Wine tasting in Provence
 

Plan on being in Provence for one week very soon. A good part of the reason I travel is for wine and food. I would like to visit some Provencal wineries either with appointment or without. I enjoy full bodied red wines such as Syrahs and other "Rhone-stule wines." Can anyone recommend small local wineries to visit near St. Remy or Aix? Thank you, Diane

definitely try to visit Chateauneuf-du-Pape.<BR><BR>it's not RIGHT next door but pretty close, and a pretty drive...<BR><BR>Beth

Here's 25 of them:<BR><BR>http://www.frenchwines.com/uk/rhone/rhone_viticulteurs.html<BR><BR>Regrettably, no personal first-hand experience to report from this area.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

up<BR>

Diane <BR><BR>We just did the wine tasting thing this past September.<BR><BR>Beth makes a very good point...Chateauneuf fu Pape is the best. There must be about 25 "caves" for tasting right on the main street of this little town and an excellent restaurant on the same street at the fountain,<BR><BR>If you have a car, it is only about 15 minutes from Avignnon, which I think is about 30 minutes from San Remy.<BR><BR>We bought about 10 bottles and if you like full bodied adult red wines then Chateauneuf du Pape is THE place and the wine!<BR><BR>You can also drive out of town in just about any direction and run into a number of wineries that have tasting. <BR><BR>IMHO, the very best are Chateau Beaucastle, Vieux Telegraphe and Chateau Mont Redon...be careful, you can still spend $30 to $50 a bottle even where they make the stuff, but oiver here it is about 200% or more than in France!<BR><BR>Happy tasting!<BR><BR>US

Diane: check out Ch&acirc;teau Romanin, only 10 min. east of St R&eacute;my. Beautiful surroundings. They have a website in English - www.romanin.com

And on the road into Chateauneuf from the south is a wonderful chocolatier!<BR>You can watch them making it too.

Thanks for the help. I have een to Chateauneuf-du-Pape. I am more interested in experiencing the local wines. Thanks for the name of the winery near St. Remy. Diane

Hi diane:<BR>We were in Aix last summer and found a winery about an hour north of that city on the D13 towards le puy ste reparade.(the chateau is just outside of this little village) The chateau is called Fonscolombe and while small, the wines were wonderful. If you just want a short drive to experience some good wines (not chateauneuf de pape but we liked it very much)this one can be done in an afternoon of very pleasant, quiet back roads and lovely scenery. It is an AC coteaux d'aix en provence winery. We found it by chance but it is listed as one of the top wineries in Robert Joseph's French wine- essential guide.<BR>We drove around Gigondas, les baume de venise Vacqueyras as well sampling different wineries. (with lots of time in between to make sure we were ok to drive of course!)<BR>We enjoyed the smaller wineries and found them to be very friendly and helpful.

year ago, at WYC, their restaurant mgr. at Windows On The World taught an amazing wine course ... he publiched a wonderrful book that looks at all major wine regions. Find this book and you'll be so satisfied. You will see.

Diane:<BR>We've been to two Beaume-de-Venise<BR>vineyards - Le Pigeonnier(sp!) et<BR>Domaine du Durban and both at both<BR>we had a lovely time tasting the<BR>dessert wines with the owners.<BR><BR>Domaine du Durban is at the end of<BR>a hair-raising track up a hillside<BR>that ends with a wonderful view!<BR><BR>Also, there are tastings in Seguret<BR>and Gigondas and - well, everywhere<BR>in the area that you care to stop!<BR>None of these required appointments.<BR><BR><BR>

but not riesling<BR>