I'm heading off to Nice at the end of March. Any suggestions for wine tasting locations near Nice or Monte Carlo?

We were in Nice 6 months ago. Lots of restaurants, of course, but we didn't look for any wine tasting places. By the way, the beaches there are gravel. That may be OK for Europe, but I'll take sand over gravel any day.

Make sure you see the Russian Orthodox Church and take a trip above the city to St. Paul de Vence.

Thanks for the tip! Anyone else? Hellooooo...

I can't speak to vineyards to visit, but I second St Paul de Vence. There are tremendous restaurants there in St Paul proper, and then just a little way outside of town, Clos des Arts has a lovely view looking back at the hilltop town.

Another town along that coast (bet. Nice and Monaco) is Villefrance, a little less "fancy" than many other places. There's a nice little seafood place right on the water called Oursin Bleu that's pretty good.

Eze village is also pretty cool, and if there's a female with you, it's worth touring Fragonard's perfume factory.

If you are living high on the hog, the Grand Hotel Cap Ferrat has a great restaurant and cozy little bar.

In Monaco, it's a different life, man. I have NEVER seen so many high-dollar cars anywhere - it's unbelievable, every other car is a rare Ferrari or Lamborghini. Anyway, onto wine - if you can talk your way into the wine cellar under the Hotel de Paris, you'll see a treasure. I posted about it a while back, you might search for it. One of my favorite hotels in Monaco is the recently renovated Metropole - really great feel and the Robuchon restaurant there is awesome. Of course the Ducasse restaurant in the de Paris is spectacular[ly expensive] (three mich. stars). For a great view, go up to the Vista Palace hotel above town, though the food is good not great.

We lunch in a nice cafe in Villafranche. The place is loaded with them. Food and wine were good and decently priced.

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Originally posted by Board-O:
We lunch in a nice cafe in Villafranche. The place is loaded with them. Food and wine were good and decently priced.

Thanks, Board-O, for the memory. We took my daughter and a friend of hers to Europe for my daughter's 16th birthday. One of our stops was Villefranche. Was one of our favorite stops, the girls loved it. And yes, the place was loaded with great eateries, decent wine, along the shoreline, while the girls waded in the Mediterranean. Absolutely fabulous!

we'll be there in June. I think 5 days based in Nice, and 5 in Avignon. We'll be hitting Arles, Grasse, Monaco, and a few other places.
Major interest in seeing the Chagall museum.

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Originally posted by irwin:


Major interest in seeing the Chagall museum.

Chagall = greatness!

His work was insanely affordable prior to 1985!

Have a great trip!

Chagall is buried in a small cemetery in St. Paul de Vence. It's worth a visit. Continue up to the top of St. Paul de Vence and take the path down.

We were in Nice summer 2005. There is a very good, small wine shop on one of the streets that intersect with the Promenade Anglais (the main street that runs along the water). Unfortunately, I don't recall the name of the shop or the street that it's on, but it's no more than 50 yards north of the Promenade, so if you walk along the north side and look up the side streets, you will see the sign that says Vin above its door. It's a few blocks east of the large and recognizable Hotel Negresco. Or you could try asking locals. They had a very good selection of Bordeaux, with some aged bottles (quite a few '89 and '90; I bought '89 Beyecheville) at decent prices, as well as a lot of Provence and Languedoc wines which the owner (elderly woman) knows very well. Sorry I can't be more helpful about it, but that area isn't very large and if you're interested in getting some wine, the search isn't very difficult.

There's a really nice farm market in the old section further down the Promenade; besides the expected fruit, vegetables, breads, sausages, and tons of flowers, we saw quite a bit of small wood carving, pepper mills, pottery, etc. that could make unusual souvenirs. Worth a couple of hours to walk around there.

We spent a few days by Villefrance in Juan Les Pins. Countless bistros with various degrees of wine quality. Those private beach concessions are not quite my idea of "beaching it" though.

The best place for wine tasting is Burgundy ! Believe me, I am French ! It is not that far away from nice. Maybe there are some flight. I am not sure. But you will enjoy the red wines of Burgundy and the white such as Chablis ! I know a website which organises such wine tasting http://www.wineandprestige.com

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Originally posted by peter from paris:
I am French !

We all have our crosses to bear.

Hey, you want to buy a French army rifle? Only been dropped once.

quote:

Originally posted by ND:

Hey, you want to buy a French army rifle? Only been dropped once.

Thank you for the offer but usually, my friends accept to drink with me without being under the threat of a gun

Pierre:
There are people on this board who love the French and those who hate them. Don't take anyone too seriously.

Lucky you. Try La Part des Anges, 17, rue Gubernatis 06000, it's a wine bar that will also sell you bottles for takeaway. They do a few simple meals that are well-cooked and cheap but the principal attraction is the wine, and last year when I was there they had a wide selection from all over France, which is unusual, I picked up a Coche Dury there at a good price.

Squirreljam is right about the prices in Monaco, nothing's cheap there.

One thing you will find cheap is Bandol, and there'll be lots more examples then you can get back here, try them all but avoid 2002 vintage.

Nice has its own AOC of about 100 acres called Bellet which you can take a bus to, but it's pricey for what it is and you can sample Bellet in local restaurants on the Cours Saleya.

St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat has some nice harborfront restaurants that aren't too pricey, and after your meal there's a beautiful walk along the ocean that you can take that leads you by David Niven's house and back to Beaulieu sur Mer.

If you have a car while you're there the Cotes de Provence AOC is about an hour out of Nice and is huge - good wineries near St Tropez in Gassin and around Les Arcs, but besides the high-end and somewhat overpriced Domaines Ott this is rose and basic red country. The scenery is beautiful though so the wine tastes better. Be careful if you drive the blood alcohol level is low and being stopped by the police would be a bummer.

For sightseeing, if you have a car, check out:

Grand Canyon du Verdon (full day trip - 2 hours from Nice)
The Var and Haut Var wine country and the Abbaye du Thoronet
The coastal drive on the Esterel (only about 30 minutes from Nice)
Gourdon (about 30 minutes)
Sospel and the Alpine roads to the Italian border
Zip into Italy for gnocchi on a Thursday in Ventimiglia or go to Docleacqua for tasting Liguria's best red wine (it's not that great but it's a nice town only 20 minutes over the border from France)

By bus/train:

Antibes and the Cap d'Antibes
Grasse
Menton, Cap Martin and Cap Ferrat
Cannes
Biot (a glassware hilltown)
Eze

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm meeting my two brothers there for a week. They're not much into wine, so we'll see how deep into it I can push them. Would love to go to Burgundy, but I don't think we're going to make it that far.

Hi Sean,

I'm heading off to Menton, Nice, Cannes in July. I was told there are two wineries in Nice. Chateau de Bellet (tel: 33 493 37 81 57, Ghislain de Charnace) and Les Coteaux de Bellet (tel: 33 493 85 13 92, 325 Chemin de Saquier). If you go, let me know what they were like. ENJOY!

oops, I'm a little late! Didn't read your date. Sorry Sean. Hope you found some in Nice though when you were there.