Earlier this month I was on holiday in the South of France – we had rented a fabulous house just north of Aix-En-Provence and had 12 thirsty guests to feed, water and generally entertain for the week. I soon hatched a plan which would kill all three birds with one stone for the first day:
Beautiful Sainte Victoire
First ‘Bird’ to deal with: Entertain the guests
After arriving in Marseille – we rented cars and went straight to Sainte Lucie where we were met by the enthusiastic and charismatic winemaker Guillaume for a winery tour. There was a slight language barrier: Guillaume could speak French and a little Spanish and English and we could speak English with a little French and Spanish. Soon enough we were going through the finer points of winemaking in a combination of European languages.
The gates to MiP HQ
Second ‘Bird’ to deal with: Watering the guests
Once the winery tour was done, we headed out of the cellar to tasting room. With the temperature outside hitting 35 C, Guillaume hauled endless bottles of white and rose out of the fridge to quench our thirst. Soon the language barrier was not a problem as the international language of ‘drink’ soon came out. Once finished, we came to a swift conclusion that MiP Rosé and MiP White were an amazing option when it comes to bang-for-buck!
Lunchtime – Provence Style
Third ‘Bird’ to deal with: Feeding the guests
Once the wine was loaded up in the cars, I got into, what can only be described as, a ‘souped up’ dune buggy, to lead the convoy to the restaurant for lunch. Guillaume, who was driving, set off at 60 mph going sideways around a corner leaving my stomach and the rest of the convoy in a cloud of dust behind us. Once safely at the restaurant we had a delightful lunch sipping on Made In Provence Premium Rosé whilst gazing over the rolling vineyards in Sainte Victoire.
I suppose I killed a fourth bird as well. Domaine Sainte Lucie and Domaine des Diables are certainly hot property in the summer months. Having now met Guillaume and visited his property, I am certainly a lot more educated in L&S’s most popular summer wine.