Wine of the Day August 9, 2011 - Seguret

By August 9, we only had a few days left to see some places that were on our wish list to visit.  Several locals told us that one of the best kept secrets in Provence was a small village called Seguret.  We had actually seen the village from the highway on one of our previous trips to Vaison la Romaine, and it looked beautiful.  The village is located on the side of a mountain, and it has an old fortress at the very top of the mountain.

Of all of the villages we visited during our two week trip, I think that Seguret was the most memorable.  It is very small, but it has a lot of character.  It is probably the least "tourist-ey" place we visited which added to its charm.  The streets are very narrow (even by Provence standards), and are all built with handmade cobblestone. 

No matter where you looked, you could take a picture that would be a perfect postcard.  Exhibit 1:

Exhibit 2:

Exhibit 3:

Exhibit 4:

I have quite a few more, but you get the idea...

The views from the village were also spectacular:

That last picture was taken from the terrace of a beautiful little restaurant where we stopped to get lunch. The restaurant had the usual kids menu of cheeseburgers (make sure you order them well done, or you will get medium rare - not exaggerating!) and chicken nuggets, but the girls were getting a little tired of that, so they were very happy to see that this restaurant had a few other kids items that we had not seen before.  They both ordered the "Baguette and Strawberry Smoothie" special.  Unfortunately, a French "smoothie" is apparently radically different from the yogurt-infused sugar bomb that we north americans are accustomed to.  Abbey immediately said "Ewwwww" as soon as she had her first sip.  I tried it, and I would guess that it was a mixture of strawberries and carrots or some other vegetable.  I actually thought it was quite good, as I am not a big sugar fanatic, but it was definitely not up Abbey or Kaitlin's alley.  The "baguette" was actually a small slice of bread with diced vegetables and a mild salsa spread.  Poor Abbey and Kaitlin were wishing they had stuck with the cheeseburgers, but their meal sure did look pretty:

Wendy and I ordered prawns and salmon, and today's Wine of the Day was another Tavel rosé which we really enjoyed, especially with a light lunch on a hot summer afternoon.

The previous Tavels we had tried all came form the grocery store and were quite inexpensive.  This Tavel was definitely a higher end product produced by Domaine Le Vieux Moulin as a 2008 vintage.   Tavel is one of the few rosé wines that can benefit from aging, and we found this three year old wine to be much more refined and less sharp than the previous ones (which were 2009 or 2010 vintages).  This bottle also had a bit of reddish/pink sediment in it that looked like it was possibly added when it was bottled.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I was not a fan of rosé wine, but the dry rosé wine of Provence was making me a convert.  This was a very enjoyable bottle, and I will see if I can order a few bottles to enjoy next summer. 

More info on Tavel wines here. 

Wine of the Day August 8, 2011

After the previous day's wine overload, there was no wine of the day for Aug 8.  Booooo!  But my liver said, "Hoorayyyyyy"!

Wine of the Day August 7, 2011 - My Oh My!

So today was the day...  le Festival Veraison at Chateaneuf du Pape.  This is a medieval themed festival to celebrate (a) "le Veraison" - which is when the grape berries turn from green to red and signals the commencement of the harvest, and (b) the arrival of the Popes of Avignon to their summer residence.

Unfortunately, today was also the first day since we arrived in the south that the sun did not make an appearance first thing in the morning.  As I drove towards Chateauneuf du Pape, the skies grew darker and darker, and there was a light misty rain coming down when I found a parking spot just inside the village.  No big deal, right?  After all I am from Vancouver, so a little rain won't hurt me.

The village was all decked out as a medieval market, with dozens of tented booths lining the streets showcasing everything from fresh food to medieval clothing.

Of course, it would not be much of a wine festival without wine:

There were also several booths set up throughout the village where you could purchase an official Veraison wine glass.  For 3.5 Euros, not only did you get a nice wine glass, but when you presented this glass to any of the wine booths, or any of the wine cellars (Caves) that are located throughout the village, you would get a modest splash of whatever wines they had on display.  The nice part was that they didn't limit the samples to the cheap stuff.  Not that any official Chateauneuf wines are "cheap", but many of the Caves and booths were more than happy to pour you a glass of their premier crus which often are produced exclusively from sections of the domaines' vineyards that feature their best grapes from the "vielle vignes" or old vines which are typically 80 to 100 year old grape vines.

