My Trip to France

I had an opportunity to travel and learn through three wine regions of France in over 8 days in in the first weeks of September. It was an incredible experience enhanced by the fact that it was harvest time for many of the producers we visited. We were able to walk through vineyards, talking about all the processes leading up to ripening and harvest time. We were able to taste berries to evaluate their maturity, watch harvest crews and modern harvest machines in action. Back at the cellar we watched the different processes. of sorting, destemming, pumped directly into tank or from press to tank. These are incredibly long days for everyone involved with harvest crews starting their work in the middle of the night so as to best preserve the freshness and character of the fruit and then back work continues as its transported back to the winery where processing the grapes begins. With the round-the-clock work going on, I cannot express how grateful I am for the hospitality and patience we received.

Many of the producer we visited we work with here in the store and we were able to find some new wines to bring in as well. 

This is a recap of the trip. 

We started in the Eastern side of the Loire valley in the Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir region of Sancerre, with a beautiful contoured landscape of hills with vineyards planted at multiple exposures. At Pierre Prieur et fils we met father and son team Bruno and Sebastian who were kind enough to show us their vineyards, take us through their wines and show us the cellar all before having to get to a meeting of with other growers and members of the Appellation d'origine  Controlee decide the first day of harvest and arguments are made for special reasons to start picking early. 

The next morning, we drove west to Raphael Midoir in Touraine. The crew was busy cleaning at prepping the cellar for harvest. We checked out multiple sites including, Oisly, known for distinctive Sauvignon Blanc. We went to lunch at Raphael's uncle's restaurant in a small village close by where we tasted the lineup. 

From there we headed further towards the Atlantic coast and the Muscadet Sevre et Maine growing area. This is an exciting area bounded by the rivers of Sevre and Maine. Pretty rises and slopes are found here and most of the land is dedicated the fresh white Melon de Bourgogne. The area also has 8 specific crus that are noted for the specific character of their wine. We had the absolute pleasure of spending 8 hours with Jean-Yves Bretaudau and family at Domaine Du Colombier, after working since 5AM we toured multiple sites, watched harvest in action, came back to the cellar as the fruit was coming the crew was filling tanks and presses. While tasting Jean-Yves and his wife put out an incredible spread of food all while taking care of the cellar operations. This was an amazing experience, the people at Domaine Du Colombier are incredibly hard working and kind. 

That evening we were staying in a super small town (size of our plaza) near Vallet. We were honored to be invited to the towns viewing and celebration of the Rugby world cup when France took on New Zealand. They consumed loads of Muscadet and Ricard Pastis!

We back tracked to Anjou the next day and spent the day with Jean-Christian and Sophie Bonfil at La Croix Des Loges. Another day of learning as Chardonnay was harvested and coming in for their sparkling wine. We toured Cabernet Franc and Chenin blanc vineyards. We talked about the philosophy of growing including pruning and frost damage prevention tactic, trellising and fruit exposure . We tasted through all of their silky fresh Chenin, to the barrel aged Chenin, and older vintages of the chenin based dessert Bonnezeaux wine, along fresh cabernet franc. An incredible lunch was prepared on a wild looking Barbecue that we ate with the vineyard and cellar crew. 

Back on the road we drove 3 hours south to Bordeaux. We checked out harvest as Damien at Chateau Lamothe in Entre Deux Mer (between the river) was making the decision on if he was going to harvest early that morning as rain was predicted. It ended up raining quickly then clearing up. He was up at 2AM and worked through the night harvesting Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. We headed east to Saint-Emilion where Merlot dominates. There the fruit as just waiting for a bit of extra hang time. We were able to taste great wines and visit the barrel rooms at Chateau Bellvue-la-Ferrire and Chateau Yon-Figeac (owners name curiously named Alain Chateau). The wines are plump and soft with great richness of dark fruit accented by time spent in barrel. This is a beautiful area of Bordeaux with well-tended vineyards on hills with great sun exposure. The of Saint-Emilion town itself is architecturally amazing. Back at Lamothe we toured the caves carved out of limestone where the barrels and bottles are stored. Damien and Maria kindly cooked, we tasted fresh whites, oak aged whites, soft fresh red and powerful red as we talked about classic styles of Bordeaux and the future of the region. 

On the last leg of our trip, we headed south again to South Western France. First to Gascgone which overlaps with the brandy producing region of Armagnac, where along with wine Folle Blanche, Baco and Ugni Blanc, and Colombard are grown for the oak aged spirit. We met with Marion Tabres at Domaine Pouteou, at their vineyards and farm distillery. Wine is made then in December it is distilled before being barreled. The whiskey stays in cask and is bottled to order.  They have vintage Armagnac going back to 1970's we tasted through. Marion is a scientist by trade who came home to work with her father and uncles. 

Further south and West that day we went to Gaillac and Domaine Gayrard, it's a gorgeous region of pretty large hills, close to the Tarn River. Looking south we could see the Pyrenees mountains in the distance. This area gets pretty far south and with the hot summer, they had already completed harvest and with Pierre and Laure, we were able to see and taste wine from tank, some that had not started fermentation, some that had and some that were finishing up. This area has a great mix of indigenous varieties and more well-known international grapes. The rustic Bracoul in red and the fleshy but fresh Loin d'Loel. 

I wanted to document the trip a bit. We covered a lot of ground in eight days, I learned so much and I look forward to sharing these producers and wines with you!