Where are the Michelin Stars in Provence?

For chefs and foodies alike, it's an exciting harbinger of spring: the announcement each year of the new Michelin-star ratings in the latest edition of the Michelin Guide France & Monaco 2026 (aka the Guide Rouge). With few exceptions, Michelin has been publishing French travel and restaurant guides since the year 1900 (although strictly speaking, the star-rating system began in 1926 and the three-tier system was introduced in 1931.) The history of Michelin restaurant ratings is here.

The 2026 Guide Rouge announcements were made last month at a ceremony at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, the first time in Michelin's history that the prestigious event was hosted in the Principality. And the guide itself is now available in bookstores across France and on Amazon. But once again, because I live to please you, I've compiled a list of all the starred restaurants across Provence, the Côte d'Azur and Monaco to make it super easy for you! 

There are six departments in the region known as PACA (Provence Alpes Cote d'Azur) and you'll find all the Michelin-starred restaurants in PACA and Monaco in my list below, organized department by department. Each restaurant appears with its current 2026 star rating; restaurants new to the list are in red.

This year there was just one new three-star restaurant in all of France: Les Morainières in Jongieux in the Savoie, owned by chef Michaël Arnoult and his wife Ingrid. That brings the total number of restaurants in France and Monaco with this top accolade to 31. There are 84 two stars and 553 one stars...a total of 668 starred restaurants for 2026. To read about all the newly starred restaurants in France, click here.

Once again, Michelin has also given some un-starred restaurants its "Bib Gourmand" designation, meaning good food at low prices; the Bib Gourmand is often considered a precursor to a first star. Bib Gourmands, Michelin says, can be relied upon for ''convivial atmospheres, careful cooking and fair prices.'' This year there are 37 Bib Gourmands in PACA and you can see them all here. Altogether there are 430 Bib Gourmand restaurants across France.

Michelin has also continued to give Green Stars for sustainable gastronomy, an award distinct and separate from regular stars. The Green Star celebrates restaurants for eco and sustainable practices such as working with seasonal ingredients and sustainable producers, waste reduction, recycling, etc. The Green Star program launched in 2020 and you can read about it here.

This year Michelin also presented awards celebrating sommeliers, service, young chef talent and more. And ten restaurants were championed for the central role that desserts play in the gastronomic experience.

At the awards ceremony in Monaco, Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the Michelin Guide, praised the vitality of the French and Monegasque gastronomic scene. “Our inspectors have been particularly impressed by the audacity of a new generation of chefs who are opening very personal houses throughout France and Monaco,” he said. “Often led by couples, with complementary roles between savory and pastry, or between the kitchen and the dining room, these life projects reflect the entrepreneurial energy and strong local roots that characterize gastronomy today. From tables rooted in the terroirs to more contemporary and international cuisines, this diversity confirms that restaurants remain more than ever essential places of openness, meeting and sharing.” 

For the press release about this year's guide and winners, click here. 

The Michelin Guide France & Monaco has traditionally been published only in French. But good news for those of you qui ne parlent pas français: all of the recommendations are on the Michelin Guide website and on their app, fully browse-able in English. Poking around on the Michelin site just now, I see that in addition to starred restaurants and Bib Gourmands, they also list restaurants known simply for ''good cooking,'' which I think is a great feature. You can also book restaurants directly through the site, via The Fork. And if you register, you can keep track of your favorites, your visited restaurants and--wait for it--indulge your inner critic by sharing your opinions with Michelin reviewers.

All of that being said, I still think my list here is a super-handy way to quickly find out where the Michelin stars are...if you're living here in the South of France, traveling here or just curious. So to see all the starred restaurants in PACA and Monaco, read on! 

Michelin Starred Restaurants across Provence, the Côte d'Azur and Monaco for 2026

ALPES DE HAUTE PROVENCE (Dept. 04) 

Château Arnoux - La Bonne Étape *

Mane - Le Feuillée - Le Couvent des Minimes *

Manosque  - Restaurant Pierre Grein *

Moustiers Sainte Marie - La Bastide de Moustiers *

LES HAUTES ALPES (05)

No stars this year 

ALPES MARITIMES (06)

