lgsjr – Page 18 – Power Tasting – The Wine Tasting Experience

Fields of Lavender

The Southern Rhône is in Provence, which is famous for many things, notably wine, of course. Then there are food, sunshine, an easygoing joie de vivre, and the people with their beautiful Provençal accent that is unique in France. It is also a center of perfume production and much of that perfume is made from a flower characteristic of the region: lavender.

If you are coming to taste wine in Provence at the right time of the year, the late spring and through mid-summer, you will have the added attraction of seeing lavender growing in the fields. You may catch a few buds in April and there are stragglers in the fields after the main harvest in the middle of July, but the radiance of the fields in full bloom is a reason to visit in the prime months.

Lavender fields in front of the village of Grignan, in the Drôme Provençale. Photo courtesy of Complete France.

Much as with grape vines, lavender is planted in orderly rows, so that it appears that fields and hillsides are striped in purple. Of course we call that shade of purple by the name of the flower, but lavender takes on different hues, depending on the time of day. In the hazy sun of morning, the plants are almost pink in hue. In full sunlight, it takes on the light violet color we associate with lavender. If you see the fields in the waning light of early evening, the plants appear to be a deep blue purple.

The scent of lavender hanging over the villages cannot be adequately described in words. This indescribable fragrance envelopes you, leads you on, holds you back, entices, seduces and ultimately leaves you with a wistful smile that lingers in your memory. If it is hard to summon the notion of a village embraced in this aroma, it is impossible to communicate the idea of an entire region smelling of lavender.

Processing lavender at the Distillerie Bleu-Provence. Photo courtesy of Drôme Sud Provence.

You ought to visit the Drôme Provençale, where you’ll find the charming villages of Nyons and Grignan with its château. You can take a tour of the Distillerie Bleu-Provence and see how they process the flowers into lavender oil. You will also enjoy a tasting of lavender tea and of course visit their attractive shop.

Our Provençal friends in Nyons have told us that they rub their arms and legs with lavender oil in the hot summer to avoid mosquito bites. It certainly smells better than what we find here in the US.

Even if you miss the high season, there are lavender products available in all the Provencal towns throughout the year. In almost every gift shop, you can find dried flowers, cosmetics, bottles of oils and tablecloths with lavender design. Lavender is sometimes mixed in herbes de provence and there are those who sprinkle the flowers on salads.

We like to think that some of the aroma of lavender finds its way into the more delicate wines of the southern Rhône. Search for it the next time you open a Côtes du Rhône.

Roussillon, the Red Village

Let’s say you’re on a wine tasting visit to the Southern Rhône. Everywhere you go, there seems to be a mountain hovering over you. One of them is Mont Ventoux, the Windy Mountain, and it is emblematic of the region. You might wonder, what’s on the other side of that mountain. The answer is that there are other wine producing areas, the Vaucluse and the Luberon. They make pleasant wines, not as well known as the ones from the Côtes du Rhône.

The voyage over the mountains is worthwhile in itself. For one thing, the panorama is breathtaking. Wherever you’re driving from, you will cross many beautiful little villages as you drive over Ol’ Windy. In many years, a stage of the Tour de France goes up the Mont Ventoux; they will return to the mountain this year. No matter how hot it is when you leave the valley floor, you’ll find it to be quite chilly at the top of Mont Ventoux. At the crest of the mountain there used to be a meteorological station; the building is still there even if it’s not used anymore.

The village of Roussillon. Photo courtesy of Civitatis.

Once you get over the mountains, we recommend that you make your way to the village of Roussillon (pronounced roo-see-yon). Although they’re spelled the same way, this village has nothing to do with Languedoc-Roussillon further to the west. This quiet spot is ensconced in a Natural Regional Park, so that even if some tourists do find their way there, it is relatively unspoiled (or at least it was when we were last there).

Along the walls of Roussillon. Photo courtesy of The Savvy Bostonian.

The town is built from stone quarried there in years past. The rocks are full of ochre, a red-orange clay that has long been used to make artists’ paint. Thousands of years ago, the prehistoric people living in what is now the south of France used it for body decoration and for coloring their famous cave art. In Roussillon, the ochre creates a village where all the buildings are red, yellow, orange or shades in between. French villages in general are charming; this one has charm pouring from every colored wall.

