If you are in Provence and looking for something different to do—in between touring Roman ruins and visiting hilltop villages—I’ve got the answer:  Kick off your shoes, climb into a huge oak barrel filled with grapes, and start stomping.  That’s what Provence WineZine photographer Pamela O’Neill and I did earlier this month when we visited Les Pastras, an organic farm, located in the southern part of the Luberon, most known for their truffles.  We had a ball, not to mention felt a little like Lucille Ball in her iconic I Love Lucy episode about her adventure stomping grapes. I’ve written about Les Pastras in previous…

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Cannes is the quintessential French Riviera resort, renowned for its glamour and bling year-round.  Come May and the internationally acclaimed Cannes Film Festival, the Promenade de la Croisette that wraps around the waterfront, passing the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès where the festival is held, will swell with even more rich and famous folks who have flocked to Cannes to rub shoulders with celebrities and, oh yes, see a few film premieres. It’s hard to imagine Cannes as an unassuming fishing village, but it was… until after World War II and the inception of the Film Festival.  It would have happened without the movies,…

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Recently, I told a group of people we are meeting in Provence that “It all begins Sunday evening with l’apéro,” prompting many of those people to sheepishly inquire exactly how Sunday evening would commence. What is l’apéro? It is a derivative of the Latin word aperire, which means “to open,” and refers to opening the palate for a later meal. It’s the beverage—called an apéritif—that is served to whet the appetite, but its full meaning encompasses the whole social occasion in which this imbibing takes place. It’s the drink—always accompanied by a little bite to eat—and the convivial experience of getting together with others, making…

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There is no shortage of places to go, people to see, or things to do in Provence, especially in August when festivals of every sort abound. But many of these events, understandably, are not geared to include children.Let’s agree that children typically sit too much nine months out of the year, generally don’t like to sit, and are better off reaping the benefits of moving about in the fresh air and sunshine, particularly on vacation. (Ahem, perhaps this rings even more true for adults.) Our daughter traveled everywhere with us—from the time she was four months and came along to Buenos Aires to now, when…

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Enjoying an aperitif before dinner is a distinctly European tradition, especially popular in Provence and Italy (where it is called an aperitivo). Americans have been reluctant to embrace this practice, but this is changing in our country: bartenders are serving up the classic aperitifs to enthusiastic customers and stateside winemakers and distillers are producing the stuff that define these drinks, namely fortified wines and spirits imbued with herbs and botanicals. So, what is an aperitif? Literally, the word comes from the Latin aperire which means “to open.” It is served prior to a meal (usually dinner) and its role is to “open the appetite.” It…

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Provence—today, the very word conjures up images of sipping rosé: on the beaches of the Côte d’Azur, by the pool of a handsome mas nestled into the garrigue-covered hills in the Luberon, in outdoor cafés along Cours Mirabeau in Aix-en-Provence, with bouillabaisse in Marseille’s vieux port, and, for some folks, in yachts docked at St. Tropez. Mon dieu, rosé was born in Provence and, well, bred there, too. The Greeks introduced rosé when they arrived in Marseille, some 2500 years ago. They planted grape vines throughout the South of France and produced red wine so pale—the grape skins and juice were not together long enough…

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Sacha Lichine, the man behind the wine at Château d’Esclans, was in his old stomping grounds this week. In Boston for the city’s Wine Expo, I caught up with him at the Seaport Hotel where he was hosting a seminar on—guess what—the four tiers of luscious rosé produced in his now well-known Côtes de Provence château. In ascending order of quality, our tasting at the seminar would include Whispering Angel (2013), Château d’Esclans (2012), Les Clans (2010 and 2011), and Garrus (2010 and 2011). In the 1980s, Lichine worked as a sommelier just a few blocks away at the renowned Anthony’s Pier 4. Back then,…

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Corsica is a gorgeous French island just 100 miles (170 km) off the southeast coast of Provence and a short flight (45 minutes) from Marseille. Its main draw has long been its striking beaches–some 200 of them totaling over 600 miles of the island’s coastline–but did you know that its wines are also a growing reason to visit L’Ile de Beauté? (And yes, Corsica is also known for its notorious mafia of French Connection fame and, more recently, for the mafia’s connection to the Paris apartment where French President Hollande had been conducting his romantic tryst with actress Julie Gayet…but I digress.) I was probably…

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My advice is to find some Muscat de Beaumes de Venise and forget the confusion of what to call them! What’s in a name? That which we call a twice-baked almond-honey cookie by any other name would smell as sweet. Apologies to Shakespeare (who, by the way, would have called them biscuits!). Part two of a three-part series about what you may find in Provence after the “big supper” (otherwise known as the “Gros Souper”) on Christmas Eve. Called “the thirteen desserts of Christmas” or “Les Treize Desserts de Noël,” tradition dictates that the desserts consist of dried fruit and nuts, fresh fruit, and sweets…

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 “Calissons” is the first of a three-part series that focuses on what you may find in Provence after the “big supper” (otherwise known as the “Gros Souper”) on Christmas Eve,  Called “the thirteen desserts of Christmas” or “Les Treize Desserts de Noël,” tradition dictates that the desserts consist of dried fruit and nuts, fresh fruit, and sweets totaling 13 desserts to represent Jesus Christ and his 12 apostles at the Last Supper. The desserts are set out after Midnight Mass, all at once, on three layers of white table cloths (that represent the Holy Trinity). People who live in Provence know that everyone should take…

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