Château de la Gaude

The Château de la Gaude is the working vineyard and gastronomic table on the road north of Aix — the AOP Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence production, the cellar tour through the seventeenth-century buildings, the long terrace lunch facing the Sainte-Victoire that the Aix locals have built into the weekly rotation. The kitchen is the polished Provençal menu the room demands.

Book the terrace lunch at 13h, take the cellar tour beforehand, drink the estate rosé through the meal. The address is the right Aix answer for the half-day vineyard visit that ends in the long lunch — and the kind of address that the visiting clients still consider the most credible Aix vineyard experience.

The Aix vineyard lunch on the slow Sunday.