Provence Food & Wine: Markets, Vineyards & Local Flavours
Olive oil, sun-filled wines, Provençal markets: here, the table is part of the journey. You're staying where three terroirs meet — the Costières de Nîmes, the Rhône valley and the Alpilles — one of the finest larders in France.
Here's how to build a beautiful basket, find the wineries to visit, and carry the good things home, all a short hop from our houses.
Markets & specialties to taste
Markets set the rhythm of the week in Provence. The Halles de Nîmes (every morning) are the essential stop, a covered hall where regulars take their coffee at the counter between stalls. Beaucaire, Tarascon, Saint-Rémy and Avignon all have their open-air markets too, colourful and fragrant — check the days, they rotate through the week.
Must-tastes
Brandade de Nîmes (salt cod whipped with olive oil, a local institution), pélardon (the AOP goat's cheese of the Cévennes), Picholine olives and tapenade, Villaret biscuits (the oldest biscuit in Nîmes) and the caladon, a honey-and-almond biscuit. Enough to improvise a Provençal aperitivo on the terrace, with a chilled glass of Costières.
The local wines
You're in wine country, and the variety is rare: within an hour you go from the garrigue to the rolled pebbles of the Rhône.
- Costières de Nîmes: the appellation wrapping around the city, on pebble terraces — generous reds and easy-drinking rosés, often kindly priced.
- Tavel & Lirac: right by Les Angles, Tavel is France's only exclusively-rosé cru, a true food rosé with more backbone than you'd expect; Lirac makes excellent reds.
- Châteauneuf-du-Pape & Gigondas: a little further north, the great names of the southern Rhône, about an hour away — for a day of wine touring through the hilltop villages of the Vaucluse.
Olive oil
Provence is also liquid gold. Close by, the Vallée des Baux produces a renowned AOP olive oil, and the mills are open to visit — a chance to grasp the difference between a table olive and an oil olive, and to leave with this year's tin. On the markets, taste before you buy: from powerful green-fruit to round, ripe styles, there's an oil for every dish.
Colours & landscapes
Through the seasons, lavender (mid-June to mid-July), sunflowers (July) and vines (russet in autumn) dress the landscapes. Good reasons to take the road of hilltop villages, olive mills and tasting cellars — camera over the shoulder.
Our gourmet weekend
For those who want to live the terroir rather than skim it: Saturday morning, the market (the Halles de Nîmes or the Saint-Rémy market), and you build the basket for lunch. Saturday afternoon, off to Tavel or Lirac for two or three cellars and a tasting. Sunday, an olive mill in the Vallée des Baux in the morning, lunch in a hilltop village, and an easy drive back through the vines. All of it cooked and savoured on the terrace of the house — the whole point of staying in a gîte rather than a hotel.
FAQ
Where can I shop for the market near the Nîmes apartments?
At the Halles de Nîmes, a few minutes on foot — open every morning, including Sundays.
Can I visit wineries without an appointment?
Often yes in the Costières, Tavel and Lirac, in the afternoon, for the open cellars. For Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas and smaller growers, it's best to call ahead.
What's the must-taste specialty of Nîmes?
Brandade de morue, without a doubt — eaten on the spot or carried home in a jar from the Halles.
When can I see the lavender?
From mid-June to mid-July depending on altitude and weather. The most famous fields are on the Valensole plateau, further east, for a bigger day trip.