TOURS: with Jean Christian Rostagni
May 17 - June 1st, 2024
4 Spots available (sell out risk HIGH)
This tour is the most artistic one, it is the tour where my previous life as a photographer exudes most. We spend 4 nights in Arles, which is to photography what Cannes is to Cinema, and there we stay in unique hotels created by the art philanthropist who created the foundation Luma and these hotels to go with it. And then later in the tour we visit my mentor Denis Brihat, a world renowned photographer, one of the very few if not the only member of the great generation still alive. We are talking of somebody who knew Picasso in Antibes, Jean Cocteau, and was friend with all the great photographers from that golden age, including Henri Cartier Bresson or Robert Doisneau. We are in the circle of photography’s Royalty.
And then this tour pinacles for 6 nights in a 16th century castle, we have dinner there 4 of these nights in their gastronomic restaurant that presents a rare cuisine centered on vegetal, with a strong emphasis of the products coming from their own organic garden on location. The whole hotel is run around an organic approach for living, including the marvelous beddings. The owner is retired from the company he created around organic products.
There are currently 7 participants in this tour, and the price will be, per person based on double occupancy, airfare and travel insurance are additional: $7,700 if 11 participants, $7,950 if 10 participants, $8,240 if 9 participants, $8,590 if 8 participants
June 15 - 28, 2024
4 Spots available, until April 15.
My Bordeaux selection is second to none, and in this tour I offer, in brilliant company, to explore and understand all the complexity of Bordeaux. I can do this with the help of my second, Serge Opillard, a Sommelier of Sommeliers, with extremely rare talent and knowledge of bdx. Serge has a good part of responsibility in the quality of my selection in Bdx. We stay 10 nights in the center of town, in its gorgeous golden triangle, and really life is good, visiting a different wine maker every day in the country side and walking from the hotel to a restaurant in town for dinner. All at the time when linden trees are blooming, and distill their enchanting scent on the town.
There are currently 8 participants in this tour, and the price will be, per person based on double occupancy, airfare and travel insurance are additional: $6,420 , if 12 travelers, $6,600 if 11 Travelers, $6,820 if 10 Travelers, $7,080 if 9 Travelers.
Sept 27 - Oct 11, 2024
8 Spots available
This is my newest tour, a totally unique wine tour in the gorgeous region also known as Languedoc. This is an expedition in France’s Deep South, a sliver actually of Occitanie, one tucked between the rather wild Southern Central Mountains, and the coastal plains.
The wine culture runs deep there, the climate, the soil and the relative wine making freedom in a region where appellations are not as restrictive as in other parts of France, has allowed a rather high concentration of hyper talented vintners, busy at pushing the boundaries of wine making. White or red, I promise wines and characters of legend, accommodations evoking sophisticated oasis in the wilderness, and all in all, a trip in a part of France out of this world and not exempt of mystic. For folks interested in wine pioneering, this is the new frontier for French wines. To understand that this is not hyperbole: one of my producers there has beaten Chateau Petrus in a blind tasting competition.
There are currently 5 participants in this tour, and the price will be, per person based on double occupancy, airfare and travel insurance are additional: $6.250 if 13 participants, $6,390 if 12 participants, $6,560 if 11 participants, $6,765 if 10 participants, $6,960 if 9 participants, $7,265 if 8 participants, $7,660 if 6 or 7 participants.
WHY Contrast Tours? Jean Christian Says:
* They beat cruises and even small barge cruises by offering nicer accommodation, and above all a much fuller immersion in France and its culture. At the end of a day a cruise promotes people staying among themselves, and the wine experiences remain formulaic.
* Previous tour goers tell me that they particularly enjoy traveling with a native who also is fully attuned to American culture, and therefore can bridge the gap between them and the French, notably in terms of language, culture, customs.
* Uniquely, I also import and distribute the wine from the producers we visit. So people can keep purchasing here the wine they discovered and fell in love with in France. And this also explains why the producers go out of their way to welcome my travelers with unparalleled warmth and attention.
More Information and Booking:
