À la table, Les Amis !

 

La Table des Amis de Provence is a new non-profit association based in St. Remy, designed to highlight the food, wine and culture of Provence through meals, cooking classes, winery tours, artisan visits, live music and more.

La Table des Amis is bi-lingual and multi-cultural, open to all ages and nationalities. While French members are wanted and welcome, the group will probably appeal more to expats, much the way that BritsNimes, AAGP, the American Club of the Riviera, Network Provence and others do. 

Because the La Table des Amis was founded by four amis with very different backgrounds, who are equally passionate about food and wine, most if not all events will have a strong gastronomic component. All experiences are designed to be “authentic, memorable, value for money and always enjoyed in the company of others.” 

The new association was the brainchild of David and Nitokrees (Nito) Carpita (she’s Egyptian, he’s American) who ran the popular cooking school Mas de Cornud in St. Remy for 25 years. In a 19th-century farmhouse with seven bedrooms, indoor and outdoor kitchens and a large potager, Nito did all the culinary (teaching and cooking) while David handled the business side and the wine. The cooking school (officially known as Seasons of Provence) had a reputation far beyond Provence, due to its thousands of happy guests from around the world but also thanks to David and Nito’s dedication to industry groups such as the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals).

For 25 years the Carpitas were very plugged in to the food world both in France and abroad…and then they pulled the plug. They closed the cooking school in 2015 and sold their large, gorgeous mas a few years later.

They were tired, I remember Nito telling me, and wanted to retire while they still had good health and energy. They wanted more time with family and friends, more travel, more time outdoors and more time to explore. The world they loved was food and wine tourism and they wanted to be on the other side already.

Once Mas de Cornud was sold, the Carpitas moved into a smaller St. Remy home (that they already owned) and began to renovate…and that’s where this new idea took root.  

“As the construction was progressing,” David explains, “I joked to Nito that it looked like we were building a new super duper kitchen…with a few bedrooms tacked on as an afterthought. And Nito confessed that she missed teaching cooking and would love to start giving classes again, so she wanted a kitchen that had all the right bells and whistles.”

David reminded her that they had been officially retired since late 2015 and that neither of them wanted to reverse gears. 

“But what about doing it for pleasure, not money?” he suggested. “What about doing classes for fun, for friends, for people who want to meet new people over great food and wine?” The Carpitas were already doing this very informally--organizing hikes, day trips and regular restaurant forays for pretty much anyone who wanted to join them—and Nito loved the idea. 

So a few weeks later at a meeting with his friend Jean-Yves Martin, a retired accountant, David suggested setting up a non-profit with the purpose “as wide as the sky—bringing friends together at the table.”

Jean-Yves loved the idea and even agreed to be President, as long as it wouldn’t take too much time. (Among other projects, he’s currently developing a rice farm outside his village of Tarascon…but we’ll save that story for another day!) David promised it wouldn’t, the papers were prepared and submitted, the sous prefecture approved and the new association became official in March, 2022.

Another founding member is our friend Barney Lehrer, a former professional cellist who brings to the table great credentials in the worlds of wine and tech. “Barney’s expertise in designing web sites has been an immense boost to our start up, not to mention his many contacts in the wine industry in France,” David says.

Pre-launch in April, the four founding members met up with the leaders of the AAGP, BritsNimes and the American Club of the Riviera (over lunch, of course!) to discuss ways in which the groups might work together, to complement each other rather than compete.

“We were really happy at how enthusiastic everyone was,” David reports. “They’ll all be spreading the word to their members.”

So far, there have been two official outings, both sold out with waiting lists: a gastronomic walk in the vineyards in the Duchess de Uzes AOP and a lunch celebrating the annual Transhumance festival in St. Remy. The next five events have just been announced:

• July 1 – Dinner/concert with Los Cortes (Gypsy/Gipsy/Gitan music) at Bistrot de la Galine, St Remy. 

• July 8 – Soiree musicale at Manade de Caillan, St Remy.

