Rhône Valley Tour du Vin 2022
A driving and wine tasting tour to the Rhône valley is one of the treats in French touring, indeed this tour is a tour that the Waud Wine Club has organised and enjoyed previously in both 2015 and 2011. This time we took 7 cars and 14 tourists after Nick and Tom Budge sadly had to drop out at short notice due to illness before the trip. On day one, the hardy types included both the UK leg to Folkstone and the entire 615 KM French side of our route to Beaune in one day. The more gentlemanly drivers managed an overnight stop in advance en-route, but we all managed to rendezvous for lunch near Troyes in the village of Ville-sous-la-Ferte near Aube just off the A5. Stefan Haynes and Louisa Roberts had some difficulty in keeping up with the ‘pack’, missing the shuttle and using the route nationale’s via Paris was probably a contributory factor, they did however make the first tasting if not the tour of the historic cellars. Our first tasting was at 16.00 at Joseph Drouhin in the historic city centre of Beaune. Beaune itself being the heart of the Burgundy region. Parking in the city centre was kindly arranged by the Mayor who reserved concurrent spaces for us outside the cellars in the Avenue de la Republique. 7 Aston Martins parked up caused quite a stir! We enjoyed a fabulous and extensive tasting in the capable hands of Cyril Poncelle, the nine wines included the stock white ‘Cotes de Beaune’ 2019 that we sell, as well as a fabulous premier cru Chablis, and two Chassagne-Montrachet’s from 2018 to complete the whites. Of the four reds, the main vote of appreciation went to the sublime Clos de Vougeot 2018 Grand Cru (a 50 hectare walled plot with 83 different vine owners!) which some rated as high as 96 points. As a special treat at the end we blind tasted what turned out to be a 2010 Echezeaux from a tiny 1/3rd hectare plot from the most expensive 40 hectare estates in France. After this infill special Burgundy tasting we travelled a few hundred yards to our rather splendid hotel complete with its Michelin starred restaurant - Hostellerie Cèdre & Spa. After the fun and games of parking in the underground car park, we enjoyed ample refreshments and a pre-dinner reception of Crémant de Bourgogne before sitting down to a wonderful three course meal in a private room, a truly memorable occasion. On day 2, Wednesday 6th July – we started with a 2-hour drive of around 190 kilometres to the village of Ampuis south of Lyon to visit Guigal, one of the most famous producers of the Rhône. Our arrivals were substantially staggered by a combination of people who couldn’t get out of bed and motorway delays; however the front runners were there on time and enjoyed the cellar tour, whilst the others only had the delights of our six bottle al fresco tasting in the walled gardens of the Guigal tasting complex in the town. This town is the gateway to the Northern Rhône. E Guigal is our chosen grower of the fabled wines of Condrieu and Cote Rotie. The Condrieu was predictably good, but perhaps eclipsed by the fabulous white Saint-Joseph Lieu dit 2020 from 100% Marsanne grapes unusually. A good 94 points for me. On the red front we sampled Cote-Rotie Brune et Blonde from 2019 which some observed had a whiff of cinnamon. The Saint Joseph red was still a bit green on the palate and has some ageing to benefit from, however the 2018 Chateau D’Ampuis Cote Rote (Les Tresors) from a blend of plots did shine. After the Guigal tasting, we enjoyed a quick lunch at Restaurant Schaeffer, Quai Jules Roche; 07340 SERRIERES. After lunch we managed to keep the snake together for a hilly climb to our old friends and suppliers at Louis Cheze in Limony within the Saint Joseph appellation. Our final tasting of Day 2 after a leisurely one-hour drive further down the Rhone valley, was to one of the Rhone’s largest and best-known producers, Paul Jaboulet in the town of Tain. We arrived spot on time at 16.00 to meet our host, the global brand ambassador for Paul Jaboulet, Jean-Luc Chapel. We were escorted in convoy up the winding roads out of town on the east bank of the river up onto the hallowed slopes of the Hermitage hill and onto the fabled ‘La Chapelle’. This was a really memorable visit for the whole group and the tasting that followed back in town at the company’s tasting room was no disappointment either…. The selection of Crozes Hermitage and Hermitage in both white and red wines was tremendous and demonstrated just how good these wines are. The final leg of Day 2 was a relaxing one-hour drive heading towards the Southern Rhône to our hotel – Chateau de Massillan - 730 Rue de Massillan, Uchaux. After breakfast on Day 3, we set off at a slightly more leisurely 09.30 start, before heading south 14 miles and half an hour for our first tasting of the day at one of the properties of the Perrin family, in this case the beautiful Domaine du Clos des Tourelles in Gigondas. As the chateau at Beaucastel in Chateauneuf-du -pape is undergoing extensive rebuilding, this was our chosen location to again be hosted by Kirsty