The Top Ten Wine Drives in Provence

Bravo to Sheila Johnston and her website Marseille-Provence for yesterday’s post: The Top Ten Wine Drives in Provence. Sheila tells me it took the better part of a week for she and her husband, Robert, to produce…and I can see why. 
“Although there's a ton of info about wine on the net, it tends, I feel, to be very fragmented and confusing," she says. "We've tried here to consolidate and

After-Holiday Sale, New Years at Estoublon

Holiday decor is now 50% off and clothing is discounted 30% at the Christmas Market at the Chateau d’Estoublon, a magnificent 16th-century estate near Fontvieille where wines and olive oils are produced. This is the one market my friends and I never miss; each year the selection of food, decor, toys and tableware grows more elegant, eclectic and whimsical too. The items for sale come from all

Jon and Kelly's Excellent Wine & Truffle Adventure

When I have Provençale food or restaurant questions, I go to Jon Chiri, an American chef (from New Orleans) who has lived and worked in Provence for years. When I first met Jon he was the director of the Petit Marmiton cooking school at Hotel La Mirande in Avignon…and if you’ve been there you know that that’s kind of a big deal. These days, Jon is sort of a free-range chef, teaching cooking,

From a Star Chef: Where to Go in Bordeaux

When I'm about to travel, I check in with industry friends to get advice. When it comes to food, for example, who better than a local chef to recommend the best markets, bistros, wine bars and restaurants in town? Often, these are places I'd never find on my own. So planning a little jaunt to Bordeaux (where the 2009 vintages are being called some of the best in the region's history),  I rang

Foodie Fantasy Trip to Lyon and Beyond

I've known Arlene Feltman for 20 or so years, from back when she owned and ran Degustibus Cooking School at Macy's in New York. All the top chefs taught there--it was foodie central. Arlene sold the school a few years ago and then quickly hung out her new shingle, leading food and wine trips to some the best culinary destinations in the world. Traveling with Arlene you get the benefit not only

Michelin Launches Food-Themed Vacations

Michelin has launched a new "experience" brand called Michelin Food & Travel, in conjunction with niche tour operator Roadtrips Inc. The idea is to give food lovers behind-the-scenes access to Michelin-starred restaurants; guests can enjoy cooking classes, guided excursions, food and wine tastings, truffle hunts and all sorts of other custom experiences that get them up close and personal with

Adventures in Provence Food and Wine

The "refined-rustic" Crillon Le Brave  is one of the loveliest hotels in Provence. It's also one of the foodiest, offering a number of culinary and wine-themed experiences throughout the year. Here are the next three, coming up soon. 


The Vendange Package will be offered two different weekends, Sept 16-19 and Sept 30-Oct 3. It lets you participate in the annual wine-grape harvest, with three

Provence All Over the Web...

I've seen lots of great Provence and France articles online during the last month or so. And because I live to please you, dear reader, I've collected some of the best.  Here you go...enjoy!


In the New York Times, Eric Asimov rated 20 rosé wines from Provence. Read all about it here.


The Times also featured a great piece about the Luburon.


Have any of you tasted Andrea Calek's wines?

The Cocktail Drinkers' Guide to Gardening: June

Originally from Hampshire, England, James Clay is an artist and sculptor who has lived in St. Remy for almost 20 years. He knows pretty much everything about gardening in Provence. Plus, he likes to drink...and write...often at the same time, of course. Each month here on ProvencePost.com, James goes out on a limb for us, serving up essental gardening tips along with appropriate seasonal drink

Subway to the Sud de France

Can't make it to the South of France this summer? Not to worry--you can taste it in Manhattan thanks to the Sud de France Festival which runs through July 25th.  The festival was created to make New Yorkers more familiar with the Languedoc-Roussillon region of Southern France, which, according to festival organizers, produces more wine--and the largest amount of organic wine--than any other

Wine's French Foreign Legion

My friend Jim Gullo is a journalist and author based in McMinnville, Oregon, in the heart of the Oregon wine country. Jim's new blog on wine, food and travel is called b/t/w and he is about to re-launch the OregonWine website as editor and publisher. One day Jim was telling me about four French women he knows who are making amazing wines in Oregon. I thought, what the heck? It has nothing to do

Candy Land

With Valentines Day just around the corner, I've been thinking of chocolate, of course. And I remembered my chef friend Andy Floyd telling me about a chocolate maker he loved near Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Andy has a superb palate so when he likes something, I know it's gonna be good. Based near Boulder, Colorado, he's been a culinary instructor for 12 years. For ten years, he brought students to the

New Wines, Old Ways

Earlier this month, Time Magazine ran an interesting story about Jean-Daniel Schlaepfer (above) and other French winemakers who ferment their high-end wines in egg-shaped vessels based on amphorae — the clay jars used by the Romans centuries ago. Schlaepfer belongs to a growing number of producers who are "returning to the wisdom of the ancients in order to achieve the truest expression of a

The Cocktail Drinkers' Guide to Gardening: December

Born in Hampshire, England, James Clay is an artist and sculptor who settled down (somewhat) in St. Remy close to 20 years ago. Over time, he lovingly created a gorgeous one-hectare garden filled with fruit, palm, pine and olive trees (he has 60 olive trees, all of them transplanted), plus many varieities of bamboo, flowering plants and shrubs. James knows everything about gardening in Provence.

This Week on the Web...

There's lots of fun stuff online this week about our favorite place. Here are a few things you might enjoy...

The First Lady of France donned a blue jumpsuit and visited the aerobatic squadron Patrouille de France at an exhibition in Salon-de-Provence on Friday. Go here.
And here's the Daily Mail on those pesky Carla rumors. (Isn't the whole "is she or isn't she?" thing sort of like buying a

Tour d'Argent Cellar Sale

The landmark Parisian restaurant La Tour d'Argent, which dates back to 1582, is cleaning out its 450,000-bottle wine cellar, considered one of the best in the world. The Associated Press says the Michelin three-star is putting 18,000 bottles up for auction in December and that the event "has captured the imagination of French wine lovers." Tour d'Argent is selling mostly wine but also some very

Starchitects in Provence

Did everyone know about this but me? Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel, Renzo Piano, Norman Foster and Tadao Ando, some of the very biggest names in architecture today, are at work on a new art center, restaurant and small hotel at Chateau La Coste winery in Aix.A self-taught architect and Pritzker Prize winner, Ando drafted the art center’s master plan and designed its 3,000-square-meter (32,000-

Five Restaurants for Wine Lovers

Linda Field spent 18 years working for JP Morgan in London by day, while, by night, she studied for her WSET Wine Diploma and taught wine appreciation to City bankers. In a fortuitous act of timing, she left London in July 2008--before the global banking crisis--to realize her dream of running a wine school from her Provençal farmhouse near Carpentras. Today, her Auberge du Vin offers rooms,

Want to Help Make the 2010 Vintage?

Vignerons usually shut their doors to visitors once the heat is on with the annual vendange (grape harvest). But La Madelene Rhone Wine Holidays, based 45 minutes from Avignon in Malaucene, has teamed up with the Northern Wine Academy in York, UK and persuaded two top vineyards to let guests roll up their sleeves and help with the harvest. This unique "study tour" runs October 7th to 11th and

Mad About Absinthe?

Eric Asimov, Pete Wells and Florence Fabricant of the New York Times taste tested 20 absinthes for a really good article in today's Dining & Wine section.

"Few things demystify absinthe more than the daunting prospect of 20 glasses in front of you," Asimov writes. The brands and styles ranged in color "from pale celadon and shimmering aquamarine to extra virgin olive oil to dizzyingly garish