Wine Tastings, Winery Visits and Wine Tours in Provence

Provence wine tasting: which estates to visit

Most of the wine tastings on this page take place at more than a dozen estates and châteaux in two departments: the Var, along the coast from Bandol to Fréjus and inland to Draguignan and Brignoles, and the Bouches-du-Rhône, around Aix-en-Provence. Bandol is about 50 km from Marseille by road. The tastings usually last one to two hours, with 3 to 7 wines, often a white, a rosé and a red. The page also lists wine tours, most of them from Marseille.

Which Provence wineries should you visit?

Among the most booked on this page in the last two years, all of them in the Var:

• Domaines Bunan, in La Cadière-d'Azur, in the Bandol appellation, the most booked of all: an audio guide voiced by the Bunan family leads you through the estate's collection of grape varieties and its cellars, then you taste 6 wines.
• Château Mouresse, in Vidauban: a family estate where Maxime and Emma show you the vines and the cellar, then pour a white, a rosé and a red.
• Jas des Oliviers, a family vineyard in Fréjus, in the Côtes de Provence Fréjus area: a cellar visit and at least 4 wines.
• Domaine Sainte Marie, in Bormes-les-Mimosas: an organic estate where you taste at least 5 wines straight from the tank. Other visits add a mountain-bike loop, or compare a wine aged under the sea with one aged in the cellar.
• Château Carqueiranne, between Toulon and Hyères: new owners took over in 2023 and the vineyard is young. You taste 4 wines with small bites.
• Domaine Rabiega, in Draguignan: after the tasting and a look at its egg-shaped vats, you sit down to a three-course lunch at the estate's bistro.

Côtes de Provence, Bandol or Coteaux d'Aix: which wine area should you choose?

It depends on what you like to drink: pale rosé in the Côtes de Provence, Mourvèdre reds in Bandol. Around Aix and in the centre of the Var, the Coteaux d'Aix and the Coteaux Varois make rosé, white and red.

• Côtes de Provence: by far the largest appellation, from the Var coast to Mont Sainte-Victoire, with more tastings on this page than any other. Château de Mauvanne, in Hyères, a cru classé since 1955, pours 6 wines and has a trail through the vines, with signs explaining each grape variety. Château de la Galinière, in Châteauneuf-le-Rouge, farms organically at the foot of Sainte-Victoire and pours 6 wines.
• Bandol: terraced vines above the sea between Marseille and Toulon. The red must be at least half Mourvèdre and age at least 18 months in oak. Domaine Pieracci, an organic estate in Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer, pours 6 Bandol and Côtes de Provence wines.
• Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence: nearly 4,500 hectares around Aix. Château de Calavon, in Lambesc, also grows olives and pours 5 wines. In Le Tholonet, Château Henri Bonnaud is in Palette, a separate and tiny appellation on the edge of Aix.
• Coteaux Varois en Provence: 28 villages in the centre of the Var, with vines at 350 to 500 metres. Château Margüi, in Châteauvert, part of George Lucas's Skywalker Vineyards since 2017, pours 7 organic wines. At Domaine La Gayolle, in La Celle, a 6 km quest past Gallo-Roman ruins and a Romanesque chapel ends with 6 wines.

What wine is Provence known for?

Rosé: nearly 9 in 10 bottles of Provence wine are rosé, and Provence is France's leading rosé region. These rosés are usually pale, made mainly from Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Tibouren. Rosé is rarely all you taste, though: many tastings on this page pour a white and a red alongside it.

Can you take a Provence wine tour from Marseille or Aix?

Yes, on one of the more than 40 wine tours on this page: most leave from Marseille, a few from Aix-en-Provence or Nice, and more than half stop at two or more wineries. They go to Cassis and Bandol, to Château La Coste and Sainte-Victoire near Aix, to the Luberon or the Alpilles, and nearly one in five heads into the Rhône Valley, to Châteauneuf-du-Pape or Avignon. A few are private, such as a full day at three crus classés from Nice.

When is the best time for a wine tasting in Provence?

From July to October: this page has few bookings so far, but nearly three in four fall in those months, July above all. Some estates, such as Château de Calavon, are open all year. Many of these tastings can also be given as a gift: whoever receives the voucher picks the date.