Hi All - the travelogue continues:

This Week - HILL TOWNS of the COTES DU RHONE (part deux)

This week takes us to Gigondas, Vacqueyras and Beaumes de Venise - homes to some most interesting wines.

First stop is maybe a quick nip into La Bastide Saint Francis, which is actually down on the flats just outside the small town of Violes, But they have vineyards up in the AOC of Gigondas, and make some very nice wines...plus its on the way.

Or, another potential visit is to Domaine Saint Damien - another 'along-the-way' stop down on the valley floor. This is a small producer of very fine Gigondas reds. And as a little guy, its one I can relate to.

Now up into the town we go. The BIG stop in town is the Caveau de Gigondas - the cooperative wine-tasting center located in the middle of town. They just finished an extensive remodel, and the new space is really nice - much roomier to handle more guests, while retaining a nice warm feeling. They offer tasting of more than 65 domaines (and some 80 or so wines), so you could spend all day here doing comparative tastings. The very informative staff is great, and very patient in helping people get a feeling for the wines of the AOC. There are SO many to choose from!! I try to limit myself to 4 or 5 each time I visit - so I can really concentrate on the similarities and differences.

Lunch this day is in the town square at one the restaurants with outdoor seating - as the weather is surprisingly mild for early March, and eating outside just seems 'right'.

After lunch its back down the hill, and off toward Vacqueyras which is just 4 miles down the road.

Some producers who are located along the route and between the towns own vineyards in both AOC's, and so produce both red wines. It can make for interesting comparisons of the terroir - if the winemaking style and the techniques are the same (since its the same producer) than the variations in the wines may very well be based on where the grapes come from. Typically Vacqueyras wines tend to be a bit more muscular, while Gigondas can be more refined. This would perhaps be a reflection of how far up on the hillside the vineyards are located.

Only continual drinking and discussion will tell...some many wines, so little time................... :-)

First in Vacqueyras, we go to visit Clos de Caveau- a ways up in the hills above the town. Their vineyards are located at the estate, and higher in elevation than most in Vacqueyras. They produce both Vacqueyras and Cotes du Rhone reds.

Next is a stop at Chateau de Montmirail, whose caveau is in the town center. This producer is one of my favorites, and has yet to disappoint. They make a very good selection of Vacqueyras, Gigondas and Cotes du Rhone wines. This is one of those stops for comparative tasting.

Now - onward to Beaumes de Venise, home of the renowned dessert wine: Muscat de Beaumes de Venise.

First its up the hill and way back into the hillside to Domaine de Durban. These are folks that have been my 'neighbor' at the wine fair in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and they make a great Beames de Venise red wine as well as a rose and the typical white dessert wine. Their red is a lovely soft grenache/syrah blend - a real quaffer. Its a bit of a hike to their domaine, but the wines, and the views are well worth it.

Back down the hill and into town. Many of the local winefarmers do not make their own wines, but rather only grow the grapes (white grapes) and then sell them to the cooperative - where they are combined with others in the region to make their famous sweet dessert wine. the cooperative offers a wide selection - ranging from semi- to very-sweet. They make a wine to fit every pallette. This will be the final stop today, because to taste anything red after the sweetness of the muscat just won't work.

So - back to the maison.

Next week - The Luberon Valley!

Hi All

I know, its been more than a week!

Up this week: HILL TOWNS OF THE COTES du RHONE (part un)

This trip we start with the little town of Seguret. This home to about 200 folks is built into the side of the hill toward the northern end of the hills - the Dentelles de Montmirail. They are the eastern border of the Rhone Valley. And it is here that most of the Cotes du Rhone Villages are situated.

We start by going up to, and then past, the entrance to the town and push our way up the hillside to Domaine de Mourchon. Established back in 1988 by Walter McKinlay, this domaine produces outstanding Cotes du Rhone and Cotes du Rhone Villages (Seguret) wines.

In addition to being a producer, they also act as a negociant (buying juice from farmers and then aging and re-selling the wine under their label "Mourchon"........sound familiar!?!?

As can be seen on the way up/down, their 'estate' encompasses just about every square foot of land that is plantable up on the hillside.

Now, back down the hill to the town itself. It is one of the sleepiest of the hill towns - as home to just 200, it is tiny, and its narrow lanes enhance its beauty. A few small shops, one restaurant and one caveau for winetasting makes this a quick visit. But a MUST VISIT it is...for the outstanding view of the Rhone Valley. This 180 degree vista really shows what the Cotes du Rhone is all about.

Descending further down to the valley floor, its off to Sablet...all of about 3 minutes away (around here, all the towns are close to one another..the trip from Avignon to Seguret is only about 45 minutes).