The best way to soak in all that charm is just to walk around. There are steep stone streets (but no cars) where you pass quaint homes. There’s an ancient Romanesque church, with “new” facades from the 17^th century. There’s a market on Thursday mornings and there’s a town square in front of the Mairie (town hall) where you ought to stop for a coffee, a meal or a glass of wine

Most of all, you should walk the walls overlooking the old quarries. Roussillon sits atop a mass of red rock, and you can see it from the walkway. You can take a stroll on the Ochre Trail (sentier des ocres) and walk into the quarries. In particular, try to see Roussillon at the end of the day, when the color of the setting sun makes the walls of Roussillon and its surrounding seem to come ablaze. It’s an awesome sight that you’ll never forget.

If in your wine-tasting travels in the Southern Rhône you want to spend a little time in the perfect Provençal village, you’ll find it in Roussillon.

Driving Tips in the Southern Rhône

In some sectors of Wine Country, there is one main road that sort of ties the entire region together. There’s Route 29 in Napa Valley, the D2 in the Médoc or Main Road in Long Island’s North Fork. But if you want to spend time driving around the Southern Rhône to taste the wines, it’s not so easy. For one thing, the sector is really large, around 140,000 acres in the Côtes-du-Rhône. For another, many of the villages are very far from even the relatively large routes.

Châteauneuf du Pape. Photo courtesy of La Mirande.

So if you do plan to drive around the Southern Rhône, here are a few tips to make your travels easier and your tasting more fun.

Choose a few nearby villages for a day’s tasting. Châteauneuf du Pape and the area around it is the most famous in the region and it justifies a day (or two, or a lifetime) by itself. Beaumes de Venise, Gigondas and Vacqeyras are quite close to one another as are Rasteau and Cairannne. Further north, Vinsobres and Visan are near to one another. Try to minimize the driving so you can have more time for tasting and visiting the villages.
There are some spots where you don’t have to drive very far between wineries. For example, at the intersection of the D69 and the D975 in Rasteau, you can visit Domaine du Trapedis, Domaine la Soumade, the really excellent Cave de Rasteau cooperative, Domaine des Nymphes (for dessert wines) and Domaine Côteaux des Travers all within a few kilometers of one another. That’s really a day’s tasting in one small place.
Get a good roadmap. You may have a car equipped with GPS or you may want to use your cell phone. But we have found that these systems calculate the shortest route, not the fastest or most sensible one. So you wind up driving through somebody’s vineyard with no village in sight for miles. Michelin sells very good maps and there are others, all available at the local tabac or gas station. Buy one that’s specific to the area you plan to visit. Maps that cover a broader area may save you a little money but they lack the specificity to keep you from getting lost.

Gigondas. Photo courtesy of Our House in Provence.

Trust the signs. The roads are very well marked. Since many of the villages aren’t on major roads or even large minor ones, your map might not be enough for the last mile. But if you see a sign indicating that Gigondas is this way, keep going until you see the next sign for the village. You’ll get there (and you’ll be glad you did).
Make time for lunch. You may as well, because all the wineries close up from around noon to 2:00. So aim to be in a village just before lunchtime. That way you can scout around and find a restaurant or café to your liking. The better ones fill up, so you might need a reservation. Even the more casual ones become full with locals, so make sure to get there around noon to make sure to get a table.

Château Cabezac

At virtually the eastern-most extreme of the Minervois region in southwest France, there is a winery in the village of Bize-Minervois called Château Cabezac (www.chateaucabezac.com/copie-de-home). It is housed in a yellow building that combines Mediterranean architectural touches with some medieval parapets and an inviting terrace where you can sip your wine under skies that seem always to be blue. You may encounter some confusion because there is also a Château de Cabezac just down the road which is an actual castle renovated today into a hotel. It is not associated with the winery.

Photo courtesy of the winery.

Cabezac makes sprightly, fruit-forward wines that are respectful of the terroir. Most of their wines are from the traditional Rhône-style grapes: Grenache Noir, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Carignan in the reds and Roussanne, Muscat Sec and Grenache Blanc in the whites. With thirteen wines to choose among, you can have quite a tasting.