There was even a horse saddled with two oak wine barrels that was being led around the village by medievally clad townspeople.  Upon presenting your official Veraison glass, you could get a fill up directly out of the barrels on the horse.  Very cool.

Well, we weren't there long before the heavens opened up on us.  It was raining so hard by about noon that most of the people attending the festival scampered into the small cafes and bistros, or just ran back to their cars for shelter.  We didn't bring an umbrella or any kind of rain gear, and after a few minutes, we were totally soaked.  We decided to head back home to get dried off and come back later, as the forecast indicated that the sun was supposed to make an appearance later in the day.

When we came back to the house, the rain had already started to subside.  After we changed into some dry clothes, the owners of the villa popped in to clean the pool and prune the garden.  I don't think I have mentioned this before in any of my previous entries, but the owner of the villa where we stayed is actually a sommellier and a local wine expert.  He talked to us about the Veraison festival and told us that as long as the weather continued to improve, we really needed to go back to experience the medieval parade that was scheduled for sundown.

After talking about wine for so long (and in honor of the Veraison festival day), he offered to share a bottle from his personal cellar.  He brought up a 2009 Chateaneuf du Pape red from Domaine de la Janasse, which he indicated was one of the best producers in the area.  Even though this was a relatively young CNdP red, it was absolutely stunning.  He referred to it as "monster" with luscious full bodied fruit flavor.  I had sampled several 2009 CNdP reds earlier in the day at the festival, but this wine was heads and shoulders above anything I had tasted.  I would even rank it as more enjoyable than the 2005 bottle we drank from our first visit to the village a few days earlier.  We continued to talk about the wines of the region with our host, and he wanted us to try another bottle to show us the difference that aging a wine can make.  Well, it would have been rude to say no....  So off he went, returning a few minutes alter with another gem from his cellar, a 1998 CNdP red produced by Paul Autard.  Since this was such an old wine, it required decanting to avoid pouring the sediment from the bottle into our glasses.  

Drinking such an old wine right after a relatively young wine was extremely interesting.   An aged CNdP really mellows out with age.  Where the young wine's flavor profile was predominantly fruity and sweet, the older wine featured a much more "earthy" flavor with lots of spice and floral notes.  

We were really fortunate to drink two incredible wines on the same day, and it was all the more special that we enjoyed it on the same day as the CNdP Veraison festival.

Speaking of the festival, the weather continued to improve, and we headed back to the village after dinner.  The main village parking lot had been covered in sand and was the focal point for the "grande spectacle" which concludes the festival.  

For the next three hours, literally dozens of residents of the village entertained us with fire dancing, a medieval parade, and concluded with a jousting competition where riders raced towards each others in full chain mail and suits of armour.  

All in all it was a great day featuring not one but TWO "Wines of the Day".

Wine of the Day August 6, 2011 - Eat Local, Drink Localer

By a total fluke, I ran into my dentist at one of Vancouver's best coffee shops www.elysiancoffee.com about a week before we left for our trip.  He was getting a sandwich and he saw me and asked me what I had planned for the summer.  When I told him we were going to France, he asked, "Cool - what part?"  When I told him we were staying near Avignon, he said, "Oh my!  We go there all the time".  He then proceeded to join me for lunch and we spent the next 90 minutes discussing our itinerary, and he gave us some great places to see, especially the local markets.  Most Provencale villages and towns have a "market day" where they shut down a lot of the "downtown" streets and literally hundreds of vendors set up booths to sell their wares.  He then told me that the highlight of their trip is to visit an Auberge (Basically a small hotel with a restaurant) in the village of Entrechaux, called Auberge D'Anais.  

We popped in for lunch one afternoon after visiting the market at Vaisons la Romaine, which is an old Roman town, and it was incredible.   It is basically a farm house in the middle of the country, and they grow their own herbs, veggies, and meats on site to serve at their restaurant, which boasts an outdoor patio under the shade of olive trees during the summer.  We liked it so much we went back a few days later for dinner.  When we arrived, we learned that the farm also had a vineyard, and of course bottled their own wine.  We enjoyed a bottle of their Domaine de Tales with our dinner and it was incredibly good.

It was a full bodied wine with lots of spice notes that paired well with my smoked duck salad and my entree which was Lapin Provencale (yes I ate wascally wabbit).  Here is a pic of my salad, and I will spare you pics of the dead wabbit.  When we finished, we were marvelling at how fantastic it was to eat at a restaurant that grows its own viggies, farms its own meat, and produced its own wine.