• July 9 –  A very special event in Châteauneuf-du-Pape: a tasting of older Mayard vintages with Beatrice Mayard, the sixth generation of this Chateauneuf winemaking family.

• July 12 – Dinner spectacle with Pablo at Sampado Village, Palud des Noves.

• July 14 – Celebrating Bastille Day at the Bar Tabac des Alpilles in St Remy with dinner and a "jazz manouche" concert featuring Coco Briaval.

While you need not be a member to attend events for now, members will get advance notice and special pricing whenever possible. Members will also be encouraged to suggest and create their own events as long as they align with the group’s core values. Annual membership is €15 for singles and €25 for couples; you can sign up (or just join the mailing list) on the website here.  

Photos: (1) Nito and David Carpita ran Mas de Cornud and the Seasons of Provence Cooking School in St. Remy for 25 years, before retiring in 2015.  They created the new non-profit with two like-minded friends. (2) La Table des Amis just hosted its second event, a luncheon to celebrate the Transhumance festival in St. Remy, at the Bar Tabac des Alpilles. Another TdA event will be held there on Bastille Day. (3, 4) Barney Lehrer, left, one of the four founding members, on Transhumance day with his wife Madeleine. (5-8) Manade Caillan is the only ranch in St. Remy. They raise Camargue bulls on 100 hectares (with AOP and bio certification), sell meat and homemade charcuterie, welcome weddings and other events, offer overnight stays in a four-bedroom villa...and throw great open-to-the-public parties such as their Markets at the Manade which happen pretty much every other Friday night June through September. (9) We all love Bistro de la Galine, the laid-back roadhouse on the D99 just east of St. Remy. They have live music most Friday nights and the last meal I had there, in February, was fantastic. TdA will have a big table there on July 1st. (10-13) Winemakers in Châteauneuf-du-Pape for six generations, the Mayard family currently cultivates 43 hectares: 40 red and three white. On July 9, Beatrice Mayard will host the Table des Amis for a private tasting of old vintages accompanied by small plates. (14, 15). The group known as Coco Briaval, led by Henri (Coco) Briaval, has been performing locally and internationally since 1965. These days the children of the three original members (Coco and his brothers Gilbert and René) and other family members often play with them. For more about the band, click here.

Truffles in Paradise: Markets, Fests, Feasts, Hunts & More

It's truffle season in Provence! Our famous fresh black truffles, considered one of the most prized and expensive food products on earth, are at optimal ripeness in January. If you've never been to a truffle market or done a truffle hunt, it's great good fun. But do it soon...the season ends in mid March. Below are some of the best places to experience tuber melanasporum (truffes noirs) in Provence, from marchés aux truffes to truffle festivals to truffle farms to restaurants. You can take check out the Fête de la Truffe in Uzes (Jan 14 to 16) or the one in Aups (Jan 23), join in a festive town-hall luncheon (ten more times this winter), attend a Truffle Mass followed by a truffle meal (next month), get a guided tour of a pros-only truffle market (on Fridays in Carpentras, for one euro!), sign on for Patricia Wells' five-day truffle cooking extravaganza (in 2023) and even adopt a truffle oak (anytime). And of course, taste truffled everything, from liqueur to honey to scrambled eggs to ice cream. Also, some news: a group of truffle producers in Provence have just banded together to combat the sale of fake, foreign, unripe and otherwise sub-par truffles with a “collective brand” called Le Diamant Noir du Vaucluse. Read on! 

The Richerenches Truffle Market, Truffle Mass and Truffled-Omelette Lunch

The famous winter truffle market in the village of Richerenches is now in full swing, every Saturday morning until March 12. 

The intoxicating aroma of fresh truffes hits you before you even see the long row of vans, each with a cluster of buyers huddled behind it...everyone bundled up warmly, patiently waiting their turn. With many thousands of euros worth of product changing hands, there's a hushed sense of serious excitement in the air. Each truffle is meticulously weighed, calculations are made, cash changes hands and sacks are handed over...while gendarmes mill around very visibly, keeping an eye on everything. Most of the sellers here are courtiers en truffes, who buy direct from the trufficulteurs for the purpose of reselling. Sellers without their own vans wander the crowd, their goods tucked carefully out of sight in cloth bundles, plastic bags or market baskets. 