Antibes -  Louroc – Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc *

Antibes (Cap d'Antibes) - Les Pêcheurs *

Beaulieu- sur-Mer - Le Restaurant des Rois – La Réserve de Beaulieu *

Biot - Les Terraillers *

Cannes -  La Palme d’Or  *

Le Cannet (Cannes) - La Villa Archange **

La Colle-sur-Loup - Alain Llorca *

Èze - La Chèvre d’Or *

Èze - Château Eza *

Èze Bord de Mer - La Table du Cap Estel *  NEW 2026

Juan-les-Pins - La Passagère -  Hotel Belles Rives *

Mandelieu-la-Napoule - Bessem * 

Menton - Mirazur ***

Nice - Les Agitateurs *

Nice - L'Aromate *

Nice - Le Chantecler *

Nice - Épicentre * NEW 2026

Nice - Flaveur ** 

Nice - Jan *

Nice  - Onice *

Nice -  Racines - Bruno Cirino *

Roubiou - Auberge Quintessence *

Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat - Le Cap at the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat *

Saint-Paul-de-Vence - La Table de Pierre * NEW 2026

Théoule-sur-Mer  - Mareluna *

Théoule-sur-Mer - L'Or Bleu  *

Valdeblore - Auberge de la Roche * NEW 2026

Villeneuve-Loubet - La Flibuste *

BOUCHES DU RHONE (13) 

Aix-en-Provence - Le Art at Château de la Gaude *

Aix-en-Provence  - Étude * 

Aix-en-Provence - La Table de Pierre Reboul  * 

Aix-en-Provence/Le-Puy-Sainte-Reparade - La Table de l'Orangerie, Château de Fonscolombe  *

Arles - La Chassagnette  *

Barbentane – Ineffable *

Les Baux-de-Provence - L'Oustau de Baumanière ***  

Les Baux-de-Provence - L'Aupiho at Domaine de  Manville * 

Cabriès  - La Bastide Bourrelly - Mathias Dandine *

Carry-le-Rouet - L’Oursin * NEW 2026

Cassis - La Villa Madie ***

La Ciotat - Couleurs de Shimatani *

La Ciotat (Le Liouquet) - La Table de Nans *

Eygalières - Maison Hache *

Gemenos - La Magdeleine - Mathias Dandine *

Marseille - AM par Alexandre Mazzia ***

Marseille -  Auffo * NEW 2026

Marseille - Le Petit Nice ***

Marseille - Une Table au Sud *

Saint-Cannat - Le Mas Bottero *

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence - L'Auberge de Saint Rémy -Fanny Rey & Jonathan Wahid **

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence - Restaurant de Tourrel *

Salon-de-Provence - Villa Salone *

Ventabren – Dan B.

 

LE VAR (83)

Les Arcs sur Agens - Le Relais des Moines *

Bandol - Les Oliviers* NEW 2026

Le Castellet - La Table du Castellet *** 

La Croix Valmer - La Palmeraie at the Château de Valmer * 

Flassans-sur-Issole – Chez Jeannette *

Flayosc - Le Jardin de Berne at the Hôtel Château de Berne *

Le Lavandou - L’Oursin, Hotel les Roches* NEW 2026

Lorgues - Bruno*

Ramatuelle - La Voile at the Hôtel La Réserve Ramatuelle **

Saint-Tropez  - Arnaud Donckele& Maxime Frédéric at Louis Vuitton *

Saint-Tropez - Colette *

Saint-Tropez - La Terrasse at Cheval Blanc * 

Saint-Tropez  - La Vague d'Or at Cheval Blanc ***

Toulon - Shanael * NEW 2026

Tourettes -  Faventia *

VAUCLUSE (84)  

Ansouis -  Garrigue * NEW 2026

Avignon - Pollen *

Bonnieux - La Bastide *

Bonnieux  - JU- Maison de Cuisine *

Bonnieux  -  La Table des Amis  **

Cadenet - Le Goût du Bonheur, La Fenière  *

Cucuron - La Petite Maison de Cucuron *

L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue - Le Vivier *

 

MONACO (98)

L’Abysse Monte Carlo **

Les Ambassadeurs by Christophe Cussac  ** 

Blue Bay Marcel Ravin **

Elsa Marcel Ravin *

Le Grill at Hotel de Paris *

Le Louis XV - Alain Ducasse at the Hôtel de Paris ***

Pavyllon, un restaurant de Yannick Alleno, Monte Carlo *

Robuchon Monaco * NEW 2026

La Table d’Antonio Salvatore au Rampoldi *

 

 

Guest Post: One Great Day in Provence

Whenever I get together with my friends Keith and Val Van Sickle, we love to share French intel. Where've you been, what'd you do? Who'd you meet, where'd you eat? The Van Sickles split their time between Provence and Northern California, spending three months each year based in St.-Rémy. Because they do lots of exploring, I asked them to suggest ''One Great Day in Provence'' for you. They chose to focus on the Alpilles (''Little Alps''), our beloved home turf, named for the 25-km-long mini-mountain range where, to the north and south, you'll find villages such as St.-Rémy, Eygalieres, Les Baux, Maussane and others. Keith and Val are both retired (Val from consulting, Keith from finance) and they travel widely. Keith is the author of An Insider’s Guide to Provence, One Sip at a Time, and Are We French Yet? He also publishes the blog Life in Provence. So read on for Keith's guest post about One Great Day!

