Exploring Vineyards Near Nice Without a Car: A Guide to Bellet Wine Tours
I’d like to think I’ve done a lot with my life so far, but I’ve still never gotten a drivers license. In my day to day life, this has never been a problem. I live in London, a megacity that boasts the world’s first metro system. Traffic congestion in the city can be so bad that buses can move slower than horse-drawn carriages did back in the Bridgerton days.
However, once in awhile, I go somewhere new and think “this would be a lot easier if I had a car”. When I travelled to Nice with a friend last summer, that was one of those times. Nice is the second-largest city of the Provence region of France, a region famous for its wine production. Naturally, this meant that I wanted to go visit some vineyards near Nice. There are wine tours that will take you from the centre of the city out to the neighbouring wine estates, but we wanted a cheaper alternative. Luckily, I found two that were easily accessible from the city. If you’re planning a trip to Nice and want to visit some vineyards, read on or skip straight to the itinerary and how to get there!
Wines of provence
Before our trip, I started researching vineyards near Nice city centre. Provence is most famous for its pale pink rosé wine. About 80% of wine from this region is rosé, although you can also find red and white Provençal wines. The region has nine appellations with AOC status. AOC stands for Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée, which is France’s official designation for wines that are produced under strict geographic and production regulations.
The Bellet wine Region
The AOC region closest to Nice is the Bellet region. Bellet is one of the smallest AOCs in France, covering about 60 hectares. In order to meet the AOC criteria, irrigation is prohibited. This means that the vintners can’t water their vines, and instead have to rely on the weather. The idea is that vines should struggle to reach water, meaning they develop deeper roots and a more concentrated flavour in the grapes.
Bellet produces white, rosé and red wines – and the reds must be aged for a minimum of 18 months before they can be sold.
There are only about 10 vineyards that produce Bellet AOC wines, and we managed to visit two of them!
The vineyards
As Bellet is considered an “urban vineyard”, it’s not that far from the city. From poring over Google maps, I narrowed our selection down to two: Collet Bovis and Château de Crémat. Both vineyards are producers of Bellet wine, but are very different in style and vibe. They’re about a 15 minute walk apart, along a slightly winding country road.
Collet bovis vineyard
We decided to start at Collet Bovis. It’s possible to get to this vineyard by public transport, if you’re up for a 45 minute walk on one side – definitely doable on a day as beautiful as we got. However, you can also go the shorter route and hop in an Uber for under 20 minutes. We took an Uber, which cost about €22 from our Airbnb directly to the winery.
Collet Bovis is a small, family run winery that covers about 4 hectares. The tastings are held in a room in the family’s home, and the overall atmosphere is a rustic, welcoming one. The proprietor, Jean, is a former university professor who now manages the wine estate.
Our Uber pulled up to the house five minutes past our booking time of noon, and the tasting was already underway with a British couple and their tour guide. “American?” Jean asked us as we walked in, pulling out spit buckets. “No, Irish” we responded. He nodded and put the spit buckets away. “Europeans drink the wine” he said, pouring out some very generous glasses. I winced inwardly. My friend and I had already had beaucoup de vin the night before, so this particular European had been banking on being able to use the buckets.
The rest of the tasting was conducted in French. I know enough to be able to follow along with the basics, but thankfully the tour guide that was accompanying the British couple was able to translate for all of us.
We tried a white, a rose and a couple of reds while Jean explained the production to us. A sweet old tabby cat with an old paw injury weaved under our small wooden stools, visiting each of us in turn to be petted.
We had originally booked to have a tasting and a tour, but as Jean was due at a winemakers festival in the city that evening, he was only able to do the tasting. Generously, he didn’t charge us for the tasting, but we did buy an additional glass of wine which we enjoyed in the sunshine at the edge of the vineyard.
The Collet Bovis estate makes white, rosé and red wine from the local grape varieties of Folle Noire, Braquet, and Grenache. They produce about 12,000 bottles a year.
Wine tastings with a guided tour cost €15, which includes a tasting of 4-5 wines.
Collet Bovis, 370 Chemin de Crémat – Impasse Collet de Bovis – 06200 NICE
Château de Crémat Vineyard
After finishing up our final wine by the vineyards of Collet Bovis, we set off for our second vineyard: Château de Crémat. The walk between the two wineries is about 15 minutes, taking you along a winding country road with a gentle hill. The day that we went, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful walk with very few cars.
Walking up to the entrance of Château de Crémat, it was immediately apparent that we were about to have a very different experience. Château de Crémat is one of the most famous, and largest, vineyards in the Bellet region and likely warrants a separate post unto itself.
The château is an eye-catching red neo-Tuscan style castle surrounded by manicured gardens and an eclectic collection of sculptures.
Where the tasting at Collet Bovis was warm and low-key, the experience at Château de Crémat is more structured: you can book a tasting with a tour of the château, or just the tasting alone.
We went for the tour option, which came in at €30 and takes about 1h30. The tour takes you through the château and its history, as well as a visit to a small art gallery attached to the main building. We got to see the vineyards, but as they’re perched into the steep limestone hills, we didn’t venture into them.
After the tour, we were brought to a lovely, sunny terrace next to the château’s shop for the tasting. We were seated next to a young Geordie couple, and got chatting as we were served four different wines.
The measures at Château de Crémat were much smaller than Jean’s at Collet Bovis, but it meant we could then buy a glass of our favourite. Both of us preferred the Lou Vin d’Aqui, which is made entirely from Syrah grapes. We also bought a couple of bottles to take back to London with us.
I love collecting wine from places I visit, and one of those bottles is still sitting in my cupboard as I speak, waiting for the right dinner to be served with!
Suggested itinerary for a wine tasting day in Bellet
Morning/Midday:
Take an Uber from your hotel or Airbnb out to Collet Bovis vineyard. The journey should only take about 20 minutes, but leave a little extra time just in case.
Book your tasting at Collet Bovis in advance, you’ll find their contact details on their website.
If you’re feeling adventurous, you can take a bike tour to the vineyard. The British couple on our visit were on this tour, and the guide they were with seemed like the loveliest man.
Afternoon:
Walk the 15 minutes to Château de Crémat and go for one of their château tours and tastings. Wander through the gardens of the château before sitting down to a wine tasting on the terrace.
Evening:
As the wineries are so close together, you can easily be back in Nice in the late afternoon. After all that wine, you may want a nap and/or a shower before heading out into the city for a nice dinner along the seafront.
Final thoughts
Not having a car meant that we had to be quite tactical with the wineries we visited. The Bellet region has more wineries, and you certainly could Uber from one to the other, but this starts to add up very quickly. For this trip, we decided to focus on vineyards near Nice that we could get to and from easily.
Having a break in between for a walk in the sunshine was also lovely, and helped burn off a little of the wine!
Another thing I particularly liked about choosing these two wineries is how different they were to each other. A visit to Collet Bovis is more casual and feels like being a guest in someone’s home, although without a translator or French language skills, you may find yourself not fully able to appreciate the experience. Whereas Château de Crémat caters to multiple tourists every day. While more impersonal, it’s smoother and designed for tourists.
Before our trip, Bellet is not a region I’d heard of before. As much as I love a Provençal rosé, it was great to explore some other wines that this part of France has to offer.
Tips for visiting:
- Book in advance
- Plan your transport
- There are no shops nearby, so bring a bottle of water and snacks if you think you’ll need them
- If you have checked luggage, consider buying a bottle or two as a souvenir
Costs:
- Uber from Nice: About €22 each way
- Collet Bovis tasting: €15
- Château de Crémat tastings: €30 for a tour that includes the château, €10 for the ‘tasting-only’ option