The tasting room is handsome and airy, made largely of wood. When we were there it was not very busy, but that was a weekday in late September. We understand from our server that it can be quite bustling at times, which makes their terrace even more valuable. We received quite an education in Cabezac’s viticulture and winemaking philosophies. We also learned that the same proprietor has properties in Calvados and Champagne, producing the wines and spirits associated with those regions. Alas, they were not available for tasting.

Cabezac takes its tasting program quite seriously. Of course, you can just drop by as we did and have a standup tasting of four wines (although we found that “four” is more of a concept than a limitation). They also offer half-day and full-day tastings that include more extended explanations and tours. Cabezac also has a program for corporate clients to host tasting events there.

Cabezac is a relatively young winery, established in 1997. The proprietor, Gontran Dondain, has invested in wine making in a modern, sanitary manner. We found that these practices at Cabezac are exemplary of a trend that has, happily, swept across Languedoc. Improved winemaking practices are being followed across the Languedoc region. When you visit Cabezac tasting room, you’ll find a window that allows to view the production facilities. They are gleaming and spotless, indicative of the investment and the care that has gone into this winery. We have observed this in many other leading wineries in the region.

Where once wines were thin in the mouth and harsh in the throat, today Languedoc wineries such as Cabezac are producing wines that, in our opinion, are comparable with many of those from the Rhône valley (excluding the top-most in that region). Many of the new generation of Languedoc wineries have adopted bio and vin methode nature growing techniques. Although Cabezac is not among these, they did tell us that they are scrupulous about their growing methods.

Sadly, Château Cabezac’s wines cannot be found in the United States, to our knowledge. It does make a worthwhile stop if you are wine tasting in southwest France.

Organic? Biodynamic? Natural? What’s Going On?

As you’re enjoying the rustic air of Wine Country, you might want to know how well the grapes were raised and harvested and then what was done to the juice in the industrial processes of crushing, fermenting, aging and bottling. Vignerons and wine makers are as concerned about sanitary and healthful practices as anyone – in fact, more so than many of us – and they have responded in a number of ways. But many of the terms in use in the world of wine today can be very confusing.

Making wine used to be rather simple, at least in concept: Plant vines; Nurture grapes; Harvest and process grapes; Repeat. Now there are considerations that are intended to make the wine better that are either advanced or trendy, depending on your perspective.

Organic wines – We are all used to seeing organic fruits and vegetables in the supermarket. Grapes are fruit so there’s no reason why some of them might be raised organically. In practice, what does that mean? In a sense, it’s a return to the simple principles of olden times. Specifically, organic grapes are raised without a lot of chemicals such as fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides. Now, we’re not fond of drinking a glass of bug-killer, but then we’re not too happy about knowing that little critters have been gnawing on the same grapes that went into out glasses. At least in theory, crops should be certified as being organic but we’re not sure that all organic winemakers go through this step.

Some biodynamic wine practices. Photo courtesy of Bibendum Wine.

Biodynamic wines – Makers of these wines follow the same organic practices but then go quite a bit further. Evidently an Austrian fellow in the beginning of the previous century espoused some theories about agriculture that proponents call advanced and detractors think of as just plain whacky. Among these are following astrological observations and burying cow’s horns filled with manure in the vineyards. We’d be thoroughly in the detractor category except that some of the biodynamic wines we’ve tried have been pretty good, so maybe there’s something there. (Just to confuse matters, French winemakers who raise grapes organically, but not biodynamically refer to their wines as “bio”.)

The logo for French “natural” wines. Courtesy of decanter.com.

Natural wines – These wines place less emphasis on how the grapes are raised but rather focus on what happens to the juice once it is crushed out of those grapes. The winemakers don’t add yeast to force fermentation but rely on the natural yeasts that settle on the grapes in the vineyards. Some makers of natural wines add a little bit of sulfites to preserve the wines, but much less than the producers of most commercial wines. Others add no sulfites at all. In the United States, there are no formal rules for natural wines but the French government has recently set a designation for vin méthode nature the prescribes methods and practices.

We at Power Tasting applaud any methods being applied to make better wine. We have found that these practices have vastly improved winemaking in areas that used to be known for “rustic” (i.e., low quality) products. But we are not fans of cultish ideas that are more about lifestyle philosophy than winemaking.

