French Wine Country - The Rhone Valley

Our second day in wine country was spent in the Provence region in the Chotes de Rhone wine appellation with our home base in the city of Avignon. Since we were traveling by train, we decided to splurge and take a guided minivan tour of the region. Englishman Oliver Hickman (who now lives in France to grow his own wine) whisked us around the region to taste 18 different wines at three different estates in the region and teach us a bit about the different wine-making regions.

It was right in the middle of the fall harvest and a great time to taste some wine. The region is known for the reds, and we tasted some great and relatively cheap reds (finding those cheap reds in the U.S has proven more difficult).

We went to one winery in Vacqueyras in the morning where we got Olivier all to ourselves for our tasting. He was very knowledgeable, teaching us about the characteristics of the wine and providing lots of specifics on each wine we tasted. He was also very affable, very English, and just a fun guy to hang out with tasting wine all day.

At Vacqueyras Vineyard

After lunch we saw two more vineyards in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape region. The wines here have been famous ever since the Pope moved from Rome to Avignon in the 14th century and instilled wine-making in the region. Due to the interesting "terrior" which consists of vines growing through a meter of large stones with grenache grapes and 700 years of good marketing, it's the most famous wine in the region. Their reds have a nice blend of smoothness, with hints of fruit and spice; I highly recommend them. We shared the afternoon tour with three other slightly older couples (even one from Charlottesville), which was also surprisingly fun; after we were left alone after a tasting, they were the ones to start helping themselves to more samples for us all!

The Grapes and Stones of Châteauneuf-du-Pape

After getting back from Chateauneuf-du-Pape, we toured the city of Avignon, from its Palace of the Popes, the temporary Papacy in the 14th century, to the bridge to nowhere. All in all, one of our favorite days!