Day 8 – Southern Rhône Valley

Week 2 started with a little trepidation as my little car had to go for her Contrôle Technique (French equivalent to the MOT)..... I was blessed with a very helpful lady at Val de Luc garage who allowed me to put the car in for its MOT, even though I only had a copy of the car’s registration document, the original being with her real Mommy and Daddy in England! However, I discovered that in France there is a list of things you should always carry with you in your car, for fear of being stopped and fined:



• A disc displayed on the windscreen with your insurance;


• A disc displayed on the windscreen with your CT;


• Original registration documents (carte grise) stamped with date of last CT – the originals are winging their way to me as I type, so I can have them stamped and the car released upon passing its CT;


• A red warning triangle;


• A luminous yellow jacket; and


• Spare bulbs for your lights.


So, the Barchetta was duly deposited at 9am and the three of us made our way into Vaison La Romaine for breakfast and then to have a little wander round. Another day, another beautiful town – Vaison is the site of Roman ruins and the older ‘high town’ looks out over a Roman bridge and the river below.

As we explored the old part, once again I was treated as these fortress style towns sit high over the surrounding landscapes offering spectacular views......

But as we walked down to the plateau below, I was surprised at the extent of the Roman ruins – apparently the settlers here were actually from the Campania region of Italy – and many of the original statues and mosaics have survived.

Today was to be a wine tasting day, so we left Vaison; though not before Alistair collected one of the many books left sitting around the town for anyone to lift, read and return! Terrific idea!









 And on to Beaumes de Venise – famous for its sweet wine, Muscat Beaumes de Venise, but also as one of the towns in the Dentelles; pretty village, beautiful views, etc, etc ...... You know the rest! It is also where we saw a cat on its holidays.....

The carrier on the front of the gentleman housed a little cat who was duly carried up and down the cobbled streets of the village by his owner, stopping now and again for his companions to stroke the cat..... The laugh was that it wasn’t asleep – it was sitting up looking out at everything that it was passing...... I half expected the cat to whip out a camera for his own holiday snaps!


Back into the landrover and to Vacqueras where we stopped at ‘Vignerons de Caractere’ la maison. This was a very modern set-up – very swish and yes, maybe losing a little of the authenticity of stumbling into the backroom of the winemakers house to sample the fruits of his labours, but nonetheless, very well done, with a very professional wine tasting service on offer. The purpose of this particular organisation is to encourage the conversion to organic methods, while still respecting the winemaking traditions. If you already knew what you wanted, however, you could just fill up at one of the pumps – a sort of wine pit stop!

 We tasted 7 different wines here; 5 AOC Vacqueras, an AOC Gigondas and a Muscat Beaumes de Venise (also AOC):


1. Vacqueras Seigneur de Fontimple (Blanc 2009) – a blend of Grenache, Viognier and Clairette grapes which gave it quite a perfumed nose and taste – not for me, I have to say, but if you like very floral wines, you may like this one.


2. Vacqueras Seigneur de Fontimple (Rouge 2009) – a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre – a lot of black fruit – blackcurrants, blackberries and heat from the alcohol, but too young to be drunk just yet – the components of the wine hadn’t integrated….. Something echoed by the lady serving the wine who suggested keeping it for between 5 and 7 years.


3. Vacqueras Les Hauts du Castellas (Rouge 2008) – another GSM blend; again with the black fruits, but with definite notes of oak.


4. Vacqueras Eternité (Rouge 2007) – we were a little more excited about this one, as 2007 was a good year for the Southern Rhône. Again a GSM blend of 50/40/10, but this time the black fruits were complimented by a subtler, sweeter oak influence in the form of vanilla and sweet spices resulting in a smoother, more well rounded wine.


5. Vacqueras Vielles Vignes (Rouge 2007) – old vines tend to produce smaller yields, but with higher quality and this was evident in just the nose of this wine – no Mourvèdre, just Grenache and Syrah, and for me the wine was the better for the lower tannins. The fruit had a baked quality, reminiscent of prunes or damson jam...... and similar to my childhood habits of spooning my Mom’s damson jam straight out of the jar and into my mouth, this wine had a moreishness (is that a word???) that was difficult to resist.