Green Wine Tastes Good

Of course, we don’t mean wine that’s green in color. Nor red wine with heavy accents of green pepper; those don’t taste good at all. Nor the vinho verde of Portugal, whose green-ness means that it is young. We are talking about wines made using sustainable agricultural methods and in many cases eschewing pesticides, fertilizer and additives. When we visit wineries around the world to try some of their wines, we know nothing about their farming practices and not much more about how their wines are made. To be honest, we don’t care. What’s important to us is what’s in our glasses.

But with a little bit of contemplation, we do realize that what the farmers are doing contributes to our enjoyment and in several ways to our enjoyment in the future. If they don’t care for the land there won’t be wine from their fields in years to come. If they aren’t respectful of the climate, they may not even have any wine this year; the fires in Napa and Sonoma counties are proof of that.

The best agricultural practices would be unavailing if the wine weren’t good. Our experience tells us that when the vineyard manager and the winemaker collaborate on sustainable and sanitary winemaking, the results are worth the effort. Simply put, making wine well produces well-made wine. While we are unaware of any scientific evidence in support of this proposition, we do have a lot of anecdotal support.

For example, the Famille Perrin Côtes-du-Rhône Réserve Rouge is a widely available, inexpensive red wine. It’s the kind of wine found on many a French table every night (and ours, from time to time). The same house also produces a Côtes-du-Rhône Nature for a few dollars more. It’s only recently available in the United States, but we have tasted and compared the two wines in Québec and it is clear that the Nature is far superior.

The indicator of biodynamic certification

Perhaps not coincidentally, Perrin also owns Tablas Creek Vineyard in California’s Paso Robles. They are proud to declare that they are certified as biodynamic and organic winemakers. According to their web site, Tablas Creek uses:

“a mobile flock of 150+ sheep and alpacas to weed and fertilize the vineyard, interplantings of hundreds of fruit trees around and within the vineyards, compost made on site from prunings and grape must, applications of compost tea from the on-site compost, natural pest controls including 39 owl boxes around the vineyard and sections of native vegetation left to attract insects and predators, and our own hives of bees to support all these different plant species”.

Now, we’re not quite sure how much difference sheep, bees and owls contribute to the winemaking process. But we are certain that, to our taste, Tablas Creek makes the best Rhône-style wines in Paso Robles.

We believe that specific farming and winemaking practices are not in themselves the reasons why being eco-friendly results in better-tasting wine. It requires more attention to detail, to sanitation, to taking good care of the environment in the field and in the factory. This seriousness of purpose finds its way into the bottle and ultimately into our mouths. This is no secret formula, but it does taste like it works.

Sustainable Sonoma

Readers of Power Tasting don’t need to be told that Sonoma County in northern California is a mighty nice place to visit. Its size and vineyard diversity make it one of the best places to sample many of California’s finest wines. However, Sonoma’s commitment to sustainability in its vineyards and wineries does offer a different reason to visit there.

The symbol found on bottles of sustainably made Sonoma wines

A lot of this is a matter of survival for the winemaking industry in the county. It isn’t newsworthy that northern California suffers from many multi-year droughts. In fact, they are in one right now. If the growers did not pay attention to water and land conservation, it would not be long before the quality of the wines would suffer. And that would be the most positive result. The worst case would be the inability to grow wine grapes at all.

The trade organization, Sonoma County Winegrowers, is justly proud that 99% of the vineyard acreage, more than 60,000 acres, in the county are independently certified to be sustainable. The group established a goal in 2014 to make Sonoma County the premier sustainable winegrowing region in the world. Their interest was not pure environmentalism. While there are some massive properties there, the majority of vineyards are family owned and operated smallholdings. Accordingly, they are not only preserving a crop but also a way of life.

Look carefully and you can see the hoses dripping water onto the vines. Photo courtesy of Sonoma County Tourism.

How does all this make Sonoma County even more of a place to visit? It’s difficult to watch water not evaporate or land not get parched. We believe that every wine tasting visitor spends at least a little time looking at and admiring row after row of vines. Now, when you go to Sonoma County, look a little more closely. Do you see hoses running through the vineyard for drip irrigation? Or maybe nothing to water the vines for those growers who prefer dry farming? In the heat of the middle of the summer, are the canopies over the vines thick with leaves to inhibit evaporation?

