A Good Year Filming Locations in France: FULL List + Map!
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Hasn’t everyone fantasised about inheriting a vineyard in France from some forgotten, wealthy relative? I certainly have, though my ancestors are people like John and Mary Brown who were farmers in the Scottish borders. Ah well, Brexit would probably make it difficult anyway. At least I can visit all of the A Good Year locations in France and dream about an alternate reality.
Ridley Scott’s A Good Year (2006) stars Russell Crowe as Max, a financier living in London. When his uncle (Albert Finney) dies, he inherits the French vineyard where he spent summers as a child. But once Max arrives in Provence, a distant cousin throws his new real estate venture into question.
So, is A Good Year a good movie? Lol, no. It’s Russell Crowe starring in a Ridley Scott rom-com, for heaven’s sake. But you don’t watch films like A Good Year for entertainment, you watch them for escapism.
A Good Year also shot some scenes in the financial district of London, England as well as France but who cares about them? You are here for the vineyards! The bistros! The winding country roads! So, let’s see exactly where all of the A Good Year film locations are in France.
Where Was A Good Year Filmed?
A Good Year Filming Locations in France
1. Château La Canorgue, Bonnieux
The first A Good Year location is unquestionably the best and most popular location in the film. The movie opens with Max as a young boy (played by Freddie Highmore) pretending to smoke one of his uncle’s cigars on the patio.
In the movie, this is Château La Siroque but in real life, it is Château La Canorgue in Bonnieux which is a winery you can visit!
It’s just such a beautiful estate. It feels old but not rundown, grand but still cosy. Ancient trees surround the house to shelter it from the sun and lilypads still float in the ponds as they do in the film.
A Good Year would not be worth watching if this château wasn’t so beautiful. Luckily, it is the film’s main setting.
2. Marseille Provence Airport, Marignane
In the present day, Max learns of his uncle’s death and his subsequent inheritance. He flies out to Marseille Provence Airport to find out the extent of his inheritance and to deal with the paperwork.
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3. D218, Ménerbes, Vaucluse
Driving in his hired Smart car en route to the château, Max stops at the intersection of D218 and D3 in Ménerbes. He doesn’t know whether to turn left or right, so he calls his assistant to help.
4. Chapelle Des Pénitents Blancs, Gordes
On his way to see the notary who is in charge of Uncle Henry’s winery, Max drives erratically through a hillside village. He drives around a roundabout at least three times before driving back in the same direction. I think this is supposed to be humorous but it falls oh so flat.
This roundabout is in the gorgeous Gordes, next to Chapelle Des Pénitents Blancs which you can see clearly in the shot.
5. Le Renaissance Place, Gordes
The next A Good Year filming location in Provence is the bistro ran by Fanny Chenal (Marion Cotillard), the cyclist whom Max forced to swerve off the road. He spots her working at Le Renaissance Place in Gordes after visiting the French notary about a potential hiccup with his inheritance.
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6. Place de l’Étang, Cucuron
Max asks Fanny out on a date and she temporarily takes leave of her senses and agrees. The A Good Year film location where they meet for dinner is Place de l’Étang, next to Bassin de l’Étang in Cucuron which is some kind of large manmade pool. It’s quite the romantic set up with fairy lights hung in the trees and a silent movie playing across the water.
7. Gare d’Avignon TGV, Avignon
When Christie (Henry’s illegitimate daughter, played by Abbie Cornish) decides to get away from the winery, she hops on a train at Gare d’Avignon train station. I’m not sure if Max also departs from this station to head back to London, he may have. And that’s the last new A Good Year movie location!
In my research, I saw that Francis Duflot’s farmhouse appeared somewhere in the movie, and the filming location is Château Les Eydins. But I don’t remember this scene! So I’m mentioning it here just in case I blacked out and missed it.
And those are all the top A Good Year locations in the South of France! Have you watched the movie or visited any of the A Good Year filming locations? Let me know in the comments below!
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Watched it countless times, enough to have eventually bought a beautiful old farm.In the throws of selling up and going there permanently. Every time I watch it, I want to be back there.
What a lovely website! We have a favourite part of France that being La Charente.
Not La Charente Maritime! After some 11 years it was time to move on!
The Auverne and Puy de Dome is lovely and so different! We look for Rural and the absence, sad to say, noisy, loud Brits!
