lrice

Hi all, I am working on another trip. From Nice, we want to take a day trip to SPDV and thought it would be nice to stop at a winery while we are out of the city. I read about Le Petit Vigneau Winery.

Has anyone been here? Or have any other suggestions for a visit to a winery?

Thank you!

gooster

I'm not familiar with that one --- I think it may be closed. The only collection of multiple wineries in the area are in Bellet, a section of Nice. This summer, the city is running shuttle buses on the weekend for wine tastings.

lrice

Thanks Gooster! Is there a website for me to to research? Or do you know how to find the shuttles?

shelemm

Not sure if this is helpful, but I consulted Guide Hachette online, using the search term Bellet, where it seems the vineyards are clustered.

The wines that receive a "coup de coeur" rating and are regularly open for visits are:
Chateau de Cremat - Chateau visit, tastings
Domaine do la Source, vineyard visit, tastings
Collet de Bovis, guided visit with tasting

https://www.hachette-vins.com

StuDudley

I live in Northern California and have a huge wine collection. We drink a bottle of $25 - $35 wine every night. We spend 2 months in France most years & I do the same there (although France has equal (if not better) and less expensive wines than the USA has, IMO). I drank a Bellet in Nice once & thought it was horrible. Make sure you know what you are getting into before you spend an entire day searching for a local wine which you may not like at all.

I have never seen a Bellet wine at a US restaurant or wine shop (or a French restaurant either - except in Nice). The large wine shop where I purchase most of my wine (K&L) does not carry any Bellet.

Stu Dudley

lrice

Shelem, thank you!

Stu, are there good wineries near Cagney Sue Met or SPDV? Am I missing something? Or are
they all in other parts of France?

StuDudley

Neither Google Maps nor I know where Cagney Sue Met is. Perhaps you mean Cagnes sur Mer. We've spent 21 weeks on the Cote d'Azur - 4 weeks in St Jeannet near St Paul & Cagnes. No wineries near there that I would visit. Farther west in St Tropez and a little north of there are some interesting Rose wineries. And in Bandol there are some great reds & roses that I like. Chateau de Pibarnon. OK stuff around Aux - but our favorites are in Tavel (Rose) & the Cote du Rhone (Gigondas, Chateauneuf du Papes, & others) and the Dentelles (Voigner). My Provence/Cote d'Azur itinerary has some info.

See attached

Stu Dudley

shelemm

For the OP, in case you are not familiar with the term 'coup de coeur' it is like 'fall in love.' the rating applies to specific wines in specific years, so it does not apply to all wines that the vineyard sells. But it does mean that someone from the guide adored the wine. This is the single most comprehensive guide to French wine that goes into depth about the soil, aging, and other viticulture aspects of the vineyard.

bilboburgler

To the OP. France is riddled with vinyards except in the north.

I've never drunk a Bellet and since they can be white, rose or red I had a look. Vermentino (white) is an ok grape, nothing wonderful but fine. Folle Noir and Brachetto are not as good as Vermentino. That is not to say a great wine maker cannot make something interesting out of them but hardly the stuff you are likely to offer to the vicar.

Other grapes can be blended in so Cinsault and Grenache are good working wines, Chardonnay may be ok, Ugni Blanc (avoid).

Without putting a dampener on your visit you are close to the Rhone here and their wines are exceptional.

I offer no great hopes for Nice (others love it, I found it dull) but if you visit up the Rhone the wines will help pass the time well

gooster

The shuttles are going to be ending shortly, soon (link), unfortunately. (And you should reserve, if you go, say by uber) I thought you may have a car because the prior posts. The largest ones are as popular for their views, buildings and events, I think, as the wine like Chateau de Bellet and Chateau de Cremat. Here's the main site: Link

The Bellet wines are mostly not exported, as the AOC is tiny. Much of the production in the Cote d'Azur did not return following the blight of the 19th century. Thus there is only the 10 or 12 wineries left, 9 of them in Bellet. I agree with Stu, wine regions to explore are better found to points west, starting with the roses of the St. Tropez peninsula and in the Var or all the way in Western Provence\. We generally go on tasting trips to areas like the southern Rhone or add stops while near Saint Tropez/Ramatuelle and in/near the Luberon and Aix (as well as the rest of France) or go into Italy (the Barolo region is about 3ish hours by car). But with wine, even from a well known region you can find things you don't like (like the last bottle of Bandol rose I bought). We have a place in the Cote d'Azur but are from NorCal, not far from wine country.

wollastoni

Dear Irice,

You can find information in English about Provence wine and vineyards on Provence Web :
- about "Côtes de Provence" wine : https://www.provenceweb.fr/e/gastron...s-provence.htm
- about "Bellet wine" (much smaller vineyard) : https://www.provenceweb.fr/e/gastron...ellet-wine.htm

Hope it will be helpful. I highgly recommend visiting a vineyard while in Provence.
Olivier

lrice

Just closing the loop. This request was for my 26-year-old daughter who spent 4 nights in Paris and planned 2 weeks in Old Town Nice. She is a complete Francophile! Went to school at Sciences Po, lived in Nice for the summer after undergrad graduation, and lo and behold, she came home 3 days early. The heat in her un-air-conditioned apartment was too intense. She is a law school student so didn't have a choice on travel time but she said she will try to avoid August going forward.

They escaped to one night at the Carlton in Cannes and moved to La Reserve at Beaulieu-sur-Mer for the last two nights of their stay on the Riviera. But the heat combined with the tourists overwhelmed them

St. Paul de Vence was one of the highlights. It was not as crowded as Nice. They found a lovely old school cafe near Place Charles de Gaulle where they used their Fench and watched Petanque. They bought art from a small shop and patronized Maison de Parfums Godet on Rue Grande.

Thank you for all of the suggestions.

shelemm

You can do ok without air-conditioning if you are in an old building with thick walls and those top-hinged shutters that let air out but no sun in. If not, a/c in much of France in the summer is a must.

gooster

It was very hot in August this year, unusual in the highs and the duration of the highs. The tourist count also seemed very high before finally coming down the last five days. It would be even worse in the Old Town, with no AC and the density of tourists. For the others viewing the thread, tt is why you see it often recommended to stay elsewhere, where the density of tourists are lower and where more buildings have features like AC and elevators.

Interesting to hear that St. Paul de Vence was less crowded.... it usually is quite the opposite but I've not been in a few years.