One of the many things that Val and I love about St-Rémy is that it sits at the foot of the Alpilles Mountains, a great place to hike and bike. 

The Alpilles aren’t particularly high, with the tallest peak about 1,600 feet, which means there are plenty of hikes that aren’t too strenuous. A great day for us is to hike in the Alpilles, enjoy a leisurely lunch at a favorite restaurant, and then shop for Provençal essentials like wine and olive oil.

Hiking in the Alpilles

One favorite hike starts from a parking lot called Parking de la Caume, at the top of the road between St-Rémy and Maussane-les-Alpilles. After parking, we head to the paved trail that begins at the back of the lot. Because Provence can get hot, we usually hike in the morning and carry plenty of water.

The trail is called the Randonée de la Caume and if you follow it all the way, it will take you up to the giant communication tower that you can see for miles around. This is a nice route, but instead of following it, we turn off onto a dirt road marked as the AL 115, about ¼ mile from the start. It can be found on a helpful hiking map we use to for this and other trails in the Alpilles.

We like this route because it is never crowded and the views are great. Sometimes we see the forest and sometimes sheer rock walls rising up next to the path. From a few spots we can see a long way to the south, to near the Mediterranean coast. The one thing we have to watch out for are bikers, because they can show up suddenly if they are riding fast.

We hike as far as we want and then turn around, and at this point we are usually getting hungry. If we’ve timed it right it’s lunch time, so we head to Maussane and one of our favorite restaurants, l’Oustaloun.

L’Oustaloun

This is a family-run hotel/restaurant that has been in business for decades. The couple that runs it is very friendly—“We love our clients,” they say—and the food is always good.

The chef has been awarded the title of Maître Restauranteur, a special honor that means everything is fresh and homemade. I can’t eat gluten and the chef knows exactly what is in each dish, so he is able to guide me to safe eating.

The cuisine is authentic Provençal and I love the timbale, an eggplant confit surrounded by a tomato and red pepper coulis. The menu changes with the seasons so the dishes always use fresh ingredients, many of which are sourced locally.

On a warm day we sit at the outdoor tables on the town’s lovely central square, and if it’s cool we enjoy the cozy dining room with its arched ceiling.

The Best Olive Oil

The area around Maussane is known for olive oil, and local producers have captured several world championships. It is said that oil from here was used to anoint France’s first Christian king, Clovis, in the year 496.

Our favorite place for olive oil is Moulin Castelas, just outside of Maussane. The staff speaks English—the owners once lived in the United States—and is very friendly. They let you taste anything you’d like and sometimes you can tour the olive mill itself. Tables are arranged outside if you’d like to taste there, or just rest your feet for a few minutes.

One of Castelas’ specialties is their wide range of flavored oils, where they add ingredients like citrus, rosemary, and basil. Unlike many producers that just add flavorings to their oils, Castelas macerates their olives together with the other ingredient—thyme, for example—and then filters it at the end. The results are great for salad dressings, to put on fish, or whatever strikes your fancy. We stock up every time we arrive in Provence.

Something for the Cellar

After olive oil, another essential is wine, and one of our favorite caves is Mas Sainte Berthe, which sits in the shadow of Les Baux-de-Provence’s fortress.

Sainte Berthe is known for its rosés, but all its wines are excellent. You can try them in their friendly, English-speaking tasting room, then buy what you like. Besides wine in bottles, they also sell it in 5 or 10 liter “bag in box.” These boxed wines are quite good and a great bargain, especially if you will be entertaining a group.

Back Home

We are now tired, well fed, and well stocked. It’s a routine we often follow when we are newly arrived in St-Rémy. But it’s only the beginning, as many more hikes and meals await. And you never know when you’ll need more olive oil or another bottle of wine! 