And king of the market, of course, is the prized tuber melanasporum, also known as the French black truffle, truffes noirs, Black Diamonds or Black Gold. 

At Richerenches you can also buy truffle-oak saplings, kitchen gadgets to ease truffle handling and even a truffle hound...I saw one very sweet one in a cage, looking a bit forlorn that he wasn't running around in the sunshine like all the other dogs. Other vendors sell locally grown produce, charcuterie, olives and olive oils, soaps in delicious scents, nougat and other sweets. It's all very colorful, very authentic and very Provencal. 

Statistics are a bit hard to come by but the Richerenches truffle market is said to be the largest in France and probably Europe. It sells both wholesale and retail and many top chefs in the region shop here. I'm told that 50% of the truffle transactions in Southeast France happen here...accounting for 30% of all the truffles that change hands in France. And that the Vaucluse (one of the six departments in the Provence Alpes Cote d'Azur region) produces 70% of all the truffles in France.

All morning long on market day, people pop in and out of the Etablissement Cafe, for warming drinks and truffle talk. The unmistakable aroma of truffle wafts in with them and, by this time, is probably permanently embedded in the walls. By 11:30 the market crowds have dwindled and the Etablissement is packed.

After you've done your marketing, you can move on to a truffled-omelette lunch at the Town Hall/Salle des Fêtes, just a few doors down from the Etablissement Cafe, or at the Salle des Remparts, by the church.  You'll sit with strangers but no doubt become fast friends, thanks to the Kir that kicks off the meal and the serve-yourself bottles of Côtes du Rhône on every table. The 25€ price includes a salad, a creamy omelette with shaved truffles, bread, dessert, coffee, wine, a souvenir glass...and lots of juicy local gossip. These lunches fill up quickly so call the Richerenches Tourist Office to reserve: +33 (0)4 90 28 05 34. You can reserve by phone for up to six people; more than six requires a 50% deposit. See details and dates here.  

There's also an outdoor summer version of the truffled-omelette lunch; it happens a couple times a week and alternates between the villages of Richerenches and Grignan. Summer 2022 dates are still TBA. 

The Richerenches truffle market takes place on Avenue de la Rabasse (Rabasse is Provencal for truffle) and on Cours du Mistral.  It runs every Saturday morning, mid November to mid March, from 9 am to 1 pm. Anyone can buy truffles on the Avenue de la Rabasse; the Cours du Mistral is for professionals only.

Richerenches even has a Truffle Mass in the Saint Denis Church on the third Sunday of January (Jan 16, 2022). It’s dedicated to St. Antoine...the patron saint of truffle growers...and followed by an apero, open to all. Crowds have been known to get so big that a giant TV screen is set up outside in the courtyard of the Knights Templars Commandery so everyone can join in. As of now, it's expected to go ahead next month. There's a small museum devoted to truffles and wine in the Commandery as well. Info on the Truffle Mass and meal that follows (€65 pp, by reservation) is here. 

For more info, lunch reservations and other events, contact the Richerenches Tourist Office at  +33 (0)4 90 28 05 34 or via their website in English here. 

The Carpentras Truffle Market

Richerenches is the biggest but not the only regular truffle market in Provence. There are also two in Carpentras on Friday, which is the village’s regular market day as well.

The first happens on Friday mornings, from mid November to mid March, at the Hotel-Dieu. The start whistle blows at 9 am and it’s all usually over within an hour or so. This market is private and for professionals only...but the Carpentras Tourist Office  offers a guided tour of this market to the public for €1 (yes, one euro!) per person. Tours are in French only and can be booked online or in person at the Tourist Office.

The second truffle market is for everyone else. It too happens on Friday morning, from 8:30 to 12:30, in front of the Tourist Office on Place du 25 Aout 1944.

