By Niel Muller
31/08/2022
The last couple of days had been a wine lover’s dream, so I again took the opportunity on this day, exactly 4 years after my retirement at 65 and also the birthday of my dear friend, Dirk, who turned 69 exactly 11 days after me – note the seniority Dirk!
We managed to leave Tain-l’Hermitage at about 10h45 and headed for Avignon – about 90 minutes’ drive. I was vaguely aware of the famous wine area of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, but did not realise it was so close to our route so we veered off our way to this quaint little town in Provence. Do not under estimate this town – they were the first to enforce the AOC system, which is the Appellation of Controle system by which quality wines are controlled in terms of variety (cultivar) and terroir (region).
Wesmè had a 13h00 conference meeting, so I took the time to go to the tourist information office. Never underestimate the French rural culture:- most businesses are closed from 12h00 to 14h00.
I thus had about an hour to waste so wandered into the wine tasting venue immediately adjacent to the information office. Well, wandered into is not quite accurate. As you can see from the photograph (I did not) this establishment has a very low door head… Partly dazed and slightly confused/injured, I staggered into a slightly lit dungeon finding an elderly man behind the counter. Bonjour! Speak English? The gentleman abruptly replied: “ For business, I can !”. I tasted about 5 wines (all pretty expensive) but all but the first, were rather oxidized. I was rather confused, as all these wines had increasing prices. I did however notice (I was quite sober you know) that these wine bottles were all about 2 thirds empty. Trying to be polite, I told the gentleman that I would explore the other producers and return to him if warranted. Quite cheekily he replied “You won’t return, I know”
I wandered about another 75m down the road, and found another establishment, Domaine Durieu, that seemed quite respectable. Entering the tasting centre I used my same (only?) intro: “Bonjour! Speak English?”. The lady immediately responded that English was not her forte, but I suggested that we try our best. With the aid of lots of short sentences, body and sign language and even some basic drawings on my side, we managed a quite pleasant and successful tasting of some very pleasant wines. The wines were all the AOC prescribed blend of at least 60% Grenach plus any of another 12 variaties including Syrah, Mourvedre and Viognier. I tasted 3 AOC Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines in the price range 21 – 26 Euros of vintages 2019 to 2021. I also tasted 3 AOC Cotes do Rhone wines of which I liked the Cuvèe Henri Durieu 2019 at only 11.50 Euro.
After meeting up with Wesmè at the Tourist Information office, we decided to have a lunch across the road. The cheese and cold meat platters were excellent!
After reaching our apartment in Avignon, we had a bit of a rest and then explored the northern part of the old town, including the very impressive Popes’ Palace and the Notre Dame des Doms church.
