Author: Thomas Wilcox

DAY SIX  |  Juliénas, Verzé, Givry, Beaune

Up early again today for our trip south — it’s about an hour drive to the Beaujolais, and the region greeted us with sunny skies, a pleasant breeze and an impressive morning of discovery.

Our first tasting was with a tiny-scale winemaker in Juliénas. We had little to go on besides a few notes in a journal we follow, but his wines would have exceeded even the highest expectations. These were crisp, crackling, juicy, unoaked, pure gamays — bursting with the joie-de-vivre spirit of the Beaujolais. With affordable pricing and an exceptional vintage, these will appear in our warehouse and on our email list sooner rather than later.

With such a morning, our second tasting was set up to disappoint; which makes how good the late-morning’s wines were even more impressive. These are a different style of Beaujolais — careful use of oak, 100+ year old gamay vines, with complexity and depth to match many a Côte d’Or red. Our host finished the tasting with a 2005 Juliénas from old vines that near perfection.

We grabbed a quick lunch in town — foie gras salads and a bottle of Badoit — then headed north to the Maconnais. Our source here is one of our most exciting new producers — one we discovered several years ago, and who already has many fans among our readers. His wines continue to be excellent, and we’ll be adding an elegant new Pouilly-Fuissé from him in the months to come.

Between tastings three and four we took the back roads and passed through our old neighborhood around the village of Cluny. We spent a year living here in 1998, and the pastoral green hillsides and gently winding roads brought back many a memory and smile. Tasting four took us up to Givry, where we sampled 2015s from the barrel — nearly a year away from bottling and they’re already pleasant. Quelle millesime.

Dinner in town at a new bistro — boeuf carpaccio, and cuisse d’agneau — with les Bleus on in the background. Tomorrow Chablis.

DAY FOUR  |  Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Tain l’Hermitage

Our final morning in the South greeted us with perfect azure skies and a stiff breeze. After coffee and emails in the courtyard, we departed the house for our first visit. The first domaine sits on a hill at the eastern edge of the appellation, and by the time we reached the chateau the wind had become noticeable and steady. The winemaker smiled as she greeted us; “a petit mistral this morning,” she said, crediting the wind with keeping their grapes healthy and mold-free all year long.

Our second tasting was in downtown Chateauneuf-du-Pape, a family winery with whom we’ve worked for over a decade. The new generation of winemaker has maintained her parents lofty reputation, and the wines are just as good as ever. A fresh, seductive, perfumed white 2015 CDP was a highlight.

We stopped for lunch and wifi in the town’s central Square, and then headed north to the northern border of the appellation. Our final tasting of the Southern Rhône was with a new producer making dark, rich, tannic CDPs and interesting Côtes du Rhônes aged for 2 years before release. We’ve struggled mightily to winnow down our favorite producers this trip so far, and today’s tastings made nothing simpler. A good problem to have, I suppose, but a tricky one nonetheless.

We drove an hour and a half north to Tain l’Hermitage, a city at the foot of the famous Hill of Hermitage. We tasted a sample of a wine we found our first night at dinner in Séguret — just as good as we remembered — and then headed off to dinner. Our restaurant, called Le Quai, was perched on a terrace overlooking the Rhône River and the suspension bridge linking Tournon-sur-Rhône to Tain l’Hermitage. The sun set around 9:15, and we enjoyed our meal thoroughly, watching as the light crept up the steep hillsides across the river.

Tomorrow the north — inky syrah, perfumy whites, and then a last long drive further north to Burgundy.

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DAY THREE  |  Pic-St-Loup, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Séguret, Gigondas

We started early this morning with a drive down into the Languedoc, about an hour and a half south. Once off the autoroute, the road begins to wind through rugged terrain. Scraggly green-gray bushes cover rocky outcroppings bleached by the brilliant sun; the two-lane road is shoulderless, but passing is never in question.

Our domaine here in Pic-St-Loup is biodynamic and organic, and their fields and vineyards are as beautiful as their vines. Bees buzz everywhere, as birds sing and small woodland animals dart between rows of vines. The wines here are perhaps better than ever — pure, inky, seductive reds of syrah, grenache, and carignan. We tasted all wines outside, taking in the warm air and bucolic setting around us. Toward the end of our tasting, our host led us down the hill to their wild pasture of brebis goats, which are let loose into the vines to trip the wild grasses. With the natural world bursting around us, and a fresh, vibrant glass of wine in hand, it seemed our own private Eden in the south of France.

Before hitting the road we stopped in town for a baguette, mustard, cornichons, paté, and local cheese, just making the noon deadline for food. Though the act of eating in the car is certainly not francais, we did our best to make the contents of the meal appropriate to our surroundings. Whatever the level of authenticity, the sandwiches hit the spot.

After lunch we visited a promising new winemaker in the town of Chateauneuf-du-Pape — just two wines (a white and a red), but beautifully made and welcomingly priced. Having ended early, we stopped by another Chateauneuf domaine based on an enthusiastic endorsement from our the morning’s visit in Pic-St-Loup. These too proved exceptional — just two wines again (white and red) of the highest and purest quality. An embarrassment of riches in wine where once there lived an embarrassingly rich series of popes.

Our final tasting of the day was in Séguret, at a new domaine run by old friends. We began with a fascinating visit to the terraced vines in the hills behind Séguret — a hidden spot with a favored exposition and a charming collection of wildflowers and herbs. Back at the domaine we tasted through an exceptional lineup of white, rosé, and red. Exciting to see a young winemaker really hit his stride.

A dinner back in Gigondas — risotto with local wild mushrooms and finely roasted pork tenderloin, with lovely six-year-old Rasteau. More CDP tomorrow, then north to the Northern Rhône.

DAY TWO  |  Courthezon, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas, Séguret

We weren’t sure what the coffee arrangement would be in our AirBnB, so we brought along an Aeropress and a bag of Stumptown coffee. Thus the morning began with a bit of email catchup, and a warm taste of home. We supplemented with some croissants and a baguette from the Boulangerie around the corner.

Our first appointment of the trip was just a few minutes from the house, and we got our first look at the excellent 2015 vintage — ripe, soft, rich, and extremely drinkable. They may not all have the tannin to survive the long haul, but if they continue to drink like this won’t last long anyway.

We grabbed lunch in Courthezon — frites, salad, sandwich — and then crossed back over to Chateauneuf-du-Pape. A bit early for our 2pm (you’ll remember the world halts between noon and two here), we stopped along the plateau at the northern edge of the Chateauneuf-du-Pape appellation.

Though we’ve seen and photographed them many times, the smooth, round, large orange stones that fill the fields are still impressionant, as they say. Our after-lunch tasting took place on a beautiful veranda overlooking hundred year old vines, and produced several exciting new potential additions to the portfolio.

Our last tasting of the day was in Gigondas, with old friends whose wines we know as well as any. Their whole gamme was delicious as usual, and their 2015s as rich and exciting as those from the morning. Good laughs and family updates.

Back at the house we worked for a bit on the video blog, and then zipped up to Séguret for dinner again, this time at a different restaurant. Highlights included, house-smoked salmon, pork sous-vide, and a view of sun settling into layers of haze across the valley. We’ve managed to eat every meal outdoors so far.

A morning trip to the Languedoc tomorrow.