The professional market started November 19; the public market on December 3. Both will likely run until early March, depending on the harvest. 

Periodically throughout the season, the Tourist Office offers a truffled-omelette and wine tasting in their office, for €10 per person, featuring different chefs and wine domaines. There are none in January but check back in February; dates will appear on the website. To reach the Carpentras Tourist Office: +33 (0)4 90 63 00 78 or click here.  

Three Places for Truffle Hunts in Provence

*Year after year, truffle hunting at Les Pastras is one of the most-popular activities in the Luberon, according to Trip Advisor and other sites. With English-speaking guide Johann and three adorable dogs named Mirabelle, Caramel and Éclair, you’ll head into the Provençal countryside sniffing out winter or summer truffles. Learn how truffle trees are cultivated, the signals nature sends to indicate your trees might have truffles below and the extreme lengths to which people will go to steal the precious tubers or sabotage other hunters. Plus, tips on how to clean and prepare fresh truffles, what dishes taste best with them and how to tell a real tuber melanosporum from, say, a Chinese fake. Then kick back with Champagne and fresh truffle hors d'oeuvres...and truffle ice cream with truffle honey...and a tasting of Les Pastras’ homemade products including truffled salt and olive oil. You can also purchase truffles here at less-than-market prices. Winter hunts (roughly Nov. 15 to March 15) are weekdays at 10 am or 2:30 pm. Summer hunts (roughly May 1 to Sept. 30) are weekdays at 10 am or 6 pm. Expend to spend about 3 hours. For all the info, click here.

*Based in Gordes, Robert Florent dug up his first truffle at age five, while hunting with his grandfather. Today he organizes winter and summer truffle hunts with his dog Perle, followed by wine and a tasting of truffled toasts. You can buy his truffles and other truffle products and, if you book ahead, possibly stay on for a meal. A truffle hunt with tasting costs 200€ total (for 1-3 people) or €250 (4-20 people); more than 20 people add €10 pp.  Robert speaks some English but works mostly in French; a translator is available for €50 extra but must be booked in advance.  The summer or winter experience lasts 3 to 3.5 hours but can be shortened to 2.5 if needed. For info or to book: +33 (0)4 90 72 11 60, +33 (0)6 80 55 30 47, florent.gael@gmail.com.

*On a sunny December day two years ago, with snow-capped Mont Ventoux in the distance, my friends and I enjoyed a super-successful truffle hunt and a wonderful meal with truffles in every course (including cheese and dessert) at La Truffe du Ventoux, run by the Jaumard family. Details about everything they offer--truffle hunts, meals, truffles and truffle products, B&B, etc.--are on their site. 

Three Upcoming Truffle Festivals

The elegant, historic village of Uzes will hold its annual Fête de la Truffe January 14 to 16, 2022. This year you’ll find a winegrower's evening, a truffle market, workshops, special truffle meals and more. General info about the truffle season in Uzes is here and the the program for the January truffle festival is here. For whatever else you might need, call or email the lovely folks at the Uzes Tourist Office: +33 (0)4 66 22 68 88, info@uzes-pontdugard.com

Every Thursday morning from late November to mid March, the village of Aups, in the Var, hosts a truffle market on the Place Frédéric Mistral from roughly 9:30 am to noon. On the 4th Sunday in January (Sunday January 23, 2022) there's the Fete de la Truffe with truffles and other local products for sale, a truffle dog competition and truffle menus in village restaurants (definitely book in advance). I'm still trying to confirm if the Truffle Festival in Aups will happen this year or not but in the meantime, for info, click here and here. And  when you're in Aups, check out the Maison de la Truffe where you'll find truffle info, activities, a museum and a shop. The helpful folks at Visit Var can help with all the info you need about the region.

For now, the Nimes Truffle Fair is scheduled for February 4 to 6, 2022, Covid permitting. It’s organized by the Ville de Nimes and hasn’t been posted online yet so check in with the Nimes Tourist Office closer to the date.