Photos:

(1) Keith, Val and their sweet dog Mica at the Aéro-Club De Saint-Rémy, the Alpilles behind them. (2) A glorious coquelicot (poppy) field with the Alpilles in the background; photo by Barbara Tyler. (3, 4) Hiking photos by Keith. (5) L'Oustaloun, in Maussane; photo courtesy of the restaurant. (6) Timbale and (7) Moulin Castelas, photos by Keith. (8, 9) The vineyard and tasting room at Mas Sainte Berthe.

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.

Action! Ridley Scott's Winery is Open

Most people know that Sir Ridley Scott (he was knighted in 2003), is one of the top film directors in the world; his movies include Gladiator, Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Black Hawk Down and scores of other hits including House of Gucci (2021). His latest, a historical drama called Kitbag—with Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon and Vanessa Kirby as Empress Josephine--begins production this month.

What many people don’t know is that Ridley has lived part time in the Luberon region of Provence--and owned a vineyard here--since 1992, when he bought a pretty mas (farmhouse) planted with 11 hectares of vines.

I first interviewed Mr. Scott in 2006, for articles in Wine Spectator and Conde Nast Traveller UK. For CNT, we discussed A Good Year, the movie he had just shot based on the 2004 book of the same name, written by his dear friend Peter Mayle.

For Wine Spectator, we talked about his passion for wine and his burgeoning wine-maker hobby-turned-business. “The vineyard was in place when I bought the house...” he told me. “I grow syrah, and I sell to the co-op, the Vinicol. They come with their machines and take it away. Now we're deciding if we want to start doing our own pressing, our own bottles and labels; I'm on the threshold of taking that step.”

He crossed that threshold just a few years later, launching his own label in conjunction with the nearby Cave de Lumieres. From 2009 to 2017, a wine made only from Ridley’s grapes (as opposed to a blend from multiple farms), was bottled there under the Mas des Infermières label. He also expanded his property considerably. 

And now, finally, Ridley has taken the next very-big step and opened his own beautiful 1500-square-meter winery, cave, shop and tasting room, just across a large plot of vines from his historic Luberon home. Surrounding the winery are 30 hectares of grapes: large plots of grenache and syrah and a few smaller plots of carignan, clairette, vermentino and roussanne.

Located on a road called the Chemin des Infirmières, Ridley’s house was once owned by General Robert of Napoléon’s Army, who planted vines there (from 1810 to 1830) and made wine.  At one point the house became a hospital for injured soldiers and when there weren’t enough nurses to look after the patients, local farmers were enlisted to help.

Eventually the historic home became the Mas des Infermières, a play on the words for nurse (infirmière) and for farmer (fermier).

My friend Celine grew up down the road and calls this sun-drenched stretch of Luberon land “the most beautiful place on earth.”

Located half a kilometer from the village of Oppède le Vieux and not far from Menerbes, the new winery was designed by Bonnieux-based architect Andrew Corpe, an Englishman who has worked in Provence for more than 30 years. 

“The vineyard is a sanctuary of silence and sunshine,” Ridley says on the back of every bottle, in what’s meant to look like handwriting. “My family and I came here to paint, read and above all to enjoy the magical life that can be found here.” 

Another nice touch: Ridley illustrated all the distinctive labels himself.

The winery is still in soft-opening phase and will officially launch later in spring. It’s a wonderful addition to the wine scene in the Luberon and a fantastic visit for film fans thanks to the memorabilia on display: a helmet from Gladiator, space suits from Prometheus, Alien: Covenant and The Martian, gold coins from The Last Duel and the bicycle from House of Gucci, to name a few. More items are on their way.

Posters and blown-up movie stills line the walls; you’ll see Thelma and Louise in the rest room and a large poster for A Good Year in the tasting room.  Much of that 2006 movie, about a London stock broker who inherits his beloved uncle's Luberon vineyard and run-down 18th-century chateau, was filmed just down the road (“eight minutes from my house,” Scott has said), at the real-life winery Chateau La Canorgue. Other scenes were shot at the Marseille Airport, the Avignon train station and in the Luberon villages of Bonnieux, Gordes and Cucuron, where a fake moon was hung for a date-night scene and the large rectangular village bassin was filled with floating candles. 

The tasting room and shop at Mas des Infermières is modern and inviting, with soaring ceilings, lots of light and vineyard views. A dramatic spiral staircase leads down to a conference room, private cellar/wine library and the vast cave itself, where Bordeaux-sized (225 liter) oak barrels are lined up in perfect rows, doing their thing.

Back upstairs, you can buy the first wines made on site (the 2020 vintage), plus a limited supply of those made at the Cave de Lumières from Ridley’s grapes (2015, 2016 and 2017). Older vintages, in shorter supply, will be released as specials.

