France Trip 2008 – Studying French Wine Regions

Wednesday morning was cloudy with light rain, but I packed the car and headed north to the Macon. It was less than an hour’s drive from my hotel outside of Lyon. Macon is a pretty magical land with rolling hills, tiny villages tucked into the folds, and some very famous cliffs – such as the Rocks of Vergisson (see photo). The only downside of Macon is very poor signage. Their two most famous villages – Pouilly and Fuisse are almost impossible to find. The roads twist and turn with very few signs. Finally after 45 minutes of driving in circles [...]

Today it felt like I entered a fairytale as I drove around the very charming and quaint villages of Beaujolais. I had been invited to attend the professional tasting event of Rendezvous-Beaujolais (www.rendez-vous-beaujolais.com) which was held at four different castles (chateaux). The weather wasn’t great – mainly cloudy, but it didn’t rain. The drive was only 20 minutes from my hotel, so it was an easy commute. First stop was Chat. de Pizay which was tasting Morgon (my favorite), as well as Chiroubles, and Chenas. All 4 estates were tasting Beaujolais-Villages and Beaujolais. Each offered a free lunch as well. [...]

An excellent wine tasting day! I managed to make my 9am appointment at Guigal in Ampuis right on time. Two Americans from Arizona and two Australians from Brisbane were on the tour with me. We had a fabulous 2 hour tour of the cellars and saw every piece of equipment, and learned every process. The most amazing part was the quality system used to evaluate fruit as it came to the receiving docks. Another interesting note is that the high-end single vineyard wines are aged 42 months in 100% new oak! The tour was followed by an incredible tasting of [...]

Sunday is a tough day in France because most everything is closed – even Auchan, the large supermarket. I slept in late – my first day to do so and didn’t leave my cozy apartment until 1:30. Heading north, I decided to find Guigal in Ampuis so I wouldn’t be late for my 9am Monday morning appointment. I was pleased to find I made the drive in 30 minutes taking the A6 through Lyons. Ampuis was very charming and I drove up into the steep vineyards and took pictures of Cote Brune and Cote Blond (see Cote Rotie video). Since [...]

My hotel apartment outside of Lyon is quite nice. It is called Citea Lissieu and is about 10 minutes north of Lyons. I didn’t want to stay in Lyons because I didn’t want to drive in the city. This place is quite nice, clean, and new. I have a living room, kitchen, bath, and bathroom – 4 rooms in all. It has Internet, a swimming pool, breakfast for $7 Euros if you want it, and a laundry. Plus I got a great price and one night free on Hotels.com. Unfortunately I got very lost following the Google Earth Map instructions [...]

I am so amazed at the wonderful price of cheese in France. As I headed north towards Lyons, I stopped at a grocery store near Avignon because I knew I may not have time later. It was called Intermarche and is a chain. I purchased a gold medal award winning St. Aubin Brie for only $2.67 (large cheese in photo); two Crottin chevres totally $1.94, and a long thin pork sausage for $1.27. These were not even the special cheese in the glass case – they were regular cheese in the everyday case. And yet when I tasted them that [...]

My tour of the winery was lovely. On the way in, I observed and took photos of the vineyards with their very small tightly spaced vines in the stony soil. Once at the winery, I was taken on a private tour of the cellar with all of the processes explained, and then tasted through the two recent vintages of whites and reds, as well as one special taste of a 1991 Chat. La Nerthe Rouge. It was spicy and earthy with cloves, and amazingly made of 42% Mouvedre. I ended up purchasing the 2003 (2005 had not yet been released [...]

I arrived in Chateauneuf de Pape via Avignon and found it as enchanting as I did the other 2 times I have visited. Since I have been here before and visited wineries both in and outside the town, as well as Gigondas and Beaumes des Venise, I decided to just visit one special winery this time – Chat. La Nerthe. I arrived early to make sure I knew where it was, and then found a restaurant right next to it at Chateau Des Fines Roches. This chateau looks just like an ancient castle (see photo), and I actually visited the [...]

I left Chateau Chirac and drove to Tavel – about a 1:15 minute drive, and on the way went through Uzes. I was going to stop and explore, but as it was Saturday morning, the town was mobbed due to market. I knew if I stopped, I would have trouble making my appointments. So I head to Tavel and went to Les Vignerons de Tavel which is open every day to the public. There I was able to taste the famous roses of Tavel – much larger, rounder, and higher alcohol than roses of Provence – and learn how they [...]

On Friday evening, Francois led the way from the University through Montpellier to Chateau Chirac – his wife’s (Anne) family estate. It was about a one hour drive through the rain and on the way we stopped at a tasting room in Pic St. Loup to take a short break and watch them fill up people’s take-home plastic gallons of wine. The Chateau is near the town of Uzes, but is in the country. It was built in the 1800’s by Anne’s great grandfather and has been passed down through the family. It was a lovely old Chateau built in [...]

Last time I visited the University of Montpellier in July of 2006 to attend a wine conference, I encountered this intriguing statue. It depicts a younger woman holding and soothing an older woman. For days I kept asking people what it meant, but it wasn't until the last day that I found someone who knew the story of the statue. It is a representation of France and America helping one another with viticulture. When France's vineyards were dying of phylloxera in the 1800's, America gave them American rootstock which is resistant to the disease. So the majority of France's vineyards [...]

The last few days I’ve been interviewing French students at the University in Montpellier. It has been fascinating learning their views on wine and why wine consumption has dropped so dramatically in France. The weather was nice (in the high 60’s and sunny) on Tuesday and Wednesday, and I was able to explore the city and have a nice dinner on Wednesday evening. Montpellier was established in the 900’s by the Dukes of Toulouse and has some fascinating arched structures, impressive mansions, and an old city center where no cars are allowed. It is filled with plenty of outdoor cafes, [...]

On Tuesday I drove one hour SW of Montpellier to visit Famile Ligneres Winery near Corbierres. It was a wonderful visit with owners Anne and Jean. They provided an excellent tour of the vineyards where they specialize in growing Grenache, Carignan, Mouvedre and Syrah for reds, and Rousanne, Grenache Blanc and Vermintino for whites. They have 200 acres – all dried farmed and organic. Some of the soil is quite rocky (see photo), with dramatic mountains rising behind. They are about 30 minutes from the Mediterranean. Currently they export about 90% of their wine to the USA where they have [...]

It’s been much more complicated planning the France wine tour verses the Australia one. This is because I am required to make appointments with most of the French wineries, rather than just dropping by open tasting rooms as in Australia. Many of the top chateaux in France are by appointment only, whereas only a few in Australia are. Fortunately, I’ve had much help from my father-in-law, Michael, who speaks French and 4 other languages fluently. He has helped me translate emails and messages. Sopexa, the French PR firm for wine and food, has also been extremely helpful, as well as [...]