Truffle Meals in Restaurants

At this time of year, you’ll find truffles on restaurant menus all over the region. Here are four suggestions to get you started.

* At Restaurant Bruno in Lorgues (in the Var), you'll encounter a serious, decadent use of truffles in just about every dish including the famous truffled scrambled eggs known as brouillade. They currently offer multi-course truffle menus  at €83, €125, €175 & €195. Or, pick and choose your dishes à la carte and pay accordingly. This year Bruno was one of just two Provence restaurants to receive Michelin's new "Green Star" designation for sustainability. 

*At La Beaugraviere in Mondragon, on the N7 north of Orange, you can indulge in one truffle dish or an entire truffle tasting menu...and an award-winning wine list packed with Rhône vintages. This year, truffle menus are €69 or €150...and other menus, without truffles, are also offered.  

*In Carpentras, Chez Serge has been known for truffles for years. They used to do a fantastic truffle pizza but no longer...dommage! Now you’ll find à la carte truffle dishes and an €89 three-course truffle menu.  

*In Nîmes, the intimate restaurant Gamel will feature special truffle menus to coincide with the Uzes Truffle Fair (January 14-16) and the one in Nimes (February 4-6). Chef Cristian Moisa is self-taught, rising up through the culinary ranks from local brasseries to Michelin-starred eateries such as Lisita in Nîmes and Bibendum in London, while his partner Morgane, a pâtissier, runs the front-of-house. For more info, contact the restaurant in the new year. +33 (0)4 66 36 25 80. 

A Truffle Cooking Workshop 

Every winter at their cooking school in Vaison-la-Romaine, Patricia and Walter Wells offer a Black Truffle Cooking Extravaganza. It's five days of classes, meals and outings devoted almost entirely to fresh black truffles. Menus focus on complementary wines, particularly the prized whites of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. All instruction is in English, with recipes geared to home cooks. The workshop has been Covid-postponed until 2023 but all the info is here. In the meantime, pick up a copy of Patricia's 2011 book, Simply Truffles, on Amazon here. 

Two Bits of Truffle News...

The Maison de La Truffe et Du Vin, which for years has occupied a beautifully restored 17^th-century maison particulier at the top of  the village of Menerbes—selling a fantastic selection of local wines as well as a wide range of truffle products--is closed until further notice. They may reopen...or not. But you can still buy their products (including their Truffle Aperitif, which a Menerbes-based friend says she loves to give as a novelty gift) on their website.

To promote and protect the integrity of their products, five truffle growers in the Vaucluse have banded together to launch a “collective brand” called Le Diamant Noir du Vaucluse. Rigorous specs guarantee the truffle’s origin, pesticide-free production and freshness: they must be sold within seven days of harvesting. According to association president Nicolas Monnier, an organic producer in Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt, the goal is to combat the poor quality of truffles sometimes sold in local markets, some of which come from Spain or are unripe. “We want to take back control as producers...in order to guarantee that the truffles are ripe and black,” he says.  “Gray or white truffles aren’t ripe and don’t have the same aroma. We practice reasoned farming, without the use of pesticides. We also want to guarantee...that our truffles are fresh and out of the ground for less than 7 days. A consumer buying a Diamant Noir du Vaucluse truffle is guaranteed a fresh truffle. The black truffe of the Vaucluse might be the most expensive, but it’s worth it!” 

For More Info

There's a calendar of truffle markets in the Gard and elsewhere in Occitanie here.

And finally,  you'll find lots of great info on truffle markets, visits, hunts and more on the Vaucluse Tourism here. 