The 2020 wines--two rosés and one red--are 15€ per bottle in the shop. Two more reds and two whites are in the works.

You’ll also find accoutrements such as glassware, corkscrews and wine books...and a blended Mas des Infermières olive oil made with fruit from their 50 trees. This micro-production oil is sold only at the winery, for now.

In the large courtyard out front there’s an enormous old amphora (that once held olive oil) and two 1000-liter oak wine barrels. Roughly 150 years old, they were found in Ridley’s house and weatherproofed before being put on display.

When I first wandered into the parking lot of Infermières last summer to see if they had opened yet, I was delighted to find my old friend Thomas Camilleri running the show. I knew Thomas, a sommelier, from Domaine des Peyre, another popular Luberon wine estate; turns out that Ridley had lured him down the road to help create and run Mas des Infermières. Today Thomas oversees the shop and tasting room, working closely with Bordeaux-born winemaker Christophe Barraud (a sixth-generation wine grower) and sales director Melanie  de Rudder. Ridley comes down from London once a month.

Like many wineries in the region, Infermières was hit hard by a late frost in spring 2021; they lost roughly 45 percent of their grapes. Their 2022 is production is expected to be around 45,000 bottles.

All wines are certified by the Bee Friendly Association and carry a cute little gold bee sticker. The winery uses no pesticides or herbicides but isn’t certified organic because, as Thomas explains, “even organic products can kill the bees.” Instead, they're pursuing the environmentally friendly certification HVE: Haute Valeur Environmentale or High Environmental Value.

Landscaping projects still to be completed include more trees and the creation of a large pond surrounded by vines. Future goals include acquiring more land for grapes, the production of honey (they have bees) and creating a hiking path through the vines. In the future, special events might include outdoor film screenings; I would think that watching an epic drama about Napoléon on a property once owned by one of his Generals, at a winery owned by the film director, not so far from the famous Route de Napoleon, would be quite magical indeed.

For the time being, tastings at Mas des Infermières are free; walk-ins are welcome but groups should book ahead. The actual winemaking, barrel and labeling rooms are closed to the public but visits may be arranged by special request. A few different guided tours will be offered, by reservation, starting in April; a VIP tour will include a seated tasting of older vintages (2011, 2014, etc.). All details will appear on the website soon. Until then, follow them on Facebook and Instagram for updates! 

Mas des Infermières
1575 Route du Four Neuf
84580 Oppede, France
+33 (0)4 90 75 66 16
masdesinfermieres.com
Winter Hours: 10 to 12:30 and 2 to 6, Tues through Sat. Closed Sun and Mon.

Summer Hours: 10 to 7 daily.

Photos: (1) The winery at sunset. (2) Mr. Scott started with 11 hectares of vines and now has 30; he hopes to have more soon. (3) Ridley at home in Provence. (4) Ground was broken for the new winery in 2018 but Covid stalled the construction; it finally opened to the public a few months ago. You can clearly see how the architect referenced classic Provencal architecture in the design. (5-7) The dramatic entrance, tasting room and shop. (8) Sommelier Thomas Camilleri runs the tasting room and oversees wine tourism. (9-11) The tank, barrel and labeling rooms are currently closed to the public but might be part of upcoming tours. Tour details will be announced soon. (12, 13) Ridley Scott drew the lovely wine-label illustrations himself.  (14) The carignan harvest in 2021. A late frost wiped out as much as 45% of  the grapes.  (15-17) At the winery, movie memorabilia from Mr. Scott's career includes a space suit from the Martian, a poster for A Good Year (filmed down the road) and blown-up movie stills like this one from Thelma & Louise.  (18) Want to sleep among the vines? Three elegant vacation rentals (like this one) are being built. (19) My friend Celine (in an adorable photo from 1973) grew up just down the road from the winery and calls this part of the Luberon "The most beautiful place on earth." (20) The winery is a stone's throw from the medieval village of Oppède le Vieux, the oldest part of which is super historic, largely abandoned and fantastic to explore on foot. 

Note: The annual Festival de Nimes (June 17 to July 24, 2022) features a wide range of concerts in Nimes' stunning Roman amphitheater. A highlight this year  (on June 25) will be “Gladiator Live" – a cine-concert featuring Ridley Scott’s multi-Oscar-winning film shown on a giant screen  accompanied by 200 musicians and singers. The film will be shown in English, with French subtitles. For info: festivaldenimes.com.