This tree grows on a wine estate whose owners kept rebuilding the same hillside into ever grander versions of itself. Antoine Mari bought the land on the hill of Crémat in 1906 and built a medieval-style château with a machicolated tower, part of the Bellet appellation that has grown grapes on Nice's inland hills since Roman times. Irène Bretz, a wealthy American who took over the estate in 1923, added neo-Tuscan flourishes and built out the surrounding gardens further, the setting in which this Arbutus unedo, listed with precise coordinates on the regional remarkable-trees registry for the Alpes-Maritimes, now stands. The species carries both flowers and red, strawberry-like fruit on its branches at the same time in autumn, an unusual trait for a Mediterranean evergreen, and no individual age is documented for this specimen beyond its listing as a notable specimen. The estate still produces organically farmed Bellet wine today and takes visitors on booked tours through its gardens, art collection and cellars, one of the few trees on this list that comes with a tasting afterward.
From people who stood here
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Getting there
Château de Crémat, 442 Chemin de Cremat, 06200 Nice
You can recognise it in autumn by carrying flowers and red, strawberry-like fruit on its branches at the same time. It stands in the gardens of the Chateau de Cremat.
Guided tours Monday-Saturday 10:00-17:30, booking required via the estate's website
Car recommended; Bellet hills, north-west Nice
In fruit
October into December, when it flowers and ripens last year's strawberry-red fruit at the same time
The line is our estimate of how much there is to see, not a measurement. Typical for this species where this tree stands; exact weeks shift with the year.
Sources
Where the facts on this page come from. The story was written with AI from these sources, and readers who know the tree correct it.