Photos: (1) Pasta with fresh black truffles at Patricia Wells' cooking school in Vaison. Her next five-day Black Truffle Cooking Extravaganza will be offered in 2023. Photo by Jeff Kauck. (2) Happy Shopper: I met the smiley Pierre Sauvayre last time I visited the Richerenches Truffle Market. (3) Delicious truffled omelettes are served up on most Saturday mornings in Richerenches during truffle season. Check the schedule and reserve ahead. (4) One section of the Richerenches market is devoted to wholesale only and many of the region's top chefs buy here. (5) The stall selling charcuterie does a booming business on Saturday. (6) A typical seller's rig at Richerenches. (7) Truffle vendor Thierry Vidal in the retail section of the Richerenches market.  (8) Rabasse is Provencal for truffle. (9) The markets also sell tools for handling truffles. (10) The Etablissement: preferred hang out for buyers and sellers in Richerenches.  (11) Here comes the truffle truck! (11) A sign on the Mairie boasts Richerenches' status as one of the 100 Remarkable Sites of Good Taste, a designation honoring local foods and producers. (12) The Truffle Mass in Richerenches will be January 16. (13) At the Truffle Market in Carpentras. Photo via Avignon-et-Provence.com. (14, 15) Les Pastras in the Southern Luberon is known for truffle hunts and truffle products, olive picking parties, grape stomps and more. After your truffle tour, tuck into truffle ice cream with truffle honey--and lots of other delicious things. (16, 17) Two winters ago, some friends and I did a truffle day at La Truffe du Ventoux in Monteux. With snow-capped Mont Ventoux in the distance, our day included a truffle talk in the Jaumard family's workshop, a successful hunt with this adorable Border Collie and a wonderful meal with truffles in every course including this pumpkin soup with truffle cream. (18) Poster for the Uzes Truffle Festival next month. The Nimes Truffle Fair is tentatively scheduled for mid February.

Ask the Sommelier: 5 Great Vineyards to Visit

So many wineries to visit, so little time! How do you narrow the list?

This week I reached out to Ivan Mandelli, head sommelier at the Michelin one-star Maison Hache in Eygalieres, and asked him to recommend five fantastic wineries to visit in Provence. I suggested he choose based on the warmth of the welcome, the beauty of the domaine, the pricing/value of the vintages offered, the creativity of the winemaker or the way the wines express the attributes of the grapes and terroir. 

Just make sure they produce wonderful wines, I said, and that my readers will be happy they went!

Below you’ll find his selection, in his words. But first, a bit about our sommelier…

Ivan comes from the north of Italy, from a small town between Lake Como and Milan called Merate, where his grandmother had a trattoria and his uncle had a restaurant. He left home at 17 and landed a job in a Swiss hotel. There, he remembers being inspired and impressed by one particular maître d’, who encouraged his career goals and pushed him to get as much experience as possible. “He transferred to me so much knowledge and savoir faire,” Ivan says.

Ivan went on to work in many luxury hotels and Michelin-starred restaurants across Europe including the five-star Hotel Palace (Gstaad, Switzerland), Chewton Glen Hotel & Spa (New Milton, England), and the Michelin three-star Restaurant Michel Bras (Laguiole, France).

He met his French wife, Laurence, in 1999 in Bermuda and they married in Italy in 2002.

After many years as a restaurant manager, Ivan's love of wine inspired a change in career direction and he decided to pursue sommelier training. He earned his diploma in Italy in 2009, from the Associazione Italiana Sommelier (AIS). He later became a member of the Union de la Sommellerie Française (UDSF). 

When friends that Ivan had met at Michel Bras left to open a restaurant in Provence, they encouraged him to join them, to be maître d’ and sommelier. The restaurant, Meo, opened in Tarascon in 2012 and earned a Michelin star within a year. It closed three years later, when the owners decided to move to Normandy. But Ivan and Laurence were hooked on Provence and they stayed.

In 2019, Christopher Hache left the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris, where he was the Michelin-starred executive chef, to open Maison Hache. “Christopher and I met just once but we just knew we had to work together,’’ Ivan remembers. The restaurant launched in May 2019 and earned a star the following year; Ivan now oversees a 300-label cellar. Christopher Hache also co-owns three Hache boulangerie/patisseries, the villages of Eygalieres, Molleges and St. Remy. (Love their pistachio cake!)

Please note that many wineries in Provence will welcome you for a drop-in tasting (sometimes free, sometimes for a fee) but it’s always best to check the hours, then phone ahead to reserve. 

