|
November
4, 2008 Northern Rhone Valley
Early start and it was raining. We were headed
northwards to Condrieu. While in search of bread (Jeff could
smell the bakery, but the doors were firmly shut when we left
at 7am) and coffee (yes, the McDs was closed further up the
autoroute), we had a few detours, but came to the 9am dégustation
at Yves Cuilleron. I don't think I've tasted this many wines
in 15 minutes ever. And I really don't wanna do it again. Poor
Kristi was frantically trying to keep up with her tasting notes
(She took notes on every wine tasted and consumed over the course
of the week. I'm surprised she had enough paper.). The Cuillerons
have opened a modern tasting room, complete with the cute gal
behind the counter. Although we had a lot of wines, many were
not available. Hmmm. The standouts included a dessert wine that
was the essence of apricot through and through.
Oh, Jeff forgot the camera this morning so pictures
are missing for now.
We had loads of time to kill before lunch (the
tasting that should have taken a couple hours, well, like I
said, 15 minutes), so we headed to the famous Cote Rotie. Up
a bit of a perilous hillside road. It was quite a view though.
If you can believe it, we stopped at a wine shop while in Condrieu.
I saw some art made from the foil, but it wasn't gonna make
it home. More wine wasn't either, but we could always drink
it there (which we did that evening).
Lunch was at the Beaurivage in Condrieu, a one
star. This was right on the water on the Rhone. It was amazing
to be this close. Before, we never really got the sense of how
fast the river was moving. I sure wouldn't want to fall in (it's
kinda brown, too). So, there were a couple tasting menus. My
menu had a chestnut soup with wild mushroom followed by a very
strange plate indeed. Bright purple quenelles on the left and
brown sauced meat on the right. Yes, unnaturally purple. Easter-egg
purple. It was the hare dish. A bit of warning, hare is not
rabbit. I should have known this, but I ignored it. Although
perfectly cooked medium rare, it was livery. The purple stuff,
don't know, some starch. Jeff's meal was spot on. He started
with a John Dory followed by a gorgeous venison. Then the cheese.
My menu came with some weird and not very pleasant whipped cheese
with peanuts. Yeah, sounded like a good idea, but the chef shoulda
tasted it before it came out. Jeff selected from the trolley
and we shared. Desserts were very nice all around.
A bit of a tight schedule for a Michelin lunch,
so some of us stayed to enjoy our desserts, then coffee and
chocolates. The wine geeks left for the 2:30 appointment. We
all joined up in the cave of Christophe Pichon.
It was a long, rainy drive back south. The autoroute
has white stripes for the lanes, but they aren't very reflective
and there's no bots. It was a bit chaotic out there. Dry clothes
and some wine helped. We had some of our leftover market purchases
and of course, the cheese at our establishment, Après la Sieste.
November
5, 2008 Northern Rhone Valley
Back to a day close to home. We started the morning
at Domaine Marcoux. The Chateauneuf du Pape Vielle Vigne (old
vine) was particularly impressive as were the two sisters who
run the place. They took us through a line up of several wines.
In the end we walked away with some nice wines, including a
Lirac rose (not from our tasting) which we had later in the
evening. Kristi had her bottle signed.
For lunch we split up. John, Kelly, Wendy, Rajiv,
Jeff and I tried the Pâté Frâiche in CdP. The gentleman from
Pegau had recommended it to us (it was closed on Monday). We
split an antipasto our hostess put together. Then most of us
had her specialty - a nice, fresh lasagne. We shared a village
red and good times. Nice little lunch.
For lunch we split up. John, Kelly, Wendy, Rajiv,
Jeff and I tried the Pâté Frâiche in CdP. The gentleman from
Pegau had recommended it to us (it was closed on Monday). We
split an antipasto our hostess put together. Then most of us
had her specialty - a nice, fresh lasagne. We shared a village
red and good times. Nice little lunch.
We met up in the town center for our journey to
Chateau de Beaucastel. A few detours, but we found it. Jason
Haas set up a tour with Kirstin at the winery. We started outside
with a look a some of the fabled acreage. It is beyond rocky.
Then we had a walk through the inner sanctum.
I was in awe of the sheer quantity of the '07 blanc. And I'll
have to wait 'til I get home to get my precious bottle. There
are up to 40,000 bottles in each alcove, all put there by hand
(in some cases by the hapless "I want to work in a winery, it's
so glamorous" interns).
Kirstin took us through a nice tasting of broad
array of wine by the Perrin family. We ended with the whites
and my pick was the 07 Blanc over the 07 VV. We'll see how that
fares when we buy and open them down the line.
The gang was going out to dinner in Mondragon
at Beaugravière. This is supposed to be a restaurant famous
for its fresh truffles (not in season yet), and a very extensive,
reasonably price wine list (had enough). So I relaxed at home,
dry and content. Jeff did report he was glad I had stayed at
home. The truffles, were indeed, canned. But the wine selection
was impressive.
November
6, 2008 Northern Rhone Valley
This was the day Kristi and I decided Jeff was
going to tour us around. Yes, we cannot live by wine alone,
and I can't exactly get the Pope's Palace in California. We
started our day going to Villeneuve (new town) to find an olive
mill. We drove around the outside of the walled city, figured
we had to park and walk in to find our mill. We had some good
views of Avignon itself, but it was misty and not so clear.
We did find the mill and talked to the miller. We poked our
head into the pressing room as new olives were arriving. That
is such a great smell.
Made our purchases, and made the trek to Avignon.
Avignon was the seat of the French pope in starting in the early
14th century. You know, with the dude, Clement V, who ordered
the death of the Knights Templars to steal their wealth. Anyway,
big, looming Palais des Papes. This is part of it, with Jeff
freezing (and looking rather small next to the massive structure).
We made use of our Rick Steves' guide and skipped the inside.
There were other things to see.
Walked around as much as we could given the cold
and damp. We all voted for a non-French meal and ended up at
Le Viet, a Vietnamese place. Kristi and I got Pho, Jeff got
a noodle salad. Nice change.
After lunch we wandered over to le Pont Saint
Bénezet, Avignon bridge. We had a nice audio self guided tour.
The bridge was constructed in the late 12th century to span
the Rhone river. It collapsed many times and is now a bridge
to nowhere. The Palais des Papes statue is gleaming in the background.
< Rhone\edit\AvignonPont5.jpg> A drive over the Rhone again
to Pont du Gard. This is yet another really impressive site,
you gotta see to believe. A Roman aqueduct in the BC/AD timeframe
(long time ago) built without any mortar; hand cut stones folks.
Time had brought neglect, theft and refurbishing to this great
piece of world history. We walked along both sides and had to
go up both banks and across it. It is really big to state the
obvious.
A long day to finish a long week. We all opted
for trying to finish up our market purchases and cheese. Jacques
couldn't condone us eating the morning bread, so popped out
to get us fresh. It was a very early morning for the Tucson
group, so they packed and off to bed. We had mentioned to Chloe
that we'd like to see Sête or Carcassonne, and she had a friend
with a BnB in Carcassonne, so that decided it. We were heading
for the sun in Carcassonne.
Seeking the Sun
|
