La Coste, a peak of luxury

A path leads from the pavilion designed by Renzo Piano to the Villa La Coste, a passage in the undergrowth marked on the ground by slabs on which everyone takes care to place their feet. The space between each stone imposes the rhythm of the walk. The visitor who tries to reproduce his urban rhythm is prevented from doing so by the too close spacing. And skipping every other slab is no easier. The only solution to pleasantly walk the shaded path is to slow down the movement. These few hundred meters in nature, between vineyards, woods and works of art sum up the La Coste effect, an area that calms body and mind. Friends of the frenzy, go your way. Here, about fifteen kilometers from Aix-en-Provence, not far from the Luberon Regional Natural Park, we have chosen the long term and the end of internal turmoil.

READ ALSO: Dom Pérignon Rosé, flamboyant harmony

There was little when Mara McKillen discovered the property, but the essential was there: grapes, valleys, nature as far as the eye could see. A little higher, the remains of the old village of Puy-Sainte-Réparade, damaged by an earthquake at the beginning of the last century. The young Irishwoman from the North then stayed in Provence where she studied the local gastronomy with application. Impressed by the discovery of these rugged landscapes of vines and forests, she spoke to her little brother Patrick who came to visit the place, fell in love and decided to buy it. Patrick "Paddy" McKillen has been looking for his farm for a long time, the places where he will develop his agricultural exploitation. The man has the means of his ambitions, he made his fortune in London in the real estate sector, offices, shopping centers and hotels with the Maybourne group. The initial idea, still valid for the owners, is to acquire this little piece of nature on one and only condition: to share it with others.

THE CHAI DESIGNED BY JEAN NOUVEL WAS ERECTED IN 2008

Mara and Paddy will continue to cultivate the vines that have grown here since Roman times, taking care to refine the quality of the wines. Patrick McKillen proves that one can not drink a drop of wine until the age of 40 and take charge of a 120-hectare estate with talent. Fairly quickly, production was halved, going from 1.2 million to 600,000 bottles per year. In 2006, the vineyard was restructured with the introduction of rolle, a southern grape variety hitherto absent from the estate. The McKillens commission a cellar from the architect Jean Nouvel.

The building, at the cutting edge of technology, was born in 2008: the building in two parts, covered with corrugated steel sheet is designed to make the most of the 50 to 60 tons of grapes harvested each year. The chateau, certified organic viticulture, is currently converting to biodynamics, an equally environmentally friendly method that further limits the use of copper and sulfur. Today, La Coste produces the three colors, with a majority of rosé (60%), 15% of red wine and white. For each, different cuvées are offered. We particularly remember the Grand Vin, a white made recently from rolle and chardonnay: a floral juice, round, charming, less tense than the entry-level white. The rosé results from a blend of Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault and Cabernet Sauvignon, a very lemony wine with notes of red fruits. It is now found on large tables, such as that of the George, at the Hotel George V, in Paris. The red wines turn out to be very round, suave and largely fruity. Friends of tannic wines, go your way. We love the Grand Vin, a balanced juice that will easily withstand aging for ten years. One of the prides of Raymond Gimenez, the cellar master. With 250,000 visitors each year, Château La Coste is now one of the major wine tourism destinations in France. Moreover, a third of the production, ie 200,000 bottles, is sold directly at the estate's boutique – a record in France. Another third is for domestic distribution and the remaining third is shipped overseas.

Credit: Emanuele Scorcelletti

La Coste is a wine estate but there are also dozens of olive trees, beehives – the property is self-sufficient in honey and oil –, a huge vegetable garden. Animals will be introduced there. Fifty people work full-time on the farm. “In the short term, we plan to have our own bakery, a roastery to roast our coffee and we are thinking of setting up a wine school. We are in the process of becoming a real small town”, emphasizes Pierre-Alexandre Francin, the director. It is also a place where people come to eat. “Here, the gastronomic offer is very substantial. We now have five restaurants which, in normal times, serve around 1,000 meals a day,” says Pierre-Alexandre Francin. Argentinian chef Francis Mallmann, permanent resident and also international star, puts on a show in the bistro with his sophisticated grilled dishes. Hélène Darroze takes charge of the kitchen of the gourmet table. Customers are served in the Louison pavilion – a reference to the artist Louise Bourgeois, whose work hangs here. An Italian opened. And the cellar will delight lovers of Provence wines, in all three colours.

