By Bob Tagert

This past month we decided to head back to the mountains for our Road Trip adventure. For a destination we chose the L’Auberge Provencale Inn and Restaurant which is about a half hour past Middleburg in White Post and a short drive off of Route 340. The distance was about 62 miles from Old Town Alexandria and took about an hour and a half. Once you get off of the belt way and the slot car track locally known as I-66, you can hit some back roads and enjoy the drive. Taking the exit to Route 50 west off of 66 we headed for White Post via Middleburg to the L’Auberge Provencale.

We are pretty familiar since we have been distributing the Old Town Crier out that way pretty much since the beginning in 1988. I was already familiar with the area as I had grown up in Oxon Hill, Maryland and rode my motorcycle throughout the mountains each summer and fall. I wrecked the bike in 1968, so you can see, that was a long time ago. Traffic was not near what it is today and the mountains were a good escape. The Virginia Wine Industry was in its’ infancy. Today there are over 300 wineries with a rise in the number of breweries and distilleries, making the area a popular destination in the DMV.

As lunch time was fast approaching, we stopped in Middleburg at the Red Horse Tavern for a quick beverage and sandwich. When we first started to distribution in the Blue Ridge “back in the day”, the Red Horse Tavern was called Magpies and, like Red Horse, was a fun place to frequent and get a good meal and drink at a good price! Getting a deal these days is a huge plus.

After our nice lunch we continued our journey west on Route 50, through horse country and the classic town of Upperville and the home of the former controversial Hunters Head Tavern. We were considering stopping there for a beverage but it appeared to be closed. We later found out that it has sold and is being transformed into an Irish-themed tavern and eatery. We are looking forward to checking it out this summer.

We continued west on Route 50 past the Ashby Inn in Paris and across the Shenandoah River to where we picked up Route 340 south for about a mile and to the L’Auberge Provencale.

The Inn sneaks up on you after you make the turn. In fact, I drove right past the entrance and blue sign announcing the destination. L’Auberge Provencale is a classic French Country Inn in the middle of the historic Virginia horse and wine country. The property provides fourteen unique guest rooms, an onsite bar and lounge, and an award-winning restaurant and are well known for their extensive wine cellar.

In 2025, the restaurant once again received Wine Spectator’s Best of Award Excellence for the caliber of their wine program. The Best of Award Excellence is reserved for restaurants that demonstrate remarkable breadth across wine growing regions or vertical depth of top producers, paired with thoughtful presentation and personal commitment to the guest experience.

You just never know who you might run into at the L’Auberge Provencale. After getting all squared away in our room, we headed to the Bistro section of the restaurant where our longtime friend and former manager at Landini’s Restaurant here in Old Town, Drew Chaney, greeted us at the door on our arrival. It was great to see an old friend…it really set the mood.

We immediately went to the bar for a cocktail and to catch up. The bar is small but is not lacking in any way. The liquor inventory is almost as extensive and their wine inventory. We were happy to note that they are supporters of several Commonwealth distilleries and wineries. In fact, they got a nice mention in Matt Fitzsimmons February Grapevine column as being one of the state’s “Top Stewards of Virginia Wine”. I opted to support my pal Rick Wasmund and ordered a Copper Fox Single Malt on the rocks with a splash while Lani went for one of the many craft cocktails – too exotic for me since it had egg white in it. They have a nice selection of craft mocktails as well for those of you who don’t imbibe but want to experience a fun drink.

Dining at L’Auberge is a spectacular experience. You have your choice of a more laid-back experience in the Bistro area where the menu is billed as “casual bar fare”. The bar is also in this room so there were some lively conversations taking place while we enjoyed our pre-dinner beverages. The next time we visit – probably when we take them copies of this issue – we are planning to experience a few items on this menu.

If you are looking for a formal dinner, it is served in one of the two dining areas in their acclaimed Virginia restaurant, La Table Provencale – certainly one of the best restaurants in Northern Virginia and a unique experience. Just as it is done in Provencale, the restaurant employs a farm-to-table philosophy that makes for a memorable dining experience. To quote them, “In Provencale, dining is more than eating, it is a celebration of life where you enjoy food at a leisurely pace with friends and family, which is what you will experience at La Table Provencale!”

The menu changes as the seasons do and by the time you are reading this, I imagine the springtime version will be in place so I won’t regale you with what we consumed. However, we are glad that Drew insisted we order one of their signature appetizers – Pigs on a Clothesline. Yes, you read that right. It is strips of some of the absolute best bacon either of us has ever had – and that’s saying something since we are sort of bacon snobs – that are oven roasted and maple glazed and hung on the clothesline with clothes pins and finished off with a torch that caramelizes the residual sugars in the syrup. During the torching process the drippings drop on to the greens and house pickled vegetables that are atop toast points. This makes for a fantastic flavor combination. The photo featured here shows the finished product but the presentation is what makes it extra special.

They do have a dress code in the Dining Room which is business smart attire and I have to admit it does enhance the dining experience.

The restaurant also offers a Sunday Brunch that is enjoyed by guests and locals alike; they have tailgate picnic packages that are available to purchase on steeple chase days during the season and to take if you want to spend a day hiking but want a special meal – everything you need is included.

The accommodations at L’Aberge Provencale are top notch and have great French inspired names. We stayed in the Coco Chanel with a very comfortable queen size bed that you had to use a small step stool to ascend to the comfort of the bed. Our room had an attached bathroom, small refrigerator as well as a coffee maker to help start the next morning. There was also a cable TV as well as a glowing electric fireplace that provided some extra heat on the snowy, chilly evening that we were there. The private entrance is a plus as well.

Breakfast is included in your stay. It is served in the beautiful sunny patio side dining room and al fresco when the weather allows. Served between 8 and 10 am, you are asked to pick from a menu provided for you at check in that is turned in before you retire. Fill it in and let them know what time you would like to be served or when you want it delivered to your room. We recommend the eggs benedict and the French toast.

Innkeepers, Celeste and Chef Alain Borel should be very proud of themselves. They have created a place where guests feel like they are visiting an Inn in Provencale. Everyone we encountered during our stay was amazing. From the time we checked in to the time we checked out, the service was impeccable all the way around. It is nice to have an experience like this ever so often to make one feel special.

There is more information about the history of the inn and the many other services they provide – local wine tours, weddings, etc. – that you can find online to help refine your visit. Not enough room in this space to print.

Anytime is a good time a road trip to the Blue Ridge, but spring takes on a special air of renewal and reminds us that warmer weather is on the way.

L’Auberge Provencale

13630 Lord Fairfax Highway

White Post, VA

540-837-1375

Laubergeprovencale.com