6. Gigondas Domaine Carobelle (Rouge 2009) - Again, just Grenache and Syrah from old vines, but the youth of this wine, rather than demonstrating a lack of integrity, simply gave rise to a fresh, light, fruity wine – think blackberries, wild strawberries and cherries. From 2010, this will be an organic wine.


7. Muscat Beaumes de Venise Bouquet des Dentelles (winner of the Medaille d’Or) – well a real treat to end with – this is a sweet wine which was served very cold and would have been ideal as a dessert wine or as an aperitif. The nose was definitely pears and white stone fruit and the taste was white peaches – it was so fruity, not at all sugary sweet and a very lovely way to end the tasting.

Staying in Vacqueras, we moved on to Domaine La Fourmone where we were offered a further 5 wines to taste; 3 Vacqueras and 2 Gigondas:


1. AOC Vacqueras – Trésor du Poète (rouge 2007) – this was a deliciously light and fruity Grenache/Syrah blend which filled your mouth with red and black cherry flavours;


2. AOC Vacqueras – Sélection Maître de Chais (rouge 2005) – a GSM blend which was black fruity with a hint of peppery spice;


3. AOC Vacqueras – Cuvée des Ceps d’Or (rouge 2005) – this was a wine made from grapes from old vines, Grenache/Mourvèdre blend which unsurprisingly, given the name, did have mushroomy notes and the damp leaves nose and taste. I had anticipated enjoying this the most, given the vintage and the old vines, but for me the light and fruity 1st wine suited my taste better.


4. AOC Gigondas – Cuvée Fauquet (rouge 2008) – Another GSM blend which on the nose had distinct pine notes..... I’m not talking toilet cleaner pine here..... think more pine nuts, but the taste was black cherries and an incredibly velvet smooth finish;


5. AOC Gigondas – Cuvée Cigaloun (rouge 2006) - Grenache/Mourvèdre blend – I don’t know the proportions, but I can only guess the Mourvèdre was the dominant as while the flavours of black fruits was very evident, it was tempered by the dryness and tannins of the wine.

Vignes at Fourmone

 We travelled the few kilometres to Rasteau, one of the Côtes du Rhône villages and a real favourite of Mags and Alistair – they wanted to take me to their preferred Domaine, but it wasn’t open for another half hour or so, so we took a very small detour to the nearby village of Sablet.

Rasteau from Sablet

Another treat..... we went to a viewpoint which in one direction looked across to the village of Rasteau sitting up on its hill, but in the other direction looked right down the Rhône plains..... Again, simply stunning.


We hopped back into the landrover to make the short trip back across to Rasteau and the Domaine Grand Nicolet, where we tasted 4 wines, all Rasteau Villages Reds:



1. 2007 – An 80/20 Grenache/Syrah which after seeing the very hot plains on which these vines grow unsurprisingly conjures up heat in your mouth – think baked fruit or plum jam, but a big wine with tannins to match – I can imagine that this wine would be fantastic matched with well, probably meat to be honest..... a steak, or even better a bit of duck or a milder gamey meat;


2. 2008 – Another Grenache /Syrah blend very similar to the 2007 except not as much of the hot summer sun in there and a bit more tannin.


3. “Les Esqueyrons” 2005 – A 50/50 Grenache/Syrah blend – the colour was verging on to garnet rather than the ruby of the previous two. Although oaked, it was still a bit smoother than the previous two;


4. “Les Esqueyrons” 2006 – As above in structure, but this vintage didn’t provide quite as much of the cherry fruit flavours as 2005.

After having visited the vineyards, we stopped off in the village of Rasteau and returned the favour to Sablet, by climbing to the top of the village and looking across the Rhône valley at it – and yes, the view was just as beautiful!

Sablet from Rasteau

 So after some very serious wine tasting, we headed back to Chez Burton..... it was such a treat of a day..... and while I have my own preferences to the type of wine that I like to drink, the one constant has been the quality of all the wines tasted...... I couldn’t say any were bad...... a couple still had to ‘grow into themselves’ as they would say in N. Ireland, but you could still appreciate the potential. And as for the landscape, I really cannot convey the simple beauty of this part of the world..... all I can say is that if you ever have the opportunity to come here, do get a car and drive round the villages – they are simply wonderful.