Sablet is the quintessential hill town. With its church spire sitting high above the center of town, even in the distance its charm is apparent. One of the great 'photo opportunities' of the area.

Its only a quick jaunt up to the center of town for lunch in the main square. Then available restaurants are small but charming, and the offers of salads, pizzas and wine on the terrace makes for a great meal.

Either before or after, it makes sense to make a quick stop in the Office of Tourism in the town. They provide a lot of info on the town and the surrounding area, as well as the opportunity to try a wine or two form the 'AOC Cotes du Rhone Villages Sablet'.

Back down the hill we go for a quick visit to one of the local producers. To choose from today are: Domanine de Pasquiers -on the road to Seguret - a producer of both Sablet and Gigondas wines; or Domaine de Verquiere - a solid producer of Sablets and Cotes du Rhone and my neighbor in the stands at last year's Fete de la Versaison in Chateauneuf-du-pape.

But the choice for today is Domaine de Boissan. Christian Bonfils and his family run this small domaine at the foot of the town. He has been a friend and a great resource for information when I first made the purchase of my property. Together with his son, they make a variety of white and red Cotes du Rhones, including both Sablet and Gigondas. With his 'urban vineyard' in front of the house, he is the epitome of the small winefarmer.

That's it for today.

Next week, I will continue the Cotes du Rhone Hill Town tour, working my way south through Gigondas, Vacqueyras, and Beaumes de Venise!

Stay Tuned!!

Hello to all

Since winter time is down-time here - no work in the vineyard (now that is is sold) - no winery sales (only a few clients come out this time of year) - no work around the house...not much news

So I thought, to help get TOURS du RHONE up and running, and to keep you all entertained, I would start including in this blog a bit of a travelogue - I would go and scout-out the potential spots for touring, and fill you all in on what's what.

Every week I will strike off to visit one or more of the local wine spots and report back - with pictures and ideas for stops on the tour(s).

OFF WE GO - today is CHATEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE

(Note: when tasting red wines it is always best to start with the less powerful and finish with the big hitters. Today, however, we are doing it in reverse...because Chateauneuf-du-Pape is closest to home).

Chateauneuf, the town, is about 2000 people, most of whom are directly involved in the wine industry. The wine AOC covers about 7800 acres, and is owned by more than 300 winefarmers.

First stop is, of course, to observe the vineyards, with their unusually rocky soil. These large galets (stones), taken together with the red soil, is what makes CDP wines pretty unique..and the most powerful of the southern Cotes du Rhone AOC's. The grenache grape, which is the dominant grape of the area, takes real well to this rocky well-draining soil. This time of year, all the vines are dormant, and most of the winter pruning has been done, so all that's left are the stubs - from which will grow the new shoots in the spring. For Chateauneuf-du-Pape wines, grenache is king, but you also found a lot of syrah and mouvedre in the reds (8 varieties are allowed but not all used).

White wines (about 6% of production) are primarily based on grenache blanc, rousanne, clairette and boubelenc grapes. No rose wine is allowed in the AOC, but some houses will make a Vin de Table for themselves.

Since it is still winter, and traffic is WAY down, many of the domaines are closed - its their time to unwind from harvest and get ready for Spring - many take time off in February for vacations to the sun (Corsica, Canary Islands, Carribean). But i was able to at least swing by a few and check-in for the upcoming year.


Cuvee du Vatican is located just on the outskirts of town as you leave toward Courthezon. The name is a reflection of the Papal approval given to the wine back in the 1950 (the Diffonty family goes back some 450 years here in town). They own about 16ha ( 40 acres) spread out over the appellation, and produce both red and white Chateauneuf-du-Pape as well as Cotes du Rhone and VDT wines.

Next, its into town to explore a bit. As it is mid-winter the crowds today are non-existent, and the streets are quiet. Shops are doing their own winter 'spruce-up' to get ready for the season.
Lunch typically would be in one of the small restaurants in the middle of town - (La Mule du Pape; Le Pistou; La Masionetta; La Mere Germain) great variety of foods and styles. I am late and I have missed it for today..rats.


After that, its just a quick stroll up the hill to visit the remains of the Chateau that gave the town its name. The Chateau was built back in the 14th century as the summer chateau for the Pope - during the period in which the Catholic church was centered in Avignon. Not much remains after it was almost totally destroyed in WWII. While there is not much to see of the chateau, the commanding 360 degree panorama is not to be missed - - to the south you can see down the river to Avignon, and to the west Mont Ventoux looks to be oh so close.

