Posted up at the edge of the ramparts of the Camargue citadel, the urban parcelle (French for a plot of land) run by sommelier Thomas Hilbert wound up filling a void long felt by Arles’ naturophile enthusiasts. Here, there are no grapes or vines to be found, just a veritable jungle of good bottles, displayed on steel shelves in this ultra-minimalist space. To offset the starkness of the walls, listen to some spirited advice from the owner himself (who trained under the larger-than-life winemaker Jeff Coutelou and used to work at Chardon), who splits his time between this wine shop and Gravity Wines, where he acts as an agent for wine professionals. The day we went, in his entirely low-intervention collection, there was nothing but bangers: Obi Wine Keno Bulle, an Alsatian pet’ nat’ from the Domaine Geschickt (€22 a bottle), Pascole, a rare grenache-carignan blend from Bruno Duchêne in Banyuls (€40), Syrault, a syrah-cinsault blend produced by Berry-Althoff (€14), or a skin-contact Jura manseng from the Château Lafitte (€52 for a 500 ml bottle). FYI: Thomas occasionally hosts intimate tasting sessions and mouthwateringly curated dinners with his winemaker and chef friends – like chef Zuri Camille De Souza, most recently. // Folayemi Abimbola
THE BULLET-PROOF BOTTLE: Les Salines, a highly drinkable Anjou chenin produced by Robin Carette (€16).
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