Ridley Scott's Provence

Ridley Scott first encountered the Luberon in the early 1990s and purchased the Mas des Infermières in the commune of Oppède in 1992. For its first three decades under his ownership, the estate's grapes were vinified at the local cooperative, while Scott used the property as a private retreat. In 2018 he designed and oversaw the construction of a dedicated winery on the estate, a high-specification cellar using gravity-fed harvests, temperature-controlled tanks and underground vinification vats. The cellar produced its first own-label wines in 2020, with labels carrying illustrations drawn by Scott himself.

The estate holds AOP Luberon certification across red, rosé and white wines, including the flagship cuvées Chevalier and Ombre de Lune. The vineyards sit within the Luberon Regional Nature Park and carry HVE3 certification at the highest level of France's Haute Valeur Environnementale classification, as well as the Bee-friendly biodiversity label.

What distinguishes the Mas des Infermières as a visitor experience is the integration of the cellar tour with a permanent exhibition of objects from Scott's filmography: armour from The Last Duel, a scale model of the Colosseum from Gladiator, the Napoleon costume worn by Joaquin Phoenix, and costumes and accessories from Gladiator II. The estate also hosts open-air cinema evenings in the vineyard, screening Scott's films accompanied by a gourmet picnic and estate wine, alongside summer Late Opening events and the Sunsets Vignerons series, which pairs vineyard walks with Luberon gastronomy at dusk.

NOTES includes Mas des Infermières for the rarity of its combination: a working Provençal wine estate producing credible AOP Luberon wines within a setting that doubles as an archive of one of cinema's most sustained careers.