Meet Your Host

Christian Borel is a Virginia native whose life has been shaped by hospitality, wine, travel, and aviation. His parents, Alain and Celeste Borel, founded L’Auberge Provençale in White Post, Virginia, in 1981, creating a little piece of Provence in the Shenandoah Valley that has grown into one of Virginia’s most respected country inns and dining destinations.

​

Raised in a French-American family, Christian’s heritage reflects his father’s French and Armenian roots and his mother’s Pennsylvania and Irish background. Growing up at L’Auberge surrounded him from an early age with great food, remarkable wines, and the belief that hospitality is about creating lasting memories. Today, as a sommelier, he carries that tradition forward with a deep passion for wine, its history, the people who make it, and the places from which it comes.

​

Christian is equally passionate about aviation. He is a commercial pilot and Certified Flight Instructor, with the goal of one day flying professionally for the airlines. Yet wine and travel remain an important part of who he is. After years of guests telling him, “The next time you go to Europe to explore wine, take us with you,” Christian hopes to do exactly that—sharing personal journeys to vineyards, wineries, and wine regions with people who have become friends through L’Auberge.

​

Above all, Christian is a devoted husband and father of three daughters. His wife and family remain at the center of his life and are the greatest joy behind all of his adventures, whether they lead to a vineyard, an airport, or somewhere new around the world.