Estate Tours
Wine tasting and buying at the estate
Our estate is open to all to come and taste our wines.
No need to book and it's free! However, a quick phone call before the visit can save you from a moment when we're away. It can happen. We're a small, family-run estate.
You're sure to come away with a few good bottles, happy to have spent a convivial moment at the foot of our vines in an idyllic setting.
You'll be greeted by the oldest family member, Jean-Pierre, owner of the estate and father of Nathalie, our female winemaker.
Estate tour and tastings
For those who want to know more about how our wines are made, we offer a complete tour of our vineyards and winery, followed by a tasting session.
This experience, which lasts 1h30 to 2h, including the tasting, allows you to discover how our 3 wine colours (white, rosé, red) are made, to understand the parameters that determine the uniqueness of each, those that depend on our terroir and those that the winemaker can intervene on to obtain the type of wine required.
The visit is divided into 3 parts:
Presentation of the estate, the wines, positioning within the Côtes de Provence appellation, and notion of terroir.
A stroll through the 24 vineyard plots and 8 grape varieties, explaining the influence of climate, grape varieties, soil, vineyard work and soil throughout the 4 seasons. Our organic farming certification expresses our desire to make wines as close to nature as possible.
Visit the winery, highlighting the different stages of vinification according to wine colour and the main characteristics of the final product. Continuing our work in the vineyard, we insist on our objective of using no external inputs and letting the wine express the terroir from which it comes.
Since the 2022 harvest, we have been producing exclusively natural wines.
The tour ends with tasting our 3 wine colours in the shade of the mulberry tree.
Price: €80 fixed price for up to 4 people. 20€ per additional person.
By appointment, by telephone at 0494044674 or by email: leclosdalari@sfr.fr
Enology workshops
More in-depth half-day tours, with an introduction to enology,
are also available by appointment, as part of a B&B (wine stay) or otherwise.
The estate is the ideal place to learn about enology,
the science of studying and understanding wines.
Our objectives
At the end of this half-day workshop :
You will have understood the scope of a winemaker's work, a combination of 2 completely different professions: viticulture and vinification.
The winemaker's adaptation to his terroir and appellation of origin. His room for maneuvering and the choices available define his range of wines and his level of quality requirements.
You'll be introduced to the vocabulary of wine, whether to read what's indicated on a label and often on the back label or to comment on a tasting.
You'll have the keys to objectively recognizing a wine's quality characteristics.
The program
Whether you're staying in a B&B or visiting from out of town, everything is available on-site in a particularly promising environment:
1/ At the bastide
To welcome you in the best conditions in a family atmosphere, introduce you to the estate, and our range of wines put them into a regional and national context for the final wine-tasting stage. We benefit from a Mediterranean climate that's ideal for getting away from it all for the duration of the session.
2/ In the vineyards
With plots of land surrounding the living quarters and the winery, you'll learn about the grape varieties and their influence on the wines produced.
The walk between the bastide and the winery allows you to immerse yourself in the site through the vines, olive trees and truffle oaks. You'll better understand the notion of terroir and its components: climate, soil, grape varieties and the winegrower's know-how. We discover the cycles of the vine, the work required, and the constraints to be overcome throughout to obtain grapes of optimum quality. Most of the parameters of wine quality lie in the vine and how it is worked. The notion of organic cultivation and respect for the environment are also emphasized in this idyllic setting.
3/ In the cellar
During your visit to the winery, we'll explain the winemaking process, fermentations and the differences between different types of wine: colour, ageing or non-ageing wines, still or bubbly wines, and conventional or natural wines. We talk about wine ageing and the influence of the container.
On the way back to the bastide, we summarize the activities carried out by the winemaker:
Choosing plant material, planting young vines, pruning in winter, accompanying vegetative growth in spring, determining harvest date, the precision required for vinification, blending, and multiple options for ageing.
A distinction is made between :
What is imposed on the winemaker: climate, terroir. His room for manoeuvre: new plantings, cultivation methods, a mix of existing grape varieties and wines produced, winemaking methods.
4/ Tasting
This is the final stage. The entire visit to the estate and the presentation of the winemaking process has provided the knowledge to understand the singularities of a wine better.
To identify a wine's objective characteristics, you must understand the connection between its components, the winemaking process and the tasting phases.
This step is primarily intended to be practical and ultimately fully appreciated.
Nevertheless, as the tastings progress, the sensory mechanisms involved (vision, taste, smell) and practical methodology will be presented using the example of a tasting sheet.
Practical details
3h30 to 4h session led by Paul Vautrin, husband of Nathalie, the woman winemaker in charge of the estate and owner of the bastide.
Paul is an agri-food engineer, fully committed to the estate, and keen to pass on his passion for wine through this workshop.
Generally, the session takes place in the morning from 9 am to 1 pm. Afternoons are available on request.
Registration is subject to availability at least 48 hours in advance.
Contact us by telephone: 04 94 04 46 74 or by e-mail: leclosdalari@sfr.fr
Promotional rate: €80 fixed price for 2 people minimum. €40 per additional person.