From the top of the hill, its only a quick jaunt down to visit Domaine Bosquet des Papes. Another long-time family of the area (15 generations!!) - they own about 27 ha (65 acres) of vines - but spread out over 40 parcels (which is very typical for this area). From that they produce 3 or 4 different cuvees of red Chateauneuf-du-Pape and one white wine. One of their red's is about 98% grenache - with the others following the traditional 80/10/10 split with syrah and mouvedre,

Last stop is at the small Domaine du Banneret just down the street. Jean-Claude Vidal - who's nephew Jean-Marc Espinasse owns a wine domaine in the Cotes du Rhone (Domaine Rouge & Bleu) - owns 3ha ( 7+ acres) in 7 parcels. Using most of the 13 varieties allowed, and farming biodynamically, he produces some great wines in the traditional style.

And with that, its a wrap for today.

More next week......Hill Towns !

Hi All

WOW - I just realized how long it has been since my last update...my bad, SORRY!

Fall/winter has arrived here - plants are starting to lose their leaves, and the vineyard is quiet.

OK - so .... Bad news / good news

As many of you know, sales have not been meeting expectations for quite some time (like forever!) and I have been struggling with how to improve that. WELL….it looks like there is no help in sight… fired lots of flares, but no rescue.

So, I have had to take a drastic step. This last summer I started looking for an escape valve and approached a local real estate group and asked for their advice. They suggested, and I agreed, that initially they would informally (and quietly – Chateaineuf-du-Pape is a VERY small community and word travels fast!) ask in the local area and see if there was any interest among the locals.

Almost immediately ( 3 days !), a local winemaker expressed interest, and subsequently made a VERY lucrative offer – but ONLY for the VINEYARD.

Uh oh..turmoil !!! What to do? Sell the piece or hold off and try to sell it all. How long might that take if I hold? What kind of price could I get if I did...

And the biggy: Where would I go if I sold the domaine – and what would I do?

In my now-typical fashion, I allowed myself one whole weekend to contemplate these issues and decide my fate. (no SUPER COMMITTEE for me!)

The OUTCOME (drum roll please)

I agreed to sell the vineyard to the local winemaker – Isabel Ferrando at Domaine Saint Prefert – at a very good price. With that sale, she also bought this year's harvest, so that she could get instant results.

With that, I decided to stay and keep the house and the winery………..and the olives and the view and the sun and the food and the wine……..and the life.

The down-side of course is that I am no longer a real 'wine farmer', a title which I will miss.

But, I have stock of the 2009 wines left to sell AND the 2010 wines still in tanks and ready to be bottled.

And I have created a new LLC to allow me to continue to make wine - as a 'negociant'– using juice and/or grapes from local producers - so Mas de la Lonne wines will continue, they just will no longer be from estate grapes.

Also in this new LLC, I will be operating a new venture – TOURS DU RHONE – providing custom designed guided tours of the local wine region. NEW WEBSITE WILL BE UP SOON !!!!!

SO – I am still here…. still waiting for visitors to arrive!

Still waiting for you to come and SHARE THE DREAM !!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Doug

Hi All

I know its been awhile.

Summer has come to the vineyard - the vines are doing very well. Versaison has begun, with the berries starting to turn blue and purple.Its going to be a great crop this year - the plants are healthy and the fruit set we got is great - will be a very good harvest - for all of the valley!!

As I have in years gone by, I took a day and traveled up to Nyons (known for its great olive oil !!!) - about 1 hour away - to see the Tour de France as its passed by. With no real hero to root for, it was a good chance to watch the entire peleton pass, and see just how FAST they really ride...here one minute, and gone the next!! By the time they reached this stage, Thomas Voekler, a Frenchman, was still in the maillot jeune (Yellow Jersey) and the local fans were very welcoming and supportive.

I also took a long day-trip around the country-side to catch the sites - those places that I travel past but never really stop and 'see'.
The Luberon valley, with all its lavender in bloom and its sunflowers was a great study in colors.

And the hill-towns of the Cotes du Rhone, like Sablet, were out in fine form on this sunny day.


The new wines continue to develop. The 2010 Cotes du Rhone will be ready for the bottle shortly. Its going to be a nice well-bodied grenache, with plenty of dark red fruit. The new 'Ombre du Chateau' is still in barrels, and has a bit to go yet - but its develping into a very nice wine, with lots of fruit and spice. I think the 2010's will be by far my best so far.

Meanwhile sales continue to not quite meet expectations. The 2010 vin de pays rose is selling well, but at the lower price the return is not what I would like. The 2009 reds are selling, but slowly, not unlike the 2008. And still no US importer in sight.

Must run - I have watering to do for the new plants in the vineyard. All for now.

Man

What a difference a week makes!! Last week went really well. We got the Spring pruning (ebourgenage) done - that's where we go through and do both pruning of wild shoots and thinning out of the shoots without flowers - to concentrate the energy into those shoots where the grapes will grow...its ALL about the grapes !! you can see how nice and neat they are. This will last another few weeks,and then they will take off again. By the time harvest comes, it will look like we've never been 0out there!

