn’t expecting much but it was great on the first day - cedar, raspberries, rose petals. Tannins are all resolved and it is drinking well. 14% abv. Sediment is very heavy, so needs decanting, or just not drink the last glass… Lightening at the edges. By day 2 it fades. But I’d give this a B+

[Howard_Cooper]

Favorite towns: St. Remy and Uzes.

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