Most of this doesn’t matter to your main purpose: trying wines. But it should matter than it’s a concern for the grower and the vintner. So when you get to the bar, maybe ask a few questions about what that winery is doing in the sustainability effort. You may stir up a bit of controversy. For example, the dry farmers think the irrigators are irresponsible, while the irrigators think the dry farmers are nuts.

So when we visit, let’s tell them that we appreciate what the Sonoma growers are doing to preserve both winemaking and the local community over the long haul. They are the ones making the investment and we are reaping the benefits. Letting the growers know that you’re grateful may elicit just the kind of personal interaction that makes traveling through Wine Country so rewarding.

Using Winery Maps

Napa Valley is big, 29 miles from Napa to Calistoga. Sonoma County is even bigger, 1,768 square miles. (You can look it up; we couldn’t believe it either.) In both cases, there are wineries almost everywhere. There are 375 in Napa Valley and 425 in Sonoma County. Words of advice: You can’t try them all, at least not in a single trip. Maybe not in a lifetime.

So if you’re going to go wine tasting in these two renowned corners of Wine Country, you’re going to have to know how to get around.

An issue of a free magazine with winery maps. Photo courtesy of Wine Country This Week.

Plan A: Check a winery map before you go. There are a lot of them available, but if you look closely they pretty much all come from the same source, Wine Country.com. The maps are fairly detailed and show the location of most of the wineries you’d like to visit.

Pros: It’s always a good idea to think ahead about where you want to go on a vacation or a day out. So, for example, let’s say you’re really intent on visiting Beaulieu Vineyard. With a map, you will learn that Grgich Hills, Franciscan and Inglenook are quite nearby. With a little time for lunch, that should make your day.

Cons: Keep in mind that distances on a map look a lot shorter than what you actually experience when you’re there. The important lesson is to spend your time tasting, not driving from one end of the region to another. An inch on your screen may be ten miles of weekend traffic. So read the map with care.

Plan B: Pick up a map when you get there. Almost every winery has a stack of free magazines by the door and many of them contain maps. The most commonly found magazine is Wine Country This Week, which is mostly advertising for wines and wineries. And the map is from Wine Country.com.

Pros: Even if you study in advance, it’s good to have a map. With rare exception, every winery has a supply and it does help to know where you are and where you’re going next. And magazine maps make nice souvenirs, especially if you circle the wineries you have visited.

Cons: Remember that the free magazines make their money through advertising. Some of the wineries shown in bold letters or with a big star denoting their locations are in no way the best nor the ones you should necessarily be aiming for. Maps can lead you to your destination, but they can also mislead.

Plan C: Wing it. Especially if you’ve been to either Napa Valley or Sonoma County before, you may know your way around. Google Maps makes this a much more acceptable plan than in years before.

Pros: For some people, a little serendipity makes a wine tasting trip into an adventure. If you keep your eyes – and your mind – open you may just discover a little gem you drove past on familiar roads in the past.

Cons: We have no argument if taking your chances is your style, but for many others with a limited amount of time to spend wine tasting, it’s a better idea to know where you’re going. And just because you think you know the roads like the back of your hand, experience has shown us that things can look a little strange on the back roads of Napa Valley and Sonoma county. And we have found that for wineries off the main roads, Google Maps can be just flat out wrong.

Beaulieu Vineyard

There are few wineries in California with more history than Beaulieu Vineyard, familiarly known as BV. Georges de Latour, a Frenchman, established his holdings in Rutherford at the turn of the previous century. He had the foresight to obtain a license to make sacramental wine, so that when Prohibition came into effect in 1919 and almost all other wineries had to close, BV was still operating, sending bottles to churches across the country. If a few found their way to a restaurant or a speakeasy, what could Mr. de Latour do about it, eh?

Critically for the California wine industry, in 1938 he induced a famed French winemaker, Andre Tchellichef (“The Maestro”) to be BV’s winemaker, which he was for 30 years. In his time at the helm, Tchellichef bottled the wine that the de Latour family was keeping for its own use and sold it commercially. It was one of the first signs of the possibilities of California winemaking. To this day that wine, the Georges de Latour Private Reserve, is the top of the line at BV and one of the most sought after Napa Valley wines. If you visit the winery, you can taste it (including well aged versions of this wine).

