My contribution to our beach weekend, aside from some very competent food styling work for this tomato tart, was a selection of Bandol. Whenever I have a vineyard vacation planned, like next month’s trip to Provence, I like to test-drive some wines beforehand.

I made a tactical error with my vacation planning this year: because of work and other obligations, we decided to forego an August getaway in favor of a late September trip. Right now I’m seriously regretting that choice. My office is a ghost town, New York is sticky as all get-out, and Paul and I feel like the only suckers left in the city. However, there is one big silver lining here: end of September is right around harvest time in Bandol, a town in Provence where we’ll be spending part of vacation.