Château La Coste also owes its image to a formidable art park which welcomes 250,000 visitors annually. It is an open-air museum that attracts both well-informed collectors from all over the world to discover the permanent collection or the three or four major exhibitions organized each year, as well as locals on the go.

Louise Bourgeois' giant spider sets the tone, impressive, menacing, almost alive. Calder's mobiles sway in the wind. A look inside Villa La Coste gives a small idea of ​​the scale of the collection. It is here that many talents set up their first works in France. Fruitful collaborations that often find their origin in the good relations between the owners and the artists. The Japanese architect Tadao Ando first designed the entrance building to the art center there. A triangular building, in line with what he made on the island of Naoshima in Japan. Further on, its meditation pavilion, in dark wood, shelters four transparent cubes in the dark – Water, CO2, Rubbish, Future? – each containing another cube evocative of the theme. A place of absolute calm which we take advantage of today as the rain falls in abundance on the roof. Divine surprise: the network does not pass. Nothing rings, nothing vibrates, nothing happens. No one really knows where we are but we feel good there. And nothing prevents the pleasure from lasting.

A SUSPENDED GALLERY OVERLOOKS THE PARK

Architect Frank Gehry installed the auditorium at Château La Coste that he had designed in 2008 for the Serpentine Gallery in London, of which Patrick McKillen was one of the patrons. “Today, beyond its architectural value, the pavilion plays a social role since it is open to school classes for end-of-year shows,” explains Pierre-Alexandre Francin.

For his part, Richard Rogers designed a suspended gallery of 120 m2 which dominates the park. The French Jean-Michel Wilmotte has also played the game. A set signed by the Oscar Niemeyer architecture firm is under construction. Three steel towers, a work by Louise Bourgeois entitled I Do, I Undo, I Redo, are waiting to be covered by a dome by Jean Nouvel. In 2022, the estate will host a monumental work by Damien Hirst which should attract the attention of the contemporary art world. To take advantage of the estate, Villa La Coste offers 28 suites, the smallest displaying 80 m2. If the services are optimal, it is undoubtedly one of the establishments of this level with the most relaxed atmosphere, another wish of Patrick McKillen. “Our clientele is not that of the thirty other French palaces”, continues the director.

Credit: Emanuele Scorcelletti

Overlooking the hotel, there is a pavilion by Jean Prouvé, a square room with two metal pillars in the center that support the structure. A clear floor. A big bed. A square table. Two extensions have been added – a bathroom and a kitchen. This ancestor of the prefabricated house has a terrace with pines and olive trees, and above all a breathtaking view of the estate. Let's add that the library – like that of all of the establishment's suites and studios – is full of well-chosen, well-chosen books on art and architecture, and classic novels. It's better than the usual heavy and illegible coffee-table books that customers often find in hotel rooms.

Faced with the development of the places, the local authorities are conciliatory, the mayor of the commune of Puy-Sainte-Réparade continues to guide the team in its steps “because we do not necessarily fit into the administrative boxes. All the locals are very kind to us. And they represent half of the 300 employees who work here, ”recognizes Pierre-Alexandre Francin. La Coste is doing well. “Here, it's about keeping up with the slow pace of the vine, understanding the expectations of the customers and doing everything possible to ensure that the whole remains coherent, concludes the director of the premises. This is not the big tralala of Saint-Tropez. What counts is the space, the tranquility, surrounded by trees and greenery.” A raw luxury.

The editorial staff advises you: “One wine, one recipe: an Italian rosé and Fanny Rey’s chic smoked trout and arugula sandwich” Life in rosé: who are the biggest consumers in the world? winter rose