Ah, wine in Avignon. The city’s location is prime for wine lovers (like moi). It’s something of a crossroads to French wine regions – think Provence and the Rhone. We arrived in Avignon with two nights booked, but promptly extended our stay to a third night. It’s just too lovely!
Oddly however, we found it a bit difficult to do much Avignon wine tasting before 6:30 p.m. and after 10:30 p.m. To help the cause, I present a tourist guide to drinking and buying wine in Avignon. Salute!
Wine in Avignon: Tasting & Buying
Enotecas:
The enotecas (wine shops) we liked most also let you drink wine, which gave us a taste of the regional wines before buying. Plus, they are just great places for a little Avignon wine tasting.
Le Vin Devant Soi
A fun little wine shop just around the corner from Avignon’s main square offering 32 wines to taste and a large stock of wines for purchase – mostly French wines.
We spent a couple hours browsing and tasting local wines from their enomatic (a.k.a, a wine dispenser). The enoteca has one table with chairs and the enomatic gives you options for three different size pours – a taste to a full glass.
The owner, Laurent, talked to us about the regional wines and provided tasting recommendations. We left with two of his suggestions – a red and white from the Rhone as well as a Champagne.
Find it! 4, Rue du College du Roure 84000, Avignon (wifi)
Avitus
Opens at 4 p.m., seemingly every day. Ignore the hours listed online as well as the promo piece at the tourist office. We tried to go three times and only found it open for business after 4 p.m. (as stated in the shop window).
Avitus has local wines as well as a small smattering of global bottles. It’s also a rare place you can get a glass of wine in Avignon before 6:30 p.m. – great outdoor seating.
Find it! 11 Rue Vieux Sextier, 84000 Avignon
Food and Wine in Avignon
Restaurants
If you’re looking to explore regional wines make sure you sample them with regional fare. We were lucky enough to find some great food to go with our wine in Avignon.
We found this incredible place through a new Twitter pal and fellow expat who lives in the region. For more regional deets see her blog, Sara in Le Petit Village.
The little place had about 10 tables with one person taking care of everyone – and the service was perfect. As for the food, it was incredible – we both went with the duck entree. Sigh. Click to read the restaurant review – starter, entree, dessert – oh my!
Initially we only planned on the starter and entree option, but both were so amazing and we simply didn’t want to leave, so we ended up with dessert and a (local) after-dinner wine. Great prices – we spent about 100 euros for two with an aperitif each, three courses, a bottle of wine, and an after-dinner wine.
Find it!
17 Rue des 3 Faucons, 84000, Avignon.
Phone: +33 4 32 76 35 13
Hours: Thursday hours 6:30 pm–10:30 pm.
Reservations: A must. We called in the morning and got the last table. People kept trying to get seated, but she was full the rest of the weekend.
Au Périgord Gourmand
Another great place to eat and drink wine in Avignon. More duck, but more importantly – foie gras! Fantastic outdoor seating.
Find it!
51 Rue Vieux Sextier, 84000 Avignon.
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 12 to 2 p.m. and 7 to 10 p.m. Sunday 12 to 3 p.m.
Avignon Wine Bars
AOC
A great wine list and a big outdoor seating area – a nice place to for an Avignon wine tasting. We got crafty with our selection here, trying a syrah from the Northern Rhone and a syrah from the Southern Rhone.
A side-by-side tasting of the same varietals from different parts of the same region was interesting. My pick: the Gigondas (Southern Rhone). Wine bar and restaurant with a full menu. The food looked and smelled delish. Check out Gastronomy Blog’s food review of AOC (makes me wish we’d have eaten there!)
Find it!
5 Rue Tremoulet, Avignon, France.
Opens at 7 p.m.
Bar des Halles
Located in the Halles market, this bar had locals drinking wine and beer all day long (or every time we walked by). From what we could tell, it’s the place all the market workers go to grab a drink on break or after work. A great place for a glass or bottle of wine. Good wine, good service, and WiFi.
We loved our time in Avignon. A gorgeous city in the South of France. Give it a taste!
Au revoir, y’all. V-dawg OUT!
Other posts you might like:
- Avignon Restaurant Review: Fou de Fafa
- 5 Tips for Awesome Wine and Tapas in Priorat Spain
- Visiting the South of France: Narbonne Pictures
- The ABC Guide to Piedmont Wine
Other wine stops that should be on this list? Please leave a note!