Endurance....

Well, I am sure a few of you are wondering how I can remain highly functional and help to keep my kids entertained on our family vacation when I am drinking so much wine.  Well, it is difficult to be sure, but the secret is.....having a nap by the pool when the sun goes down.

Wine of the Day, August 5, 2011

So, we all know about the famous Chateaneuf du Pape wines, right?  Well up until a few months ago, I thought all CNdP wines were red.  A few months before our trip, I popped into our favourite wine store, "Everything Wine" in South Surrey, and chatted with one of the wine specialists in the store about the Rhone region.  During this discussion, I learned that CNdP also produces white wine, and because they are produced under the same highly regulated AOC environment as their red counterparts, they are exceptional.

You may recall my visit to all the "Caves" in the village of Chateauneuf du Pape a few days ago.  Well, I ended up talking to one of the proprieteres of a nice Cave near the center of town, and he let me try a couple of his estate's white wines.  Having never tried a white CNdP wine, I wasn't sure what to expect, but let me tell you that the white wines I tried exceeded all of my expectations.  I took home this bottle of  Les Vignes d"Alexandre, which was a 2010 vintage.  Most of the reds you see in CNdP are at least 2 years old, as they need a little maturing to get the most flavour, but apparently the whites are quite good within about a year after harvest.  We had this wine with lunch, which consisted in some dry cured pork from a "charcutterie" (a French delicatessen), some local olives, cheese, and of course a fresh baguette.  This was a wonderful wine that was bursting with fruit flavor, and I dared not put an ice cube in the glass for fear of persecution from the Pope!

By the way, during my visit to the village, I learned that CNdP wine is the only commercial product that is permitted by the vatican to display the papal coat of arms.  Even the Pope knows not to mess with good wine...

Wine of the Day, August 4, 2011

Today's WOTD was all about getting insider information.  Upon learning that we were wine lovers, the family that owns our villa directed us to a small wine shop about 5 minutes away that just opened a few months ago.  I went in and spoke to the proprietere, Francois, and we had a great chat about the local Rhone wines such as Chateaneuf, Gigondas, Vayqueras, etc.  When I told him I was Canadian, he asked me if I was from Vancouver.  This is quite unusual, as most people who learn we are Canadians ask if we are from Montreal.  It turns out that Francois lived in Vancouver for several months, and not only does he play hockey, he is a Canucks fan.

After sharing our woeful memories of the playoffs a few months ago, Francois insisted that I try a bottle of wine that is made by a local producer named Elodie Balme.  Francois told me that she has been making a name for herself because of her dedication and winemaking skills.  She has several wines, but this one is her newest, and it is a 2009 Champs Libres.  Apparently, this wine is unusual, as it is a "Vin de Table", and the Cotes du Rhone regulations specify that Vins du Table cannot specify a vintage, so the 2009 on the bottle may be an error, or an oversight of some kind.  Francois said that this was his most underrated wine in his shop, and that the price of 11 Euros was an absolute bargain.  The wine is 100% Grenache, which is a very popular grape that grows in this region because it thrives in the hot dry climate.  We enjoyed this wine with some cheeses that we bought at a village market on Tuesday.   Turns out that I had to agree with Francois - the wine was so good that I went back the following day to get another bottle.  It always pays to get insider information - it may be illegal when buying stocks, but it is highly recommended for buying wine!

Wine of the Day August 3, 2011

Sorry for the lack of updates...been very busy seeing the sights, sounds, and tastes of Provence...

On Wednesday August 3, after a strenuous day of lounging by the pool, we decided to eat dinner at a peculiar little Italian place down the road.  I say peculiar because I am not sure I have ever been to a restaurant that is not part of a hotel which has its own swimming pool.   Maybe it is popular with the French national swim team....not too sure.   Anyways, as soon as we arrived, we ran into the family that is staying at the villa next to us, and we decided to get a table together.  We ordered a bottle of Laudun Domaine Pelaquie, which was a nice dry Cotes du Rhone white, which was a great compliment to our meal.  I apologize for not snapping a photo of the bottle at dinner, but we had a non-tourist moment and left our camera at home.

