So far we have enjoyed three wine celebrations...the first in Chateuaneuf -du-Pape which I have already blogged about. The next weekend was a fete in Cairanne one of the northern Rhone villages in the Southern Rhone( do you get that) and last weekend we attended for the whole weekend the Fetes des Crus in Beaujolais which was by far the most elaborate and well organized.
But first to Cairanne one of the village appelations for Southern Rhone wines where the fetes was held....but lots of other villages were represented...Siguret,Sablet, Vacqueyras, and Gigondas. I would say there were about 65 producers in all with each showing about 3-4 of their wines. Most producers it seems have plots in all of these village appelations. Chateau de Beaucastel was represented at this fetes which was quite amazing given that the winery is in Chateauneuf du Pape and makes one of the finest wines of that region. But, you see, it also makes wines from these village appelations and so I am guessing now likes to spread its classiness around...and attend some of these lesser fetes...it was NOT at the C-du-Pape fetes. We did ask why and they said that they had not attended for a number of years...maybe too they end up giving away too much high-end wine as I am sure there would be a beeline for their booth...just like we did in Cairanne... I mean these bottles are going for over 100$...
..it was here at Cairanne that we made the arrangements to visit the winery for a tour and tasting which we did April 30th.
So 5 euros to get in which buys the tasting glass and two large rooms full of producers...lots of wine to taste..so you really do need to develop a strategy.On this day Bruce and I decided to taste all the Gigondas first...just because it is reported to be a superior village for its wines and at least we would be fresh for the better wines....our palates that is as this is an all day affair. booths close over lunch and there are food stalls outside with all the usual «french foods ..cheese,meats, bread, olives,omlettes. At this fete..no oysters like C-du-Pape though...but you have to remember these guys are not hauling in 30- 40 and upwards Euros a bottle for their wine....more like 10 Euros if they are lucky.
So here is some info for the non wine folks... Southern Rhone wines are blended wines made from a variety of grapes...Grenache. Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault and every vigneron has their blend and what percentage of what grape they like to include. We came to the conclusion that day that we liked blends that leaned toward the higher amounts of Grenache. being at a fete with so many wines to try it is much easier to narrow down your likes and dislikes.
We loved the ``country` feel to this fete....most of the people behind the tables were the people who had worked the fields and made the wine.. the folks we like to meet.. and man were the wines good!
But we were narrowing down our favorites as these were the wines we were interested in bringing home. After lunch we revisited our final choices and decided that our favorite were two wines from the Domaine la Roubine...roubine means trench....the owner was Eric Ughetto and he was the real deal winemaker along with his wife Sophie....we asked if we could visit his cave the next week and we bought several of his wines to bring back to our rental to drink in a more quiet atmosphere just to make sure we liked the wine as much there as at the fetes. We bought a Gigondas and a Vacqueryras.
So let me tell you about Eric as he was humble and shy with a sense of humour...his hands were stained and rough as he does just about everything with regards to the wine production ..and Sophie too.Some wine writer-buyer once said he never bought wine from a winemaker whose hands weren`t stained.
Eric had been a fireman in Paris and Sophie was a woodcarver but when the vineyards in Gigondas needed to be worked he came home to take over the business. He is organic and he ferments in large concrete tanks...not much oak...his label trademark is a dragon fly.
We know so much about him because we did go to his cave which is right beside the Hotel Dieu in the village of Gigondas...an absolutely beautiful spot... and he is really quite close to the Place there...
He wants us to spread the word in Canada about his wines... and maybe someday soon he and his buddy Alain will come to fish... Alain is another story but he joined us in the cave where we had a final tasting before we bought and had a whale of a time.So before I sign off this blog here is a picture of Sophie and Eric and hopefully by summer we will nbe drinking his wine in Nova Scotia!
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