jane

My husband and I are quite well versed in tasting wine in California; indeed we are in Napa or Sonoma or some other appelation nearly every other month. But Europe is so different. Does anyone have tips for tasting? We will be in Tuscany, Provence, then Strasbourg (Alsace) for 3 weeks later this May/June. I've seen and collected all of the recent articles in Bon Appetit, Gourmet, and Spectator, but I don't want to miss some great experiences because I'm not familiar with the customs/procedures there. We missed lots last trip, and I don't want to repeat that. Thanks in advance!

marc

When in Provence in summer, Drink rose. You probably consider yourself above pink wine being from CA with the white zin and all that but take my advice. You may not have much of a choice actually! <BR>In Tuscany visit Isole e Olena. Paulo Demarchi is the finest producer of the region and has been long before the Spectator cared to notice. Enjoy!

Lydia

Having travelled around various European wine regions as well as Northern California, we find that in general US wineries are much better geared to visitors (though of course many of the boutique wineries refuse to see anyone!) Many of the famous French chateaux are in fact low-key farmhouses who are most definitely not set up for visitors. From memory the most satisfying winery visit in upper Provence was one to Chateaux Beaucastel, who were sufficiently commercial to provide a tasting room, English-speaking guide etc. My best advice is to contact several wineries that interest you and find out what they have to offer. Often wineries require you to make an appointment for a visit. Of course there are countless small, unknown wineries in France and Italy who offer tastings everyday to the casual tourist, with the opportunity to buy their wines on the spot. You will see their signs as you drive along and you simply need to drop in.

Rex

I'm either exposing my own lack of sophistication, or going to make a suggestion that the king is in fact wearing no clothes - - but I never enjoyed a trip to vineyard/winery nearly as much as to a good boutique du vin. I have passed many an enjoyable hour talking to the owner of a good "cave", selecting 1 or 2 wines that he already has open to sell by the glass, and, using his expertise, sometimes selecting a bottle to sample there (meaning that I am agreeing to buy it). A good percentage of the time, I buy two or more bottles of the wines I find that I like (when I say two or more, I mean two unopened plus the one that was opened for me to taste). I used to buy single bottles of wine, and then I would get home with 8 different wines - - none of which I had ever tasted. When I did find one I liked, I never had it to share with friends! <BR> <BR>When I have gone to "le domaine" I always feel like I ought to buy "something" and often, there are only 4 or 6 or 8 choices from which to choose - - and that's counting the fact that there may be only 2 or 3 truly different labels or vintages - - plus a reserve from those same harvests. I like getting the education of a good wine merchant who can tell me about dozens of wines, and help me select a few that represent a spectrum of kinds of tastes.

Tim

How many bottles can you bring back to the US from Italy?

topper

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Rex

to the top - - for Dawn... <BR> <BR>Postscript: If this forum had an easier way to locate and direct readers to a specific (previous) posting by a unique identifier (timestamp), it would not be necessary to top (and repeat) information so tediously. This is my new crusade, and I am thinking about adding this postscript (when applicable) to every new reply I make here. If you agree with me, then please write to Danny Mangin or David Downing - - [email protected] - - and encourage them to move forward with this improvement (and any others they have up their sleeves) to this best-on-the-web travel forum! <BR>

jane

This really gave me a chuckle- this was a post I made last year before our yr. 2000 trip to Europe. Now I'm gleaning info. for our yr. 2001 trip to France and a bit of Spain. Re: last year's trip- we had a much better time tasting, particularly in Chianti (if you want a very funny, but long story, email me- I'll cut and paste it out of my journal and we also very much enjoyed the Alsatian wine route from Strasbourg and the towns south. Also interesting wines in Cinque Terre (they have wines on those slopes!) and Champagne/Reims. This year we'll be back in Chateauneuf-de-Pape again (wonderfully friendly tasting there last year; opened a bottle w/ friends earlier this week that I carried home, and it brought back wonderful memories). This year, after Lyon and Avignon, we head to Barcelona, then some viticultural areas in N. Spain, then Bordeaux, up to Brittany and Normandy (don't know what to expect re: wines there). In the past 12 months, we've been to Sonoma to visit friends in the wine industry, Europe, Chicago (where you just buy wine) and even the Finger Lakes Area of New York- the wines there are SO much improved and the scenery is terrific! There just aren't many areas you can visit that don't have a viticultural area and/or serving fine wines. Anyone with other ideas or opinions would be appreciated!