Manahan. (who hosted us in 2011 and 2015!) Once the Perrin film crew had landed their drone and set off for their next venue, we were able to commence our tasting which included six wines, some world famous and others less so for our education. The Beaucastel white showed beautifully as always, with the super rare 100% old vine Rousanne to follow from 2020. Only 5,000 bottles of this cult wine were produced, showing as it does notes of ginger and orange peel, its roots digging deep into the limestone to create a salty minerally finish – yum yum. For the reds, a Vinsobres that didn’t quite get the pulse racing, however the two Gigondas wines were well received, notably the second one, a L’argnee from 100% grenache grapes and a small 3 hectare sandy soil plot that produced a super fine delicate palate with a long spicy finish. One for our list I think. The Beaucastel red from the hot 2009 vintage was most enjoyable and its resolved notes and browny tinge in the glass shows the wine’s age and the use of all 13 permissible varieties for Chateauneuf-du-pape. This topped the scores at 95 points for me. Lunch on Thursday – a three-course light lunch was booked for 12.15 at Café du Cours – in the ancient centre of Vacqueyras. This al fresco enjoyable affair was abruptly ended by our tour leader chasing us on for our next tasting – an event that meant for the second day in succession we didn’t sample the Crème Brulé! Domaine Le Sang des Cailloux - our second tasting of the day was just outside the town to our friend Serge Férigoule at Le Sang des Cailloux in Vacqueyras where we received a warm welcome from Serge and his son Frederik who now runs the niche business of just 17 hectares. The wines from here rank amongst our favourites from around the world and our tasting demonstrated to the new recruits just why this is the case. The exquisite white Vacqueyras is made from six Rhone varieties grown on just 2 hectares of their land and producing a mere 5,000 bottles of this nectar. On learning that there were just 500 bottles remaining of this wine we quickly agreed to buy 300 of them for our UK customers. Moving to the reds, 2020 is named as Doucinello after one of his three daughters (interestingly Frederik doesn’t have a wine named after him!) – Azalais and Flouretto will be the wines for the next two years of this rotation. These Syrah and Grenache blended wines are spicy elegant and exciting. The top wine each year is a blend of the oldest red vines to produce Lopy, which again in 2020 is outstanding and worthy of around 94 points. We have ordered more of the reds (including jeroboams of Lopy 2020) to support the white pallet that will soon be heading our way. Xavier Vignon - our third and final visit of the day was to another local village, Beaumes de Venise, just 7 minutes away where for the first time we met some of the team from our current Rhone supplier, Xavier Vignon. We were hosted by Bruno Descamps, the sales director for a very interesting tasting across their wide range of Rhône wines. Xavier produces wine around the Rhône and blends and ages the wines at his property in Chateauneuf du Pape. The wines and techniques used to produce them are to say the least, ground breaking. His experience in champagne with blending wines from different areas and different vintages to create something special has been put to good use here. We really enjoyed the Arcane series red wines, some of which we already sell, but were particularly keen on ‘Les Amoureux’ cuvee, a blend of five different villages all from 2016 with Grenache supported by Mourvèdre being the predominant grapes and worthy of 94/95 points. Another favourite was ‘Temperance’ as modelled in the gallery below by Janine Sjoblom complete with the wine’s matching tarot card. We are now working with this company to find a pair of Cotes du Rhône wines that are worthy of our own stamp of approval and that can be delivered at around the £12.50 mark in the UK – watch this space… Last night on tour - for our last night we headed back a little further north to our hotel for the second night at to Chateau de Massillan in Uchaux, where we had arranged to drink some of the wines that we planned to purchase during the day. We accordingly enjoyed three bottles of Rose from Xavier Vignon, six bottles of Le Sang des Cailloux’s ‘Un Sang Blanc’ from Vacqueyras, and a selection of six wines from the Xavier Vignon Arcane range…. All very lovely with our sea bass! On Saturday, Jeremy Lee and Dan Hearsum headed off to cycle up Mont Ventoux. David Maisey and Simon George headed south to St Tropex for some Nikki beach action. Steve Waud was dropped off at Nice airport as Mike Donegan headed off to meet his family for a holiday in Saint Maxime. Johan and Janine Sjoblom headed north for a night of birthday celebrations. Stefan and Louise headed for the Spanish Isles and the rest of us prepared for a 8 hour drive back to Calais, which as it turned out, was a breeze! What a great tour – À bientôt (see you soon) Jeremy Waud
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