Chateau La Coste Wine Estate, Aix-en-Provence

Château La Coste is a wine estate that combines wine, art, and architecture. It is also a 600-acre sculpture park with artworks spread across the landscape. The estate was reshaped in the early 2000s by Irish property magnate Paddy McKillen, who developed it into a place where vineyards, contemporary art, and modern buildings come together.

Wine production is still a key part of the estate. It covers about 200 hectares, with around 125 hectares of vineyards. The grapes are grown using organic methods, with common regional varieties like grenache, syrah, cabernet sauvignon, and rolle. The winery, designed by architect Jean Nouvel, is built to follow the slope of the land, which helps move the wine naturally during production.

Visitors can follow marked paths through vineyards, olive trees, and wooded areas, passing artworks and buildings by Tadao Ando, Louise Bourgeois, Ai Weiwei, and Frank Gehry. The estate also includes Villa La Coste, a luxury hotel developed under McKillen’s direction, along with exhibition spaces, a visitor center, and places to eat. Many visitors combine the art walk with a wine tasting.