Behind the beaches, the Provencal hills keep their own time. Here the great estates of Bandol and the Cotes de Provence have made wine for centuries — and when the last visitors leave and the gates close, the cave opens for those who arrive privately.
The estate, after the gates close
A private wine tasting in Provence is a different thing entirely once it is held after hours. The tour groups gone, the tasting room empty, you descend into the cave with the winemaker as the light fades outside — the cool of the cellar, the smell of the barrels, the estate silent and entirely yours. The wines are poured directly from the source: the current vintage from the vat, older bottles brought up from the cellar, the comparison that no ordinary tasting allows.
- The estate to yourselves — no other visitors, no schedule but your own.
- The winemaker pouring — the person who made the wine, talking you through it.
- Rare and library vintages — bottles not offered in the ordinary tasting.
- A table among the vines, should you wish the afternoon to become an evening.
The domaines of the hinterland
Provence is not one wine but several. In Bandol, the Mourvedre grape yields reds built to age for decades, made on terraced vineyards above the sea. Around La Londe and the Golfe de Saint-Tropez, the Cotes de Provence produce the pale, precise rosés the region is known for the world over. Inland, in the Coteaux Varois, the estates are older and quieter still. We match the domaine to your palate — and to the drive, most sitting between half an hour and an hour from the coast.
An afternoon that becomes an evening
The tasting is often only the beginning. Many of these estates set a private table among the vines, and a cave visit at dusk slides naturally into dinner as the swifts turn overhead and the hills go gold. A chef, the estate’s own wines, the last of the light — it is Provence as it is meant to be taken, unhurried and unshared. Our concierge team arranges the estate, the chauffeur, and the table, drawing on the same network that stands behind our private villas across the coast.