Anyway, we finished that on Monday - most of the work is manual, with only a 'topper' on the tractor for cutting off the really wild-growing shoots Its like a multi-sided, multi-bladed weed whacker - it cuts off the long shoot on the tops and sides).

So this week was/is plowing and watering and spraying and weed killing week. I set myself up to be very busy (as is the case when the vines are growing like crazy). And that's when things started to go bad.............

First, on the wine side. I had sent samples of the reds to England to be tasted in a couple of competitions - Decanter Magazine's World Wine Awards, and The International Wine Challenge (a competition run by a reputable English publication - similar to the Dallas Wine Competition). Anyway, I sent both the 2009 Cotes du Rhone and the 2009 cuvee 'Ombre du Chateu'. One of the interesting side-lights in both these competitions is that they also offer entry into their "New Discoveries" show- for those wines that do n9ot have representation in England.

So, I thought..what a deal. I can hope for reasonable showings, and gain an audience with those folks looking for something new.

Welllll, &@^#& $, I got the results yesterday. In a nutshell, I got skunked. In BOTH competitions. Decanter gave out 8000 awards, and the IWC gave out 5000, and my wine failed to get an award!!!!! So much for increasing the PR; so much for having something to brag about; So much for finding potential clients; so much for having SOMETHING TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT!!!!............as you can tell....VERY DEPRESSING.

And then the week went on (today). With a litany of issues.

Seems that the attachment on the 'water wagon' for watering the new plants took the opportunity to fall apart - welding will be required...will lose at least a day.

Seems the red tractor's battery decided to go toes-up. Need to replace it....will lose 1/2 a day

Seems I failed to pay my hail insurance bill as I was suppose to (who ever heard of paying for insurance AFTER the year is up - I assumed you payed in advance, and I decided to cancel - turns out..NOPE)..so now iof course now I have to pay a penalty..so that's not days lost , just EURO's.

Seems the big pump, for filling water tanks, and cleaning the cellar, etc, decided to go bonkers. I don't know if its the pump..or that the water table has gone down and I might need a NEW WELL!..so this will lose a week.....

This has NOT been a good few days...ah well next week is coming soon.......................................

More then

Hello to all

Spring is busting out all over. The vineyard is growing by leaps and bounds. When I left for Seattle, just about 4 weeks ago, the vines were just starting to sprout. I had just finished fertilizing and weed controlling, and thought I had finished just in time - as both of those tasks need to be finished before the new shoots really get going. Well - once they started, they have really taken off!!

The lack of sustained cold weather over the winter has allowed the vines to awaken about 2 weeks earlier than usual, and the pre-flower buds are out!! Each of the clusters of buds will, we hope, fully flower. The result will be a grape cluster for every cluster of flower buds. This year's set looks really good.

Here, they predict the harvest as 100 days after flowering. So if flowering occurs in the next 10 days, as the budding would suggest, then harvest could be early - like the 1st of September.

Work this last week had been all about getting the new little plants put into the ground. The T-handled tool is for making the holes for the bare-root vine and for the stake. The flat end of the handle is used for making the 'piscine' (pool for water) around the plant to ensure as much water reaches the vine as possible. The blue netting gets wrapped around the vine and the stake to protect the new plant's growth from baby rabbits...they LOVE new vine shoots..and we HATE rabbits!!

With a crew of three guys planting, one person driving the 'water wagon'.. and me - placing the supplies at each planting location, we were able to get about 600 of the little guys planted in 18 hours!! ALL BY HAND !!! The planting team is the same group that comes and helps harvest every year - what a hard-working gang. The tractor driver is the father of my neighbor, who I coerced into helping while he is here visiting on vacation - he seemed bored when I saw him the other evening, and so I offered him something to do...and he took it!

WINE SALES are growing , albeit very slowly. Without a US distributor, it is difficult to move enough wine to stay afloat, but I keep scratching...we'll see..................

On a personal note, two 'happenings';

First - I finally received my 'Carte Vitale', which is the ID card for using the French National health system. SO now if anything happens to me, they will act first and ask for insurance second. And, Oh Yeah, I have been wrangling with the French administration FOR 2 YEARS to get this.....

Second, and a little disconcerting, is that after the 5+ month wait for my renewed Carte de Sejour,I came back to town from Seattle to find, in my mailbox, a request for MORE documentation. Where had they been since December?? Where had they been since January, or February, or March when I asked and was continually told"No Problem - just a little delay".....So now I have to scramble to pull together some of the same documents I gave them before - - so I can give them to them again!! ARGH!!!