WINE ESTATE / B&B

Château de Saint-Martin

CÔTES DE PROVENCE – TARADEAU

Route des Arcs
83460 Taradeau
04 94 99 76 76
www.chateaudesaintmartin.com
PRICE RANGE – MODERATE

To say that you step into the past crossing the threshold of this château in the Var hinterland is a grave understatement. Close to the Via Aurelia, the site was once occupied by a Roman villa. From the 10^th century until the early 18^th it was a monastery. And since 1740 is has been continuously passed down from mother to daughter – a source of pride to Adeline de Barry who took over from her mama, the Comtesse de Gasquet, in 1996. Portraits of aristocratic women are all over the place – even on the wine labels.

With 40h of vines, a massive tasting room and a swish new winery, this is an estate of some substance, producing an extensive range in the middle price bracket. My favourite is the red Comtesse de Saint-Martin Cuvée Vieilles Vignes with a few years of bottle age ; there’s a countess with a plunging décolleté on the label ‘because it’s such a sensual wine,’ Adeline says.

But the chance to stay (even for a night) in a grand old house where the clock still seems set to 1800 may be an even greater lure than the Saint-Martin wines. There are four charmingly old-fashioned rooms (part of Lady Chatterley’s Lover was filmed in No 2), and if you are a well-behaved guest you will no doubt be allowed to see the tiny private chapel with its exquisite, centuries-old vestments.