As with all Napa Valley wineries during the pandemic, tastings are served outdoors. In the past and we’re sure again in the (near?) future, there are two wine tasting experiences at BV. As you enter the property, there’s a modern building on your right and a vine-covered old stone building on your left. There, you can taste BV’s copious selection of widely available commercial wines. The stone building is where you can taste their finer wines.

The lights are kept low in their reserve tasting room, perhaps to give the impression of a church (remember those altar wines) or a fine restaurant. The room is not very large, but they have other facilities in the building if they get crowds. The servers are, for the most part, quite knowledgeable about BV’s wines and wine in general.

The first pour will usually be a Chardonnay but BV has built its reputation on Cabernet Sauvignon. They have quite a few Cabs at different price points. We have always been fond of their Bordeaux blend that they call Tapestry. Like many Napa Valley wineries, BV is experimenting with different, non-traditional grapes. Today they make a Cabernet/Syrah with a nod to Australia and a Touriga Nacional from Portugal. We have found that if they’re not too busy and you show a proper appreciation of the wines, the servers will find some gems just below the bar.

Depending on what they’re serving that day, you may get a pour from one of BV’s original vineyards or some single clone wines that are quite unique. If you want to taste the George de Latour, they’ll charge extra. We advise you to pay the fee; it’s worth it if only to know what a foundational Napa Valley wine tastes like.

A little extra tip. BV shares its parking lot with the Rutherford Grill. We often eat lunch there before we go tasting; if you want to go, you’ll need a reservation. It is a popular restaurant and the food is quite good.

We are never quite sure what Rutherford Dust was all about, but you certainly can find it (if it exists) at BV.

Visiting Napa/Noma in September

This article concludes Power Tasting’s irregular series on visiting Napa Valley and Sonoma County (“Napa/Noma”) in each of the months of the year. So many people ask when the best time would be, and the answer is always the same: There is no best time. Every month has its charms and its drawbacks. If you’d like to read all of the series, scroll way down on the masthead on the left of on our Welcome page and click on Months.

One thing differentiates a visit to Napa/Noma in September from all the other months: the harvest is in full flight every day. There are plusses and minuses to that fact. There are some things that you can only see and do if you are there for The Crush, as they call it. On the other hand, there are some things that you might want to see and do that are more difficult when the harvest is on.

Carneros in September, between Napa and Sonoma Counties.

If you want to get a visceral understanding of the industrial process that is winemaking, you can surely do that in September. Just drive around a bit and you’ll find workers in the vineyards picking grapes, loading them in baskets and dumping the fruit into trucks. However, just as often these days, you’ll see giant harvesters doing the job without hand laborers. You’re more likely to see the manual process at the vineyards producing more expensive wines; the cost of labor is a factor in the price. But the quality also comes from selective picking.

Making wine at Saintsbury.

Some wineries process the grapes in outdoor facilities. Easiest to find are the sorting and de-stemming operations. You may very well not get to see the actual crushing and maceration of the wine. These are industrial processes and the last thing winemakers need is a crowd of tourists trying to figure out what’s going on. You may find that winery tours available the rest of the year are not available during the week or two that the harvest is on.

Because so many people do want to visit during this time of the year, hotel rooms are harder to get and more expensive when you do. Restaurants also tend to fill up sooner because of all the tourists, but fewer tables are taken by locals, many of whom are exhausted from making wine.

As elsewhere, the beginning of the month is still summer, while autumn rolls in at the end. But California stays warmer for longer than other places, sometimes much warmer for much longer. Sadly, one of the considerations about visiting Napa/Noma in September is the possibility that wildfires will erupt. In 2020, the biggest of the Napa fires began in late September and lasted into October. But in Sonoma County, the fires began in August. In 2017, they occurred in October in both locations. There is no reason to think that wild fires will happen, but plenty of reason to think they might. This has to be part of your travel planning in these perilous times.

Whatever the issues, it’s a lot of fun to see The Crush. That’s a powerful reason to visit Napa/Noma in September.