Wine Tours on the French Riviera

Bellet is one of France's smallest appellations: a handful of family estates on the hills above Nice, overlooking the Var valley. Its whites are made mainly from Rolle (Vermentino), its reds and rosés from rare local grapes such as Braquet and Folle Noire that are hardly grown anywhere else.

Côtes de Provence is Provence's largest appellation, and nearly all of its wine is rosé — dry and pale, from Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah. Its vineyards run from the Saint-Tropez peninsula (Ramatuelle, Gassin, La Croix-Valmer) inland across the Var to Les Arcs-sur-Argens, Lorgues and La Motte. Further west, near Toulon, Bandol is known for deep, age-worthy reds made from Mourvèdre.

The shortest format is a tasting workshop in town: in a couple of hours a sommelier explains how to taste and pours a selection of Provence wines. A half-day tour usually visits one or two estates — from Nice, most often in Bellet. A full day takes in two or three wineries, lunch in Provence and often a stop in a hilltop village such as Saint-Paul-de-Vence.

At the estate you usually walk the vines and see the cellar, then taste several wines, sometimes with cheese or local snacks — and you can buy the bottles you liked on the spot. Many small estates only receive visitors by appointment, which is why a tour with a set schedule is the easiest way in.