We walked downstairs to a lovely spread of bread, cheeses, jams, and freshly squeezed juices for breakfast.
Just as we were finishing breakfast, our wine tour guide for the day, Paul, arrived. Paul was very friendly and knowledgeable about the area. As we drove off to the first winery, he started the day by explaining the French wine classification system. While in the US and most other countries, wines are classified by the type of grape in the wine (Cabernet, Chardonnay, etc), wines in France are classified by terroir, or growing region (Bordeaux, Burgundy, etc). Terrior is designated most generally by region, then more specifically by appellation, and most specifically by village. Quite often the most famous and most highly regarded wines are made of grapes from a single village. French wines are strictly regulated through the appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) system. The most demanding level of distinction, referred to as Cru, is given to 16 villages in the Rhone valley, and we would be visiting three of those villages.
As we drove along through the valley, the scenery was breathtaking. Hills and vineyards and tiny villages spanned our view in both directions.
Our first tasting was at a biodynamic winery called Domaine Chaume-Arnaud in the Vinsobres AOC. Unlike in areas like Napa, the French take a much more casual approach to wine tasting. Instead of a formal tasting room, we were shown into a barn where the wine is produced. We stood around an old wine barrel which we used as our table as we tasted a number of delicious wines. The southern Rhone is known for its fruity, full bodied reds which are made from blends of various of grapes including Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, and Cinsaut. We tried a number of reds as well as one white and one rosé at each winery.
After the first winery, we stopped for lunch in a cute little village nearby.
After lunch, Paul picked us up again and we went to a vineyard called Domaine Beau Mistral in the Rasteau AOC. Sandarine Brun, one of the winemakers there, gave us a wonderful tour of the wine production area and walked us through the wine making process from start to finish.
We were really thrilled with the prices of the wines. We purchased a few bottles at each vineyard for around 10 euro each!
For our last tasting we visited a tasting room for the wines of Domaine Baumalric, in the Baumes de Venise AOC. We had some wonderful reds as well as a delicious Muscat that was named as best of the vintage in 2012.
This completed our wonderful tour with Paul. If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend booking a tour with him through rhonewinetours.com
After the tour and a quick nap, Eric and I decided to head into Vaison-la-Romaine, the village where we were staying, for dinner. We found a cute little restaurant and were able to order a bottle of wine we had tasted earlier that day. The waitstaff at the restaurant was very friendly (we were surprised that even in this small village everyone spoke English), and we made friends with a dog that was hanging out inside. :)
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