A festival of wine in the Luberon

With 650 references, its cellar is not the largest in France, but it enjoys an excellent reputation for its rigorous selection of estates, in which Rhone Valley wines prevail, and for its original presentation at table. At Mas des Herbes Blanches, every menu and dish is in fact offered with a different wine! The name “Bacchus Symphonies”, rings with the promise of a joyous feast. Michel Granier, the sommelier who spent three years in Atlanta, in the United States, takes great pains to find the ideal wine for each dish, in a “wine by the glass” formula that has been widely tried and tested amongst the clientele. “We do everything we can to bring out the flavours to the maximum”, said manager Evelyne Juillard.

The same rigour is to be found at the traditional tasting on the 5th December, attended by a hundred sommeliers. This year, pride of place is given to female winemakers! Those whose wines will be presented are: Laurence Feraud of Domaine du Pégau, Colette Faller of Domaine Weinbach, Caroline Frey of Château la Lagune, Christine Vernay of Domaine Georges Vernay and Marainne Soria of Domaine Peyre Rose. Young chef, Benoît Vidal, who has had an exemplary career to date (Marcon, Guérard...), will be offering serving suggestions on the theme “Twenty thousand leagues on the earth”.

After Philippe Faure-Brac, patron of the 2004 event - and world’s best sommelier in 1992 -, Pascal Vincent, who is in charge of the cellars at the Bastide de Gordes and was previously head sommelier at Taillevent, and Fabrice Langlois, sommelier at Château de Beaucastel, will lead the afternoon session. In the presence of the specialist press, these talented people will then gather in the evening for a gala dinner accompanied by prestigious wines.