To follow Ivan on Instagram, click here...and read on for his winery picks!

Domaine Milan

Located in St. Rémy since 1956, Domaine Milan is one of the original and more eclectic winemakers of the region, now in the hands of the third generation. Theophile Milan and his American wife, Nathalie, work closely with Theo’s father Henri, experimenting with unique grape varieties in an organic and biodyamic style. The large selection of wines will surprise you and you’ll appreciate their new natural wines without sulfites added. The tasting room is small and rustic (but charming)…and their wines are very precise and balanced. Plus, ask to taste their gin!

Château La Nerthe

One of the oldest wineries in Châteauneuf-du-Pape (dating to 1560), Château La Nerthe is also one of the most beautiful. The domaine has natural springs, which makes everything green and lush, and there’s a lovely park around the castle, with 100-year-old trees. This is a beautiful space of nature, only a few steps away from the famous wine village, and they’ve been organic since 1998. Be sure to try their whites, especially the Clos de Beauvenir, but all three are very interesting; La Nerthe is actually known more for whites than reds. Of the reds, I love the Cuvée des Cadettes. Guided cellar visits with tastings are available by reservation.

Domaine Laurens, Vignoble des Templiers

Domaine Laurens Vignoble des Templiers is a family business in the small village of Roaix in the Vaucluse, between Rasteau and Seguret, near Gigondas.  The current estate was created in 2016 by winemaker Bastien Laurens (along with his parents Françoise and Bruno, and his sister, Julia) but the story of the property began centuries before, in 1138, with the Templars, the Knights of Rhodes and later, the Popes. (Read their rich history on their website.) I find their wines to be the most interesting of the region, under the appellation Côtes-du-Rhône Villages. Be sure to try their deep and spicy 100% syrah. To me, the Domaine Laurens looks like a spot of Tuscany in the Vallée du Rhone! (Photo of Bruno and Bastien from the winery's Instagram by Nicolas Bria.)

Château Mourgues du Gres

The winery Château Mourgues du Grès, in a 16th-century convent, sits in the countryside outside Beaucaire, west of the Rhône, in the appellation Costières de Nimes. There you’ll find the warming welcome of Anne and François Collard, who make generous and elegant wines, labeled organic since 1990. One wine definitely not to be missed is their Terre d'Argence (IGP Pont du Gard), with a dominance of viognier grapes and the taste of fresh yellow fruits…nice and crispy. The Collards love to promote local food producers at special events and welcome visitors to stroll among the vines and orchards; order ahead and they’ll prepare a picnic for you (local products) and direct you to the perfect spot to enjoy it. They offer wine tastings in the vineyard, with a sommelier, and have holiday cottages for rent too.

Domaine Viret

Twenty minutes from Vaison-La-Romaine, just over the border between the Vaucluse and the Drome, Philippe and Alain Viret of Domaine Viret are producing natural wines without sulfites, using more than 100 grape varieties, growing on 30 hectares. Philippe coined the term "Cosmoculture" to describe their unique philosophy while the cellar itself was designed using the divine proportions of the Golden Ratio, inspired by Egyptian architecture and Cistercian cathedrals. There are currently 14 wines in the range. One wine I like a lot is called Maréotis (grenache and syrah).  I also enjoy two of their amphorae-aged wines called Dolia: one red and one orange/amber that’s macerated for nine months. This place is really quite amazing! And if you understand what they're trying to do, you’ll understand and appreciate the wines even more.

Peony Confetti: Made in Provence with Love

My friends Debbie and Marcel van Eenennaam are the owners of Ferme Fleurie, a large, wholesale flower farm just outside Tarascon, between Avignon and Arles. They grow a wide range of flowers from October to June but they’re particularly well known for their peonies: gorgeous fluffy blooms in colors including Sarah Bernhardt, Duchesse de Nemours, Coral Sunset and many more...in both “simple” and “double” varieties. 

The farm’s 130,000 stabilized peony bushes will produce roughly one million stems this year.