Having watched ‘ A Good Year ‘ many times, we thought to Venture further East !
Thanks so much for your comment, Richard! I’m glad you’ve had so much time to explore different parts of France! 😀
I’m on a low, each time I head North for the ferry back to the NW of UK. Watching A Good Year puts me back there. Book the return trip in the morning.
Hi! Thanks for the info. Where was the pool & tennis court scene shot? Thx
Thanks so much for your comment! I’m afraid if I haven’t listed a filming location in a guide, it means I don’t know where it is. I’m not holding out on you, I promise! If you do find out the location, I’d so appreciate it if you let me know! 😀
Hi Rebecca,
I appreciate for the work you have done, I watched this movie many times as it relates to me very closely, I’m on holiday in Cesme, Izmir at the moment, I will visit Château La Canorgue as soon as I can, what is the nearest town to that chateau where I can stay, it’s not clear on the map.
Regards
Kemal
Thanks very much for your comment! I hope you can visit the Chateau on your travels. There isn’t really one big town close to the winery, it’s in the middle of the countryside. I suggest putting the chateau into Google Maps and typing “accommodation” so you can see what is available close by.
Thanks for this – sitting at Le Renaissance in Gordes by the fountain on Market Day reading locations.
La Canorgue had run out of the CP wine but Ridley Scots Vinyard is just up the road in Oppede – next stop Cucuron !
Thanks so much for your comment! I’m so happy you’re enjoying your trip in southern France and to the locations in A Good Year! 😀
Hey Rebecca,
So im on a road trip on my motorcycle and went to these locations today, gotta say I’ve seen the movie about 15 times and it was actually cool to be at the place.
got the locations from this post by the way.
cheers.
Thank you so much for your comment, Luis! This has made my morning – I’m so pleased my guide helped and you had a fantastic trip 😀
We are booked for a week in Roussillon, inspired by the movie and on my bucket list for years. We will be there in mid August, popping corks with, we hope, interesting locals and maybe tourists. We love the movie dearly, and I am not one for “romcoms.” No one can watch it and not feel the vibes. Well, critics not withstanding. Thanks for the information. It’s very helpful.
Thanks so much for your comment, Robert! I hope you have an amazing time in France! 😀
I love ‘A Good Year’ – we ate at Le Renaissance yesterday!! Great fun!
Thanks for confirming the locations – I thought the roundabout was elsewhere!!
We walked from Gordes to Fontaine d’Vaucluse today!! 😀
Thanks so much for reaching out, Alan! I’m so glad you found some locations and enjoyed this gorgeous part of France!
A Good Year is an excellent film, it’s in our top 100. So many characters to fall in love with: Fanny, Gemma, Ludivine, Adrien Chevalier, Uncle Henry and yeah eventually Max.
Thank you for posting these locations. Jean-Claire
You’re welcome, Jean-Claire! Glad you enjoy the film!
We loooooooove this film and have watched it many many times. It inspired our trip to The Luberon. We visited Le Chateau Canorgue, the house used in the film. It’s a private residence so go for the wine tasting/buying but don’t mention the film unless the owners do as they are very sensitive due to endless film tourists in the past. After our wine tasting we were allowed to take a stroll in the garden and took some lovely photos with the Chateau as a backdrop. We had a drink one evening by the fountain at Hotel Le Renaissance in Gordes where Fanny works in the film. We are now sitting in the tree lined area of Cucuron where in the movie Max and Fanny had their first date where a black and white movie is playing in the background. The Luberon is an idyllic location whether you love the film or not. Enjoy!! Helen and Angelo.
Ahhh this is all so useful to know – thanks for sharing! I’m glad you enjoyed your trip! 😀
Just watched “A Good Year”. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Not high marks for being riveting, but no rom com is, and these days escapism ranks high w me as well. No travels to France, but the south of it is now moving up on the list…. that includes a return to Tuscany and the hill towns, and the north of Ireland. Thanks for offering another connection to a fine evening’s entertainment. Good luck w Almost Ginger.
Well… There are some amazing romcoms out there in my opinion (When Harry Met Sally to name one) but yes, the genre has been infiltrated by many less than stellar ones! No worries at all, glad you liked the blog post Les 😀