Tuesday (18 March). We went on a wine tour – a birthday gift from my brother. A wonderful present as it turned out. We had to get to Porte Maillot by 7.30am and it was great walking through the nearly deserted streets so early. Rubbish trucks commencing their daily battle to contain Paris’ rubbish. Homeless people stowing away their cardboard for safe-keeping. Early commuters.
We’ve decided Les Halles is our best Metro station; lets us avoid the miles of passages and thousands of commuters at Chatelet. We were greeted at the Cafe Maillot by our guide, JB (Jean-Bernard) who waved away our proof of purchase – anyone wandering in here sleepy at this hour is obviously part of my tour. He was young and enthusiastic. Reminded me of a young Tim Colebatch. But was canny under the bonhomie. There were eight of us. Three American couples, two our age and one younger. Had obviously sized us all up on arrival and proceeded to load us into his van accordingly. Two smallest people were put next to him in the front seat. The largest two got put on the ends of the remaining two rows of three seats. Joe and I were in the middle where Joe got a bit more leg room.
It was really foggy for the early part of our journey. JB recommended we sleep as he drove through the suburbs of Paris and beyond. We were going South. After an hour and a half we stopped at a service station where he produced coffee and pastries from the back of the van. He showed us on a map our destination which was a point where two wine areas adjoin each other. The Loire Valley to the West and Burgundy to the East. Back on the road he gave us a short history of these two regions. Burgundy (where he was born) steeped in political history; a powerful independent State before merging within France as we know it. So forever regarded with suspicion by everyone else. Known for the arrogance of it’s natives. The Loire Valley on the other hand was important geographically due to France’s longest river and it’s lush valley. And also economically given the river’s role transporting goods including imports from the East. All very interesting without being too much. References to the Hundred Years War, Joan of Arc, the Crusades. Different Kings and Queens. He was a fount of knowledge – apologized at one point; “you came on a wine tour and you get this”. But we thought it was great and that he was right in suggesting the history was relevant to understanding French wine.
Later he spoke about the history of French wine-making. The only potable beverage so made to drink as you would water. That explains the light wines that continue to be made here. Added to water it removed the most dangerous bacteria. When farmers were hauled off to the Crusades the monks had to make their own wine for use at Mass and from them we have the great wine-making districts as these reflect the locations of the monasteries. Because they couldn’t preserve it, wine had to be made close to where people lived. Hence most vine-yards were originally around Paris. (We’d seen the last remaining one of those up next to Sacre Coeur in Montmartre). Then he moved on to wine-making methods. The introduction of sulphides meant wine could now be kept and transported. JB is a strong supporter of it still – necessary as a preservative.
He started introducing us to the concept of ‘terroir’ although we were to hear much more about that later – on the ground. Also casks and barrels – really only articles to contain liquid, all this ‘ageing in oak’ is made up marketing rubbish. One of the most interesting things to us was the collective approach to both making the wine – for instance there is a set day for commencing the harvest in different regions. By the union of winemakers in each. Individuals are fined if they do it differently. Also only certain wines are allowed to be labelled as wines of the region and only regions are important to the French. Not the grape variety and not the individual wine-maker. It’s all incredibly regulated and there are complex rules about everything. This focus on regions is designed to reinforce quality and to combat the inevitable influx of other wine making countries. They are looking to fend off competition from China where hundreds of vineyards are being developed with the aid of French wine-makers.
All of this gave us a much deeper understanding of the French approach to making, marketing and drinking wine. But our first stop was at a goat farm and cheese-making venture. JB used to work here and had the run of the place. There are similarities he said between cheese and wine making. We viewed the whole process: the whey resting in cone shaped colanders, the solids then being put into the first of a series of moulds. Then the ageing rooms – so cold. We tasted the finished product at different stages – young, old and older. It was delicious – creamy and with no trace of the familiar goats cheese tang.
There was a little shop where locals were buying their cheese and other delicatessen items (duck confit, goose fat – you know, the regular stuff). We bought some cheese – one young and one aged. And two andouillette sausages – JB assured me they would be good quality. This was right next to the shed where the goats were kept. JB explained that they used to be in the fields but it was more hygienic to keep them in a barn with the straw changed frequently. They were quite friendly. While I was being photographed one was nibbling my jeans. There was a nursery further inside the barn with infra-red lights keeping young goat kids warm there was also a horse and foal and a shaggy dog. A traditional French farm.
