29/08/2022
Today we learnt some things that we can almost immediately forget again. Like trying to find the tram that goes from the central train station in Lyon to the airport. And then trying to find the car rental companies at the airport. We walked through parts of the airport that was completely empty. Not a soul in sight. And it took quite a bit of searching to at least eventually find the shuttle that would take you to the car rental companies. The thing is – we now know how it works in Lyon. But that does not mean that it works like that in any other place. So something learnt – but marked for deletion immediately, to save space in the brains for the good stuff! And besides, all the effort was well worth it. We now have a snazzy little black number in the form of a Fiat 500 – a Hybrid, nonetheless, that we will be driving around France for the next week or three. Such fun! So it is off to the Rhône valley. And fortunately, it has largely been against the congested freeways filled with European holidaymakers who have to get back home in time for the schools that start on Wednesday.
On the Eastern banks in the northernmost tip of the Rhône valley wine region, is a wine appellation called Côte Rôtie. It is said to be the spiritual homeland of the Syrah grape. Côte Rôtie means ‘roasted slope’, and the wine is considered to be some of the world’s most prestigious wines. It has something to do with the fact that the vines grow on the steep southeast-facing slopes of the Rhône valley, providing sun-baked aspects that help make the wines so rich and ripe.
Now, I think I need to explain one other thing that we learnt today. In complete layman’s terms, France’s wines work with this thing called appellations. These are specific geographical areas that are approved for specific wines. So you can call your wine a Côte Rôtie, or Saint-Joseph, or Hermitage, if it is made from grapes that were grown in one of those specific geographical areas. So you may not even have your cellar near one of those appellations, but you can buy grapes from them, and make a wine that you can then call a, say, Saint Joseph. Also, a Côte Rôtie and a Saint Joseph can both be made from the same cultivars, with even the same blend, but you can only call it a Côte Rôtie, if the grapes you used came from one of the Côte Rôtie appellations. And if a specific geographical location is both Côte Rôtie and Saint Joseph, you can pick which name you would prefer for your wine.
Yes, we did some wine tasting today. Starting with a tasting with the winemaker of a lovely exclusive cellar, Domaine de Corps de Loup, just south of Ampuis (we still cannot figure out how to pronounce that!). And we continued our route alongside the Rhône, including at least one accidental detour up to a lovely commune called Lupé, with a lovely old church. Our final destination for the day being Tain l’Hermitage.
The final lesson learnt for the day – don’t expect to find a shop where you can buy milk after19h30 in this area. Don’t even expect to find all the petrol stations in the towns to be open too late. Unless you go to the larger petrol stations on the freeway.
But I have to say, I had lots of fun driving that little Fiat today.
