An afternoon at Château La Coste

{Foreword: we visited Chateau La Coste this time last year, when the vegetation was still dormant. The domain is a great destination for off season visits, with a reasonable amount of visitors and mild weather.}

After leaving Aix-en-Provence and its busy neighbourhoods, the winding road descends through a forest of pine trees and cork-oaks. After a 15km drive, at the bottom of a small valley, the eye catches a glimpse of metallic silver reflections.
You have arrived at Château La Coste.

Impressive concrete gates (from superstar architect Tadao Ando) mark the entrance of the domaine. The visitor is then welcomed by the beautiful Art Centre (also by T. Ando), a concrete and glass building surrounded by a shallow pool of water. A giant steel and bronze spider (Crouching Spider by Louise Bourgeois) stands guard in the pool.
The Art Centre is the reception area, and holds a great bookshop and a restaurant.
You can have a look at the estate map here.

Wine, Art, Architecture and Gastronomy. This is what Château La Coste is all about. 220 hectares where vines, buildings built by the greatest architects, and impressive works of art live in harmony.

The winery was designed by Jean Nouvel. It is composed of two curved aluminium structures, housing the latest technology in winemaking. All the wines produced by Chateau La Coste are organic. If you want to deepen your knowledge in wine, workshops and tastings are organized throughout the year.

Chateau La Coste is also an art centre, with a rich cultural programming: exhibitions, open air movies, concerts (in the Pavillon de Musique designed by F. Gehry), …

We strongly recommend you take the Art & Architecture Visit, where you can wander freely through the wooded hilltops and valleys of the domaine to discover the many contemporary art installations, alongside olive groves and vineyards.

Many world-renowned artists and architects were invited to visit the domaine and discover the beauty of Provence. They were encouraged to choose a place in the landscape that spoke directly to them and were given the freedom to create a work that would live there.

The domaine is also a celebration of food. It holds no less than 4 restaurants, including the first European restaurant of the Argentine celebrity chef Francis Mallmann. We enjoyed a lovely glass of their house red wine on the wonderful terrace of the Tadao Ando Restaurant, while watching the sun go down on the vines.  

If you do not want to leave this peaceful haven at the end of the day (and if you’re willing to spend a small fortune), you can spend the night on this gorgeous estate. Sitting on the hillside of the domain, the Villa La Coste is a luxury hotel and spa, composed of 28 villa suites and of a Michelin star restaurant. It has recently become one of France’s 31 Palaces.

You can also head back to lovely Aix-en-Provence for the night, which is only 30 minutes away and is well worth a visit. You can read about five of our favourite places to visit here.

https://chateau-la-coste.com/en/
2750, route de la Cride, 13610 Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade (see on map)

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