France Trip 2008 – Studying French Wine Regions

The delightfully giddy week in Italy turned into a week of serious academic research in Champagne. Time to get back to work – even though we did get to taste many wonderful Champagnes every day. We were here to do research and write a book, so each day was jam-packed with interviews at wineries and institutions. When we arrived in Reims that first evening – after many delays on the day long trip from Siena – we checked into the Holiday Inn. It was a nice clean hotel with a magnificent buffet breakfast every morning with a great view from [...]

For our 23rd wedding anniversary, my husband flew to meet me in the South of France on his way to work in the Azerbaijan oil fields. We decided to stay in Bandol, on the French Riviera because they are known for the dark, earthy mourvèdre – one of my husband’s favorite wines. We left Montpellier on May 2nd and arrived in Bandol in about 2 hours. It was a lovely scenic drive and the weather was perfect. Our condo was outside of the town about ten minutes and called Pierre & Vacances - Résidence Les Rivages de Coudouliere. It was [...]

Thursday morning, I packed and then did a quick tour of the city of Bordeaux. It is much bigger than I thought, with a beautiful drive along the river and lovely old stone buildings and leafy plazas. Then I started the four hour drive back to Montpellier so I could meet my husband at the airport at 8pm. On the way, I stopped to visit the amazing ancient city of Carcassonne. It was hard to miss it, because you could see it from the toll way. I’m glad I stopped, because it was a beautiful warm spring day, and the [...]

My original plan was to visit Chateau Smith-Haut Lafitte and Sauternes on Thursday, but I discovered when I arrived in Bordeaux that most wineries would be closed because May 1 was a national holiday. Therefore, I had to scramble and telephone to make appointments at both wineries for Wednesday afternoon. I gave myself enough time to have an elegant lunch at the famous Les Sources de Caudalie Hotel and Spa – which is next door to Chat. Smith-Haut Lafitte, and managed by one of the owner’s daughters. First I visited the Spa and picked up a brochure. It was surprisingly [...]

It took me three emails and several phone calls to get an appointment at Ch. Margaux, and I actually started the process a month in advance. Eventually they agreed that I could visit and I was very excited, though a little tired as I started out that morning in the rain. However, I had only driven one mile when disaster struck. As I slowed down to approach a roundabout, the car behind me rear-ended mine, and the person behind her, smashed her car – resulting in a 3 car collision. I think the rainy pavement caused the accident. Shaking, I [...]

Another absolutely amazing day! I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends that they introduce me to people like Christian who is the international winemaker for Lafite. As arranged, he picked me up at my hotel at 8:30am and we headed north to the Medoc and our early appointment with Charles Chevallier at Chateau Lafite. What a tour! The place is amazing with splendid old cellars – both a first and second year cellar; huge impressive fermentation vats; and state of the art equipment. The vineyards are filled with gravel and are close to the river – as are [...]

Today was truly amazing. Even though it rained on and off, it was filled with so many great experiences that it didn’t matter. As arranged, I met Thierry (a friend of my co-author Tim Matz) in St. Emilion at 10am where I parked my car and jumped into his. As a native of the Right Bank, Thierry knew everyone in town and he was a fabulous tour guide. He was also good friends with the owners of L’Ausone – our first stop at 11am. The tour and tasting of L’Ausone was perfect. Mr. Vauthier and his daughter explained the vineyard [...]

I grabbed a few extra hours on both Friday and Saturday to drive around the Cote d’Nuits. Since it is only 18 miles long, it didn’t take long. I took the faster road up to Marsannay, and then slowly weaved my way through each of the little famous villages – taking pictures as I went: Fixin, Musigny, Gevry-Chambertin, St. Denis, Vougeot, Vosne-Romanee, a quick detour to Echezeaux, and Nuits St. George. In Gevry-Chambertin, I stopped to buy a bottle of wine for Mike – since this is his favorite village. Driving around I saw a sign for Domaine Heresztyn saying [...]

Our appointment in Vosne-Romanee was at 2pm with the two sisters, Marie-Christine and Marie-Andree of Domaine Georges Mugneret. I arrived in the small charming village an hour in advance so I could grab a sandwich and bottle of sparkling water and drive out to the famous vineyards of La Tache and Romanee Conti. I found Romanee Conti first up the small road behind the church. It was exciting to see such a famous vineyard and even more special -- there was someone plowing with a horse and hand-plow further up the hill. After watching for a while, I headed to [...]

The city of Beaune is a delight to visit with its old walled center, cobblestones, quaint shops, and wonderful restaurants. I was able to wander around the Hospices and see the amazing multi-colored tile roof and intricate architecture (see photo). I had two wonderful dinners in town – the first in a charming restaurant with melon colored walls where I had a tomato & zucchini gratin, veal, and a cream flan for dessert. The second was my birthday dinner with friends Eric and Mao in La Paradox restaurant. There I had the traditional Burgundy 4 course meal starting with escargot, [...]

I visited Domaine Cyrot-Buthiau in Pommard for a 4:00 to 5:30 appointment. Oliver is a small producer of Pommard and Volnay, but his wine shop and cellars are in the small village of Pommard. His wife helps run the wine shop and also sells home-made stuffed toys such as adorable ducks, geese, and teddy bears. She told me that she likes to keep busy while waiting for wine customers, so her sewing machine and ironing stand are in the shop with the wine. Very charming, and a great place for tourists to stop and buy both wine and unique gifts. [...]

This was a busy day with 4 winery appointments on my calendar and no detailed map. Fortunately all were quite close to Beaune, and I was able to drive into each little village and either find the name of the winery on a sign or stop and ask someone for help. In the first village of Meursault, I had to go into a tobacco shop and ask for directions. The very kind man drew me a map to arrive at Domaine Henri Germain et Fils. The owner only spoke French, but we managed quite fine as I had already translated [...]