Côtes du Rhône Wine Road
The South of France! To me this place is like heaven on earth. It has everything I absolutely love- palm trees, sunny blue skies, beaches, the Mediterranean Sea, cafés, friendly people, and exquisite seafood. Like here in the U.S., the lifestyle in the south is more casual and relaxed than in the fast-paced northern cities. This is unmistakably where I would love to retire. As an added bonus, the South of France is also known for producing world-class wines. These are wines of the infamous Rhône Valley, also known as Côtes du Rhône.
How did I end up in the Rhone Valley to begin with? Well, let’s see….like many other American travelers, I am a huge fan of Rick Steves, one of my favorite travel gurus. In his France travel guidebook, he mentions the Villages of Côtes du Rhône as a delightful destination in southern France. Since I planned on being in the country for one month and knew I’d have the time to spare in other places besides Paris, I thought I would do just as the locals do and take a weekend get-away to Provence, the gateway to Côtes du Rhône Wine Road. From Paris’ Gare de Lyon, it’s only about a 2- 1/2 hour ride on the TGV to Avignon, one of the major train stops for the Provence region.
Once in Avignon, having a car is probably the easiest and best way to visit the countryside and surrounding towns. The Gare d’Avignon (Avignon’s train station) is
Following a very well-planned itinerary written by Rick Steves, I was easily able to get to several villages and taste some fantastic wines from the Rhône Valley. One thing I thoroughly enjoy about this region is that there are many small family-run vineyards that welcome visitors for “la dégustation” or wine tasting on a drop-in basis. Here, what you’ll mostly find are red wines made from several different grapes such as Cinsault, Mouvèdre, Syrah, and Grenache. But there are some white wines produced here as well made from grape varietals like Viognier, Marsanne, and Rousanne. However, one of my all time favorites that so far, no other region in the world has been able to match in terms of taste and quality is the Rosé. Made from red grapes mentioned earlier, these wines are dry and elegant, and when served chilled are unbelievably fantastic especially during the summer months- very different from the California Rosés that in my opinion are too sweet and simply undesirable.
Some of the popular names in the region include Crozes-Hermitage, Châteauneuf du Pape, Gigondas, St. Joseph, and Beaumes de Venise. These are appellations or specific places within the region that are renowned for making really good wine. Some other stops that are worth checking out are Domaine de Mourchon, Le Crestet, Domaine de Coyeux, and Domaine de Durban.
These are villages I found in the Rick Steves France guidebook where he also has included detailed directions on how to get to these places. Oh yeah, while en route, you can visit an Olivier (olive farm) for a special olive oil tasting and…don’t forget to stop and smell the summertime lavender!