Deb and Marcel export 95 percent of their harvest to Holland, sending huge refrigerated trucks packed with blooms--all measured, clipped, bunched and boxed—two to seven times a week in season, to be sold at auction. But they always hold back plenty of reasonably priced bunches and bouquets to sell in their small farm shop. I have friends who “go to Deb” every week, keeping their homes filled with gorgeous fresh flowers all fall, winter and spring. Many local florists, hotels and restaurants also buy regularly at the farm.

And now Deb has launched an exciting new venture all her own: producing dried-peony-petal confetti for weddings and other special events, from peonies grown and hand-picked at Ferme Fleurie.

Called Pétales de Provence, the new confetti company currently offers eight colors, ranging from rich cream to coral to deep red. The petals are 100% natural, 100% dye-free and 100% biodegradable. The most-popular use, Deb says, will be as loose confetti to throw at weddings, but they’re also perfect for flower girls, table decor, petal paths and more. Prior to lockdown here in France, Deb was making the rounds of the Provencal wedding expos and she says the response so far has been super. Samples are available and the company ships worldwide.

“Pétales de Provence was born in 2018, after an extremely hot peony season with lots of open flowers in the fields,” she explains. “And rather than see them go to waste, I had the idea to turn them into confetti. Now three years later, we’re finally ready to share our fluttering petal-confetti clouds with you! From the planting to picking to drying to packaging...it’s all done right here on the farm. We package them with love and post them to you wherever you are in the world. We like to think we’re selling smiles in a box."

In France, people traditionally throw rice at weddings so this is a new concept here, Deb explains. And most of the petal confetti already produced elsewhere comes from delphiniums,and cornflowers, which have much-smaller petals and no particular significance with regards to weddings. "Peonies have long symbolized romance and happy marriage, in both ancient and modern cultures," Deb tells me. "So in addition to being beautiful, they really do add special meaning to your day. Plus, they just look so amazing in photos!”

For more info (including prices and suggested quantities), visit the Pétales de Provence site here...and follow them on Instagram and Facebook.

To learn more about the farm and boutique, read my recent blog post here. The shop is now closed for its summer break (it’ll probably reopen in mid October) but after they reopen you can see shop hours and what flowers are available on the Facebook page here.

Photos: (1) Petal Pushers! Deb and Marcel met at a dinner party in Provence and quickly grew deeply connected. She's English, he's Dutch. They married on the farm in 2015. To learn more about the farm itself, click here. (2) The logo for the new company. (3) Peonies ripe for the picking; Deb and Marcel grow roughly one million stems each year. Marcel knows more about peonies than anyone. Many of his plants may very well outlive him...peonies can live to be 100 years old. (4) In peony season, the farm employs roughly 40 workers to get the flowers out of the field at just the right moment, then processed quickly for shipping to Holland. Marcel's brother receives them on the other end and does a final quality check before they go on to the Flora Holland Auction and world wide sales. Deb hopes that each year, more and more of the crop will become dried-petal confetti. (5)  Lily De Plano, who's studying immunology at university in Glasgow, helps out each year during peony season. Her friends think she has the best job in the world. (6) The first step is drying. (7) Beauty shot! Petals, leaves and buds in a basket. (8-11) Peonies come in every color but blue...who knew? Pictured are four of the eight varieties currently available as confetti: Duchesse de Nemours, Paula Fay, Sarah Bernhardt and Coral Sunset. (12) Deb made this petal path for a recent photo shoot at the farm. (13) Our favorite flower girl and her helper, Rejanne Havond, at a January wedding show in Aix-en-Provence. (14) You want samples? Just ask. (15) Deb says she feels like she's selling "smiles in a box" and will ship worldwide. (16) Personalized paper cones filled with confetti, ready to throw at Stephanie and Josh's recent wedding in Washington, D.C. (17) Pretty sure you get what's happening here. (18) The shop at Ferme Fleurie will reopen in October with the first flowers of fall: lillies. Then watch for anemones right though until peony season.