Filming locations in Provence

Visiting Provence: a set-jetting guide. There is a particular daydream of the good life that the south of France keeps alive, and A Good Year bottled it. The story of a London banker who inherits a vineyard and slowly falls for the rhythm of Provence was filmed among the hilltop villages and vines of the Luberon, and the two places at its centre are an easy drive from one another.

The estate at the heart of the film is Chateau la Canorgue, a real working winery near Bonnieux, which plays the vineyard the hero inherits and learns to love. This is private land, not an open set, so the way to experience it is the way the film honours: buy and taste the wine at the cellar rather than wandering between the rows. Call ahead to check opening hours, then settle in to the kind of slow afternoon the story is all about.

For the wider Provence the film falls for, head to Gordes. The tiered stone village, stacked up its hillside, stands in for the sun-drenched south the whole story is in love with. It is free to wander, with a celebrated viewpoint on the approach road that frames the village exactly as the screen does. Parking is limited, so arrive early, and be ready for steep, cobbled lanes once you are inside.

Set-jetting in the Luberon is really a driving pleasure. The stone villages cluster within a short distance of each other, so you can pair the winery and Gordes in a single relaxed day and still have time to drift between lavender fields and market towns in between. A car is the key, and a loose plan is better than a packed one.

Above all, take the lesson of the film and slow down. Provence rewards lingering: a tasting at the cellar, an hour at the Gordes viewpoint, a long lunch somewhere with a terrace. The whole appeal of A Good Year is the unhurried turn from city speed to country time, and the region invites you to do exactly that.