Wine of the Day August 2, 2011

Rosé. I don't know about you, but when I think about rosé wine, I think about sweet wines that you might enjoy with a fruity dessert on a hot summer day. As I mentioned, I am not a huge white wine fan, mostly because I find them a bit too sweet, so the concept of rosé wines was not overly appealing to me. However, when I was researching Rhone wines prior to our trip, I kept reading about the popularity of the region's rosé, and knew that I had to at least try it. I picked up this bottle of one of the most popular rosés known as Tavel. The Tavel vineyards are actually very close to where we are staying, and it is known for being a dry rosé, so I picked up a bottle at the Supermarché for 5 Euros (have I mentioned I love France?).  Well, maybe it is just because I am enjoying a wine that is produced 10 minutes away, maybe it is because we drank it on the nicest day that we have experienced in over a year (has summer arrived in Vancouver yet?), but you can now put me in the rosé convert camp.  This was a wonderfully tasting dry wine, with only a hint of sweetness.  I might have to order a case of this when we get home...

Wine of the Day August 1, 2011

Well, I got the dates wrong for the Chateauneuf wine festival.  It doesn't actually start until Saturday.  The good news is that it is only a 15 minute drive from our villa, so I will definitely be going back on the weekend.  Chateauneuf du Pape is a beautiful small village, and as the name would suggest, it has a Chateau at the top of the hill.  The Chateau was actually the summer residence for the popes of Avignon during the "Avignon Papacy" when the Pope and the Vatican was relocated from Rome to France between 1305 and 1378 (what - you didn't think that you would escape a history lesson when you were reading a blog about wine in France did you)?

The Chateau is a ruin, thanks to the Nazi's who decided to blow it up when they retreated in 1944.  However, the walls that are still standing are well preserved, and the Chateau is still a significant landmark that can be seen from miles around.


Now - to the wine.   


It seems that there are grape vines on every property - doesn't seem to matter if you pass a large winery, or someone's small backyard farm.  

This view of some of the vineyards is form the Chateau.  Vines as far as the eye can see...


The village must have a dozen or more "Caves" which are wine cellars accessible from the streets where you can sample and purchase wine.  

Some Caves have a limited selection from a few producers, and others have a great assortment from multiple producers and vintages.  I visited 4 or 5 of them and the proprieteres were all very friendly and helpful.   


The last Cave I visited was actually about 200m from the Chateau itself, and it was the largest and most impressive.  After walking in, the first section is very commercial with a tasting bar and several racks of wine.  Further inside, there were three more cellar sections, each cooler than the last, and the wines seemed to get older (and more expensive) the further in I went.  The final section of the cellar was incredible - it was actually a Roman ruin of their actual wine processing facility.  There were several "vats" carved out of stone, each with drainage holes at the bottom, leading to other "vats".  The primary "vats" are where the grapes would be crushed (by foot of course), and the juice would flow out of the drainage holes into the secondary "vats" where they would add yeast and begin the fermentation process.  Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my CF card adapter for my SLR camera on the trip, and I had to use the SLR in this Cave because our point-and-shoot doesn't work well in low light conditions.  Pics of the Cave will have to wait until I can find a cheap CF card adapter in Avignon.  In the meantime, here is a picture just outside the Cave taken from the path to the Chateau.

I asked the proprietere to recommend a nice bottle, and he selected a 2005 Clos des Brusquieres.  The proprietere advised me that 2005 was a great vintage, and this particular producer still produced wine using very traditional methods.  How good was it?  Well, let me put it this way - you notice how all the other Wine of the Day (WOTD) pictures have the bottles next to a glass or two?  Well this wine was so good and we enjoyed consuming it so much that I forgot all about taking any pictures of it until today (four days later).  We have had many CNdP wines over the last few years, but this one was by far the best we have tried (to date).  It was strong (most CNdP reds are higher on the alcohol content than many other wines - mostly due to the relatively late harvest and the small yields of the vineyards) at 15%, and although it had that fortified taste that many Rhone wines exhibit, it was extremely mellow and VERY easy to drink.        

Apparently, 2007 was also another great CNdP vintage, so I plan to buy a good bottle when I return to the village on the weekend.  The wine festival is apparently quite an event, complete with medieval jousting tournaments, street music performed by musicians dressed in their finest 1300's era costumes.  Most importantly, if you purchase an official festival wine glass, there are dozens of producers that will fill your glass with samples from their vineyards.  I am guessing I may have to get Wendy to drive us home...