Wondering which vineyards make the best wines in the Luberon but also offer an enjoyable visitor experience? My article from Decanter magazine covers this abundant area that encompasses several different wine appellations, along with hotel and restaurant recommendations.
Read the pdf here: Travel-Luberon-Ventoux_draft-CB 1
This is a slightly longer version of the main article:
As I gaze down the avenue of plane trees towards Chateau Pesquié, I’m surrounded by much of what the diverse Vaucluse department in Provence has to offer: verdant vineyards encircle the elegant yet modest chateau and, in the distance, the white-peaked Mont Ventoux towers above a landscape that cradles the Luberon and Ventoux appellations. Nearby, the terracotta roofs of Montmoiron shade its sleepy streets and is one of the many characterful villages to explore both here and south in the Luberon regional natural park. And, as if this wasn’t enough to spoil me, there’s also France’s capital of antiques – the town of Isle-sur-la-Sorgue – and the vineyards in the smaller appellations of Gigondas, Vacqueyras, and Chateauneuf-du-Pâpe within a 40-minute drive.
Brothers Fréderic and Alexandre Chaudière are the third generation of their family to make wine at Chateau Pesquié (www.chateaupesquie.com) and they know how lucky they are to enjoy such a location, both for these nearby attractions and for the fascinating terroir. “Here on the Rhône, we’re in a corridor between the mountains, but also close to the Mediterranean, so you have the influence of the sea,” explains Frédéric, as he shows me around the vineyard. “Meanwhile, Mont Ventoux creates a kind of amphitheatre, and although there are temperatures of around 30 degrees in the day, the air is much cooler at night, which allows for longer maturation; we’re one of the last to harvest in the whole area.”
We walk around the organically farmed vineyards, planted with parcels of 50-year-old Carignan vines, along with Cinsault, Grenache, Viognier, Roussanne, Mourvèdre and Clairette, and admire the nine-year-old Syrah vineyards which are interspersed with bright yellow blooms of broom and gypsum to improve soil quality.
Back in the winery, the terroir is explained through soil samples and detailed 3-D maps, which demonstrate the unique geography. Frédéric explains how the Ventoux appellation is quickly growing in popularity and, as more wine-lovers come, he’s ready to offer guests a truly Provençale experience, with picnic hampers to enjoy in the gardens, self-guided vineyard walks and harvest days. Nearby, other family-run vineyards such as Domaine du Tix (www.domaine-du-tix.com) share the same 350-metre elevation with its hot days and cool nights, they also welcome visitors for tastings.
To make the most of those hot days, I spend a couple of days in the Luberon regional natural park, which, thanks to its elevation, enjoys a similar climate to the Ventoux appellation. It’s also one of the areas of Provence that sends many a heart a-flutter: idyllic golden-stone villages cling to hilltops and cliffs; there are lavender fields, including those tended by monks at the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque; and the terroir offers conditions for vineyards to produce perfect drinks for summer evenings – fruity whites and pale rosés that pair so well with the fresh fish, olive oil and tomato dishes typical of the region. At the Domaine de la Citadelle (www.domaine-citadelle.com), near the village of Ménerbes, however, it isn’t only their wide range of excellent wines that draws visitors but an unusual, but wholly appropriate, collection of corkscrews.
The Domaine’s Musée du Tire-Bouchon holds 1200 bottle openers of every age, provenance, shape and size. As I gaze into the many cabinets, it strikes me that getting into one’s bottle of wine as quickly and conveniently as possible has long been an art form. There is everything from corkscrews that double as shaving brushes, swords or pistols (should you wish to combine these activities with wine consumption!), to others with a salacious edge – brass legs akimbo forming the ‘T’ shape.
Before tasting the wines, I climb the hill behind the winery and museum, which overlooks the vineyards and Ménerbes perched on a ridge nearby. Here, the Domaine has a botanic garden where I walk between the raised beds, each containing a different herb, flower or medicinal plant. Inhaling them in this beautiful spot is as much a treat for the senses as the tasting when I return to the winery to sip their Artèmes, Esprit de la Citadelle and Gouveneur Saint-Auban wines, made different blends of the 17 different grapes grown across the vineyard’s 50 hectares.
Exploring the different villages is one of the region’s greatest pleasures, especially when so many have good vineyards nearby. After wandering the cobbled streets of the village of Bonnieux, its jumble of terracotta-roofed houses piled up on a hill, with the church its crowning glory, I drive on to the Aureto wine cellar (www.aureto.fr), which belongs to the nearby luxury estate La Coquillade, where breath-taking views add a further wow factor to its award-winning wines. The architecturally striking winery, with its filigree-iron wall coverings, offers tastings and tours of the production and the vineyards, as well as tasting workshops. Further east, beyond Ansouis, a village with a well-preserved medieval chateau, the Marrenon wine estate (www.marrenon.com) gives visitors the chance to explore the vineyard with one of their winemakers, complete with gourmet picnic among the vines.
My journey around the region also takes me to Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, a town built on the wealth of the wool and silk industries and where original mill wheels trundle gently in the two branches of the River Sorgue that run through the town. These days, it’s a hotspot for antiques and bric-a-brac or ‘brocante’ and several enclaves of traders known as ‘villages’ hold an abundance of vintage treasures to haggle over.
I finish my journey with a foray to the north, where a patchwork of appellations is cradled in the Southern Rhône Valley. To the west are the exclusive vineyards of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and my drive takes me past those of Beaumes-de-Venises, Vacqueyras, Gigondas and Seguret in quick succession, each with alluring vineyards to visit. Where I’m destined, though, is the crossroads at which four of the southern Rhône’s appellations meet.
On the hill behind the village of Crestet, itself close to Vaison La Romaine with its Roman ruins and enchanting medieval village, I drive through cypress pines on narrow lanes to find La Chêne Bleu, a wine estate that envelops you in its natural surroundings. Set in a biosphere reserve, at its heart is an old medieval priory that had been long forgotten by previous owners. Having purchased it as a wreck in 1993, Xavier and Nicole Rolet painstakingly restored it, seeing in it the potential of the vineyard that enjoys a unique position at an altitude of 550m. When I arrive, Xavier’s daughter Danielle welcomes us for a tour of the vineyards, which have been certified organic since 2016. The setting is extraordinarily beautiful; looked over by the Dentelles de Montmiral and many of its vines occupying a saddle of land surrounded by a pine and oak forest, where Ventoux, Seguret, Côtes du Rhône and Gigondas appellations meet. As I admire their potager garden, I hear a cuckoo call, frogs croaking and the warm breeze in the trees. Here they welcome the Mistral wind; it helps fend off disease in the vines.
We continue inside, where Danielle points out the level of dedication and adoration that has gone into the winery, to the minute detail; Nicole’s exquisite friezes adorn the concrete walls that surround the concrete vats, while her efforts to design a medieval-style label for their acclaimed wines (complete with several discreet humorous touches) can only be admired. After tasting the wines, including their exceptional Haute Couture wines, which do not adhere to appellation boundaries. “It was quite a brave move as first time wine-makers but it’s paid off!” says Danielle.
When I say goodbye, she thanks me for making the tricky journey to see them, but with chambres d’hôtes, gourmet dinners and wine courses on offer, it’s a trip I’m more than willing to make again.