With travel being back on the agenda in 2022, I thought I’d share one of my favourite slow stays in France to inspire you. Village Castigno, in the South West near Béziers, is half a digital detox retreat (i.e. no wifi and data non-existent), half a wine resort and spa.
I was invited to spend a couple of days at the Village, as part of a press stay, a few years back. The place made a strong impression on me. Maybe because of the lack of ostentatious luxury for a high-end stay, or the fact that the decor features shades of red, pink and purple, exclusively, and these are my favourite hues.
Either way, it made for a pretty stunning photo-op and memorable experience as you can see in this article.
Digital detox and spa
The hotel’s various rooms and houses are scattered across the tiny village of Assignan. Each one is painted in a bright colour, ranging from lilac to ruby, to differentiate it from actual people’s home. That’s so quirky, I love it! The main square has been transformed to welcome a large terrace as well, which looks like a movie set.
The colours are references to wine and grapes, since Village Castigno is also a vineyard and winery you can visit. I stayed in the Vendangeur room called Marsanne, which you can spot in the pictures below. It has an industrial look on the outside (picture 1), but feels extra cosy once you’re inside (picture 2). The bed was maxi for the size of the room, and the atmosphere deeply relaxing. It also has a private terrace with a couple of sun beds.
On day 1, I was offered a tour to visit the various rooms and houses as each one has a different decor, all thrifted or upcycled. We spent a long time admiring all the details inside the 9-bedroom Maison des Amis (Friends’ House), which previously housed the grape pickets and can welcome a large party.
The spa is a lovely little room, that feels very intimate, located on the top floor of a separate building. Everything is a 2 minute walking distance from the main square, maximum 5 minutes from your room depending on the one you choose. There, I was welcomed by fellow Brazilian, Sahirah, whose deep-tissue massage sent me straight to heaven.
The restaurants at Village Castigno
As you can imagine, eating well and fine dining is a central part of this whole slow stay in France experience. The region has gorgeous fresh produce and they shine at Village Castigno’s three restaurants. It’s quite unusual for such a tiny village to have that many dining options actually, and all these establishments are super popular with locals too. This is always a good sign.
La Petite Table is the breakfast and lunch spot, located in the centre of Assignan. We ate inside but when the weather is sunny most people choose to eat al fresco under the bright red parasol. This particular restaurant is known for its grillades (barbecue) and comfort food.
More surprisingly, the second restaurant is called The Thai. The atmosphere is super romantic, and I definitely recommend booking in the evening. It’s ideal for a date night, although mine was with a bunch of journalists. The food is very fresh and light, and mixes different Asian cuisines so it’s not strictly Thai food.
Like all restaurants at Village Castigno, you can’t take a look at the menu in advance and spoil the surprise. However, their teams were super prepared and accommodated me at the time when I asked for vegetarian options. I was served equally good, if not better meals than other guests, in my opinion.
You just have to trust the process, which honestly feels so relaxing. Plus, the no wifi situation makes it even more stress free…especially for someone like me that loves researching every single detail about everything.
On the last day, we were incredibly lucky to be guests at Michelin-stared restaurant, La Table. The 7-course tasting menu was defined by chefs (and brothers) Pieter and Ruben De Maesschalk at the time. The chefs’ team has changed since I last went in 2018 and the menu is now more Mediterranean focused. However, the sustainable philosophy of “farm to plate”, meaning fresh, organic, seasonal and local produce, remains unchanged.
La Table follows the availability of seasonal and organic produce, which Chefs source locally at the market of Saint-Chinian and from the herb garden on site. The kitchen is open and you can see them preparing the food to be served, which is a detail I really appreciate personally.
My experience included dishes inspired by Latin cuisine like a pão de queijo, an airy cheesy bread that is a very popular appetiser in Brazil. I also tried a Spanish escabèche, which is a tasty vinegar-based marinade of pickled veggies. For main, I had white asparagus in a foamy bergamot and ginger sauce, and potato-hazelnut purée topped with… caviar. It doesn’t get more luxurious than that!
The wine pairing was chosen for us, and honestly I wouldn’t know what to choose anyway. For reference, I drank St Chinian wine, Domaine La Madura sauvignon blanc, and Languedoc-grown orange wine, Clos du Gravillas A Fleur de Peau Muscat 2015.
Organic wine tasting experience in France
Although food is fabulous, wine is the main event here. There’s even the option to do a “wine safari” around the estate, which we didn’t do this time but seems like a lot of fun. Instead, we were introduced to the art of wine making during a 2-hour workshop.
Our job was to try and replicate a Château Castigno 2012 composition, using the right amount of grenache, syrah and carignan grape varieties. No suspense here, I got it all wrong, but I won’t reveal the secret in case you want to do it yourself. Charlotte, the sommelier in charge of us, was pretty impressive as in she took a micro sip of our “wine” and spotted all our mistakes, just like that.
She gave us a tour of the winery as well, which has a super interesting architectural structure in the form of a bottle. We walked alongside the ceiling-high wooden barrels used for winemaking and ageing, and stopped to admire the domain, which includes century-old vines that are organically grown, harvested by hand and carried by Percheron horses in the traditional method.
You can buy a few bottles of St Chinian Village Castigno wine on site as well. As a small family business, they only produce 120 thousand bottles per year, which are mostly served on the hotel grounds. If you want to sound smart, know that to receive the St Chinian appellation a wine needs to contain syrah and grenache grape varieties.
Good to know | General info before you book your trip
- Website: Village Castigno.com (re-opens 7th April 2022)
- Follow: @castignochateauvillage
- From approx. €150/£125 per night, for a double in the Vendangeur room (prices vary depending on dates). There are several packages including a visit of the winery and tasting of Village Castigno organic wines starting at €220/£185.
- Getting there: Béziers Cap d’Agde is the closest (local) airport. Alternatively, you can take a train and stop at Béziers train station. You’ll then have to drive or book a taxi to complete the 35-minute journey to Castigno.
Press stay. Photos: all mine, except the one featuring me.