On to our first winery via the vineyards where we could see people pruning in the distance and plowing between the vines on a funny high tractor purpose built for just that. Standing in the fields you could see the difference in soils really clearly. Rows of vines in white soil – limestone, others on red – clay, and less distinct, others on grey soil – flint. The farmers adopt different methods for growing the vines that bring out different aspects of the soil. Decisions to leave grass between the vines or not, to leave the stones or earth unplugged or not all affect the end product. On top of which the rows get different amounts of sun and water depending where they’re situated. Different farmers own different lines of vines. Some have only two or three rows. A different coloured row means a different farmer. The fog had cleared and the sun was just coming through. They burn the vine ends after pruning and you could see bits of smoke here and there. Very quiet and beautiful.
The winery we visited first was in Burgundy. Owned by Grebet Pere and Fils in Loges Tracy. They’re entitled to use the appellation Pouilly-Fume on their wine which is all white. We found them (Pere and one son at any rate) in the bottling area where they were about to start labelling. We talked to them for a while. What training the son had undertaken – he’d studied wine-making. Most do to university level JB says. Whether the father was really retired. Whether they visit other areas. The different labels they put on export bottles etc. Then we were taken to the wine vats – all stainless steel. We were given wine straight from two vats and asked to guess what ‘terroir’ it came from – limestone (fruity – it’s relative it’s not really sweet fruity, just a bit), clay (a fuller more rounded taste) and flinty (more minerally). It was really interesting. We then went to a cellar where there was a little shrine to the the farm’s history including a photo of a Grand-pere, fossils and early farming implements. We tasted all the wines there and then went down to a cellar with oak barrels. JB is scathing about ageing but you can really taste the difference. JB reckons a wine is either good or bad from the start. Putting it in oak will change the natural taste – but it can’t make ordinary wine great. I quite liked the one that had been aged and that’s what we bought.
We moved on for lunch at a restaurant in one of the many pretty villages that we saw throughout the day. This was included in the tour and was lovely. An onion tart followed by chicken and pasta anda lemon tart with lemon sorbet. Plus, of course, a glass of wine. I had Rose and wished I’d had white. The others all had red. JB didn’t drink at all throughout the day. He told us later that attached to the Bistrot was a restaurant which had a Michelin star and we’d had the same chef! So another Michelen starred eatery (sort of).
On we went to Sancerre. It’s high on a hill with a commanding view over the surrounding fields and the Loire River. JB left us at a wine museum and thereafter for a walk around the town. While he had a sleep which was reassuring given the amount of driving he was doing – we’d come two hundred kilometres south of Paris so it was a round trip of over four hundred for him. A big drive. The township was very pretty.
Then we headed nearby to our second winery. That of Roger Champault. Another father and son outfit. Roger’s daughter in law showed us around and we met one of the son’s in the vat room where he had been filtering the wine. Later we saw another cave of barrels before going upstairs to a tasting room which was located in a pigeon tower – a sign of wealth in olden days. JB tells us these tasting rooms are relatively new. Mostly the wine-makers don’t market their wine at all. Although they have their names on their wineries. JB said this was just because they were proud to be continuing the tradition of wine-making, nothing to do with marketing. All French people ask for is wine from a region – and thus we have found it in restaurants. They offer you a ‘Sancerre’ or a ‘Poully-Fumet’. Interesting.
The Pere, Roger, joined us later. He was gorgeous but a bit hard to talk to as he had no English. There was a painting in their little wine museum attached to the tasting room of a naked Bacchus cavorting that looked like him. Much merriment ensued when Roger ‘fessed up that it was indeed him. We asked him about the changes he’d seen – technology, globalisation. What wine he liked best – vin rouge. His daughter- in-law joined us too . She is a wine-maker at another local winery. All very interesting and enjoyable.
We bought two bottles here. Both red. One was really fantastic. They keep adding to the vat every year, taking half out each year to bottle. It’s called La Perpetuelle. Then it was back into the van and homeward bound.
From Sancerre you got a great view of the rows of vines that perfectly illustrated what JB had been telling us about regarding the soil. Fantastic.
And of the beautiful Loire River valley, illustrating JB’s history lesson.
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