“Welcome to Abbaye Saint Hilaire,” says fun loving,good-natured owner Philippe Burel, with his characteristic cheerful smile and little laugh. He greets us at the very long driveway of his estate, which includes a winery producing upwards of a half-million bottles of wine a year, 16 gites (a European word used to describe rooms outside a traditional hotel setting), a restaurant (Thursday – Sunday), and an enormous mountainside forest where you can find sheep, horses, and donkeys.

Philippe is an incredibly likeable fellow, and after he shows us to our super-clean, upscale gite in a gated courtyard called Mas de la Marotte, he invites us as special guests to share dinner with him and his charming wife Micha, who happens to be an excellent cook.

Philippe and Mischa live in the “big red house’ which is a three minute drive where Mas de la Marotte. As we dine and drink Philippe’s excellent white, rose, and red wines, we learn a bit about the history of the property. Philippe’s father had another winery, and jumped when he had the chance to buy these vineyards, the Mas de la Marotte gites (it had been a factory a hundred years earlier – the Burel family had modernized it and added new kitchens, baths, and decorative objects) and the forest.

Early the next morning Philippe takes us on a tour of the vineyards and the 1200 hectare hillside forest. The day is gorgeous and hot and sunny, yet we take his four-wheel drive vehicle because of some residual mud. As we drive through the vineyards, Philippe mentions that a while back a visitor decided to drive through the web forest without a four-wheel drive and got stuck. Horses and donkeys run wild through the forest during the winter so as to naturally “brush-cut” it to protect the environment.

Domaine de l’Abbaye de St Hilaire strives to respect the environment in all that they do through the application of the Terra Vitis and Agriculture Raisonnée (integrated farming) charters. Wood-chip furnaces are used to heat the Domaine de l’Abbaye St Hilaire buildings with chips taken directly from the forest. Each year, hundreds of sheep graze in the vineyard as a natural means of weeding their vines: integrated farming is applied to the entire vineyard operation in the Rhône Méditerranée basin through compliance with strict regulations, such as land farming (spreading and incorporating effluents from the wine cellar into the soil to initiate biological treatment), and complete traceability from the crop to the cellar, on a daily basis. These efforts have been rewarded by the complete absence of crop protection residues in their wines.



After the tour of the forest we see the winery, very modern and high tech, and have a tasting of all the wines. Like many of the wineries I’ve visited in Provence, the whites, roses, and reds come in three styles or quality levels. “Tentation” is designed to be the entry-level wine for whites and roses with a bit more residual sugar than the other lines.

The second line is the Domeni traditional cuvee (white, rose, and red), which is the perfect way to discover the typicity of Abbaye St. Hilaire wines and is a cuvee characterized by its crisp, fruit aromas and wild garrigue flavors. Parcels are selected based on their exposure, and are highly representative of the St. Hilaire terroir. Harvest begins at 5 a.m, the grapes are protected from oxidation at 8 degrees celsius for 24 hours, and then fermentation takes place for three weeks in temperature controlled vats at 18 degrees Celsius so that the flavor of the terroir prevails over technology.

The third line (rose and red only) is Prieur, which represents top of the line quality and particular care in the vineyard and winery. The Prieur Rose 2009 is a gorgeous color with a complex nose of mango and tropical fruit, and a rich supple palate with sophisticated fruit and a tannic finish. The red (a blend of syrah, cinsault, grenache, cabernet sauvignon, and others) has a rich toast nose with hints of vanilla and dark chocolate, and on the palate full bodied with a finish of black licorice.

In addition to the gites, the forest, and the delicious wine, Philippe’s estate also includes an ancient church, that was also used for worshipping gods before Christianity. The church (a statue above) is about to be reconstructed into an Inn. I was able to see the Monks quarters – very interesting! I should mention that in addition to the church, the estate offers a gorgeous air-conditioned meeting room with chandeliers and artwork that match the 1930s period it was built.


I enjoyed the wines of Abbaye St. Hilaire (now available in the United States, check out the wine-searcher tool to find them) and meeting Philippe and his wife. I really enjoyed my time at Mas de la Marotte – it has a lovely swimming pool and the rooms are very comfortable. Of course, I must admit that I love French films, and feel that this delightful courtyard gite would be the ideal setting for a coming of age story where teenagers, both visiting with their families, fall in love amidst the vines …

Abbaye Saint Hilaire
Philippe BUREL 
Route de Rians RD3- 83470 Ollières
http://www.abbayesainthilaire.com/fr/index.php
Tel: 04 98 05 40 10
contact@abbayesainthilaire.com

You can also find more information on Provence at the wines of provence web site