Les Davids: an estate in the South of France where art, nature, wine and exceptional accommodation meet

In 1998, Belgian entrepreneur Sophie Le Clercq and painter Yves Zurstrassen arrived in Haute-Provence in search of a summer refuge. What they found, rounding a quiet bend between Apt and Banon, was something closer to a revelation: a vast, hollowed valley—bare, almost austere—anchored by a single, luminous pond. The land felt suspended in time, its former life only faintly traced by scattered shrubs and the ghost lines of abandoned pastures. It was less a purchase than an act of recognition.

Their first gesture was decisive: to restore the twenty-hectare estate through organic agriculture.

What followed unfolded slowly, with patience and conviction. Orchards were planted, market gardens re-established, and the land began to yield again—first in fruits and vegetables, then in a range of organic juices, preserves and jams that would quietly define the estate’s early identity. In the background, another narrative was taking shape. A hillside—marked on archival maps as one of the last historic vineyard sites in the Vaucluse—was prepared for revival. In 2004, Syrah was planted. Four years later, with the guidance of local vignerons, Les Davids released its first cuvée, Dernières Terres.

Perched at 600 metres, Domaine Les Davids is among the highest vineyards in the Vaucluse, on the threshold of the Luberon Natural Park. The surrounding landscape—oak forests, wild garrigue, lavender fields, olive groves—forms a richly layered ecosystem where pastoral and wild coexist: goats and sheep on the ridgelines, deer and boar in the undergrowth, migratory birds crossing paths with alpine species.

The estate is conceived as a fully integrated, mixed organic system—agriculture, viticulture and landscape working in concert. This approach not only preserves biodiversity but fosters the natural yeasts essential to the wines’ expression. Combined with altitude and a rare microclimate shaped by both Alpine and Mediterranean influences, it allows for wines of precision and restraint, produced in deliberately limited quantities.

Water, too, is central to the estate’s logic. Three ponds collect runoff through planted channels, while a natural spring—active for over five centuries—feeds the old washhouse at the heart of the courtyard. Its overflow irrigates the land through a discreet, highly controlled system. Together, these elements form a quiet infrastructure, sustaining the estate while reinforcing its ecological balance.

Now at full maturity, Les Davids has recently extended into the neighbouring Autet land—an ambitious ten-hectare addition of vineyards set within umbrella pine forests. The combined domain forms a singular enclave: naturally protected, ecologically diverse, and defined by a rare sense of continuity between cultivation and landscape.

The Bas Smets promenade

A 2.5-kilometre path traces the contours of the estate, revealing its shifting topographies at the intersection of the Vaucluse and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. Conceived in collaboration with Belgian landscape architect Bas Smets—known for the Luma gardens in Arles and the redevelopment of the Notre-Dame de Paris surroundings—the project began with a simple intention: to reveal what was already there.

From this premise emerged a carefully choreographed promenade, unfolding across eight distinct atmospheres, geologies and ecosystems. Subtle interventions—both spatial and artistic—punctuate the route. Works by Tomás Saraceno, Vivian Suter, David Nash, Matthew Lutz-Kinoy and Lionel Sabatté are embedded within the landscape, never imposed upon it.

At its centre, a natural amphitheatre—the Théâtre de Verdure, inaugurated in 2024—hosts performances during Les Estivales, the estate’s annual cultural programme. The walk itself becomes an immersive experience: intimate, temporal, and deeply attuned to the rhythms of the land.

The winery

Architecture as landscape

Completed in 2021, the Les Davids winery was designed by French architect Marc Barani, Grand Prix recipient and member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. Conceived as a gravity-fed structure, the building allows the entire winemaking process—from harvest to bottling—to unfold without mechanical intervention, preserving the integrity of the fruit.

Set into the hillside, the winery maintains a natural coolness and darkness, its mass and orientation responding to the extremes of the Mediterranean climate. The concrete, cast using traditional timber formwork and tinted in ochre tones, echoes the surrounding rock—giving the building a distinctly mineral presence. Its form, subtly flared, recalls that of an ancient mastaba.

Inside, a sequence of monumental, tulip-shaped concrete vats defines the space, visible through a panoramic façade that reflects the vineyards below. Above, a generous roof terrace—thirty metres long—extends outward, offering both shade and a place of gathering. In summer, it becomes the setting for tastings, meals and the cultural life of the estate.

Art is seamlessly integrated. Yves Zurstrassen has reinterpreted one of his works, 19.12.25 – Siesta, as a ceramic fresco at the entrance—a quiet dialogue between painting, architecture and place.

The winery also houses an open cellar for tastings and blending, a terrace restaurant serving seasonal Provençal cuisine sourced largely from the estate and its immediate surroundings, and a bakery dedicated to organic sourdoughs made from ancient grains such as spelt and einkorn.

Les Hameaux des Davids

Restored using traditional masonry techniques, the estate’s hamlets offer an immersive experience in the heart of the Provençal landscape. Each hamlet combines old-world charm and authenticity with modern comfort and luxury, complemented by services tailored to guests’ needs. Catering, restaurant services, estate products, transport, truffle hunting, wine tastings, guided tours, and curated excursions are all available.

The Summer festival

Since 2022, Les Davids has hosted Les Estivales du Haut Calavon, a series of literary, musical, and philosophical gatherings. Set on the shaded terrace of the winery overlooking the Luberon, the festival brings together renowned authors, philosophers, and cultural figures from France and Belgium for conversations, readings, concerts, and performances.

From 27 to 31 July 2026, philosopher and ethologist Vinciane Despret—patron of the Estivales—has chosen this year’s theme: “Peoples of the Sea, Land & Heaven.” The theme draws on the idea of Paradise, whose biblical descriptions notably omit the presence of animals, referring only to humans and angels.

This year’s guest of honour is actress Agnès Jaoui, who will close the festival with a concert alongside Canto Allegre. Other distinguished guests include writer Charles Dantzig, as well as prominent media figures Pierre Haski and Thomas Snégaroff.

Part of the programme will also take place “outside the walls” at the Salagon Priory, featuring a visit to Yves Zurstrassen’s exhibition, a conversation with curator Yannick Mercoyrol, and a piano recital by Vanessa Wagner.

Exhibition by Yves Zurstrassen at the Prieuré de Salagon

Until 14 December 2026, the Musée de Salagon (Mane, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) presents the exhibition Variations rouges by Yves Zurstrassen, curated by Yannick Mercoyrol. The paintings created for this exhibition were conceived in dialogue with the architecture of Salagon’s Romanesque church and its stained-glass windows, designed by Aurélie Nemours in 1998.

After a prolonged immersion in the site, the artist chose to develop vertical forms and rhythms that set colour in motion. Through repetition, variation, and shifts in composition and format, his works evoke a light and a sensation distinct from—yet complementary to—those emanating from the stained-glass windows. Red quickly emerged as the dominant tone of the series. However, Zurstrassen deliberately distanced himself from the selenium red used by Aurélie Nemours, instead seeking a singular hue that would form a more nuanced dialogue. As a master colourist, he explores a red that becomes a personal response—at once a departure, a pause, and a tribute to the radical nature of the stained glass.

Yves Zurstrassen’s art, both subtle and dynamic, reveals the emotional resonance of forms—their movement, or perhaps their music, which continually accompanies the artist in his studio. These free forms carry no fixed meaning; rather, they seem to convey a sense of sensory joy to the viewer.