Here’s a treat for you — a wine estate that doesn’t look or feel like a traditional vineyard setting, with an air of intimacy and pockets of chic contemporary design. Ultimate Provence (UP), in La Garde-Freinet, is a unique destination for those who seek an unexpected experience of Provence, with the perfect combination of conviviality and elegance. The development of the estate was entrusted to Monaco-based interior and architecture firm Humbert & Poyet, and the brief was to create an intimate, urban setting that overturned the traditional design codes of a wine estate.

A bedroom at the Ultimate Provence hotel Image Credit: Courtesy of the designers

The creative duo of Emil Humbert and Christophe Poyet respected the requirements inherent to a working winery while combining functionality and aesthetics. The combination of raw and contemporary materials such as concrete, with the more noble elements like aged oak, marble, brass and leather, gives a unique character to this establishment, reinventing and reinterpreting the conventions of a traditional wine estate.

A brunch set-up on one of the open terrace-balconies Image Credit: Courtesy of the designers

The living spaces of the estate are also inviting, an Aegean blue adorns the walls and harmonises the brass of the hanging lights and sconces, creating a vivid contrast between the colours and materials, urban lines and warm atmospheric lighting.

A picturesque archway, overlooking the lawns Image Credit: Courtesy of the designers

The flow of light and open perspectives play an important role in creating spatial volumes. Large glazed metal doors with brass handles separate the different areas, from the cellars to the tasting room, through to the restaurant, thus creating visual fluidity.

Wine barrels in a storage room at Ultimate Provence Image Credit: Courtesy of the designers

The tasting lounge and bar for the maximum enjoyment and discovery of fine wines Image Credit: Courtesy of the Designers

In creating the estate’s interiors, Humbert & Poyet drew inspiration from the landscapes of the south of France: aged oak, velvet, texture and brass, notes of sage and sepia, reminiscent of the colours of Provence, its soil and green vineyards.

The place is full of distinctive character and exhibits a special kind of laid-back elegance Image Credit: Courtesy of the designers

The hotel makes its own wines that can be enjoyed at the bar or on the terrace Image Credit: Courtesy of the Designers

The contemporary design aesthetic of the public living areas of the wine estate Image Credit: Courtesy of the Designers

Welcoming, refined and modern, the Ultimate Provence wine estate distinctly displays a design signed by Humbert & Poyet - a high-end setting perfect for living memorable moments in the heart of Provence, France. When it came to turning UP’s estate into an attractive tourist destination, the challenge, UP said, was to create an “alternative experience of Provence, to transform a typical and authentic vineyard into a remarkable hotel, restaurant and wine-tasting destination, full of distinctive character, exhibiting a special kind of laid-back elegance.”

One of the outdoor porches, catching the dappled sunlight Image Credit: Courtesy of the Designers

Surrounded by the incomparable Provencal landscape, the Ultimate Provence hotel invites its patrons and guests to stop time and savour the moment. The hotel’s distinctly contemporary setting is enhanced by tastefully decorated rooms — some overlook the vineyards while others enjoy a view of the pool, or the UP Square. The rooms include guest rooms, studios and apartments, available as family units (for up to four guests). The estate also has a large outdoor swimming pool.

The entire set-up, with its refreshingly unexpected simplicity and absolutely uncluttered take on design, tends to settle around you with an ease that you would appreciate whole-heartedly when on a holiday.