This week our tour group were treated to the most extensive tasting yet at Domaine de la Solitude, the complete range including a three vintage vertical of Barberini back to 1999, and a three vintage vertical of their exclusive haut de gamme “Reserve Secret”, 2007, 2004 and 2001. Our favourite: the black olive and herb 2001 Barberini…really superb. Well worth the price of the meal I bought for wine maker Florent Lancon at Verger des Papes! The other picture features the same group enjoying a picnic amongst the vines at Roche Audran…a hot day but we managed to find some shade and feasted on ricotta pie with roasted stuffed peppers washed down with Vincent’s marvellous “Pere Mayeux”. Happy days.

A new site collating everything the foodie and wine enthusiast needs to know about Provence has launched under the expert guidance of Irish journalist Mary Dowey. Mary’s work may well be familiar to readers of Decanter, she is a regular free lance contributor…she also writes the wine column for Dublin based “The Gloss” and is a wine educator and wine events organizer. Mary has owned a house in our region for many years and is superbly savvy about everywhere and everybody who counts in the world of gourmet Provence ….the site looks great, is easy to navigate and though just launched and awaiting new entries is already a terrific resource, congratulations Mary! Check out the site at: www.provencefoodandwine.com