Rhone Valley 2024

Most people that travel to Europe for a short time will avoid visiting small towns and villages. I mean, who doesn’t want to tick off the bucket list of all the major museums and landmarks. I do too. But, I’ve come to realize that some things are just not possible to see in a city, in any city. You must get out into the countryside. Not only is this a great way to take a break from the hustle bustle and busy tourist schedule but it also opens the opportunity to understand how the same country can have many different lifestyles.

Whether you do this using the amazing train network in Europe or you decide to drive yourself, it is something I strongly encourage you to consider. I know that I will be doing this more and more in my future visits.

The first time you do something, it is either scary or thrilling, or both. Driving on the RIGHT (“wrong”) side of the road was exactly that for me. I thought I was in the passenger seat but there was a steering wheel. I thought I was indicating left but the wipers came on. And I thought I was gonna drift over to the wrong side of the road, but it was fine! It does take getting used to, but after a couple of hours, you are on your merry way. Except, the roads in Europe can be extremely narrow. And sometimes, narrower than the width of your car, or so it appears anyway. And yet, cars would go both ways, without slowing down. I’m still not quite sure how people drive up and down skinny cobblestone streets and winding steep roads without an accident every 5 minutes but, at this point, I have accepted that it is what it is.

Apart from all of that, driving in the French countryside is absolutely breathtaking (in a good way). The lush green landscapes with wines thriving on both sides, substituted only by canopies of native trees or cobblestone streets and houses make for better than perfect views for a long drive. To add to the picturesque theme, sometimes it would start drizzling or pouring. This may be challenging for a few minutes but the romantic setting is perfect for my favorite part about all of this - WINE TASTINGS!

But first, a quick recap of a day well spent in Lyon, which is also where we picked up our car.

I didn’t really plan anything for my three days in the Rhone Valley region. All I knew was that it is one of the most prestigious wine regions of the world and it is home to three of my most favorite wines - Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre (and 10 others).

One might think that wine production is complex, fancy and has a plethora of difficult terminology attached to it. And to a large extent, that is indeed true. But, it is humbling to see, both in Italy and France (two meccas of wine production) that in one way, wine production is all about representing the terroir in a bottle. It is somewhat easy to tell the difference between wines that are made in different regions or contain a different varietal. I never thought I’d be able to taste and tell the difference between wine made using the same fruit only with minor or no difference in the soil or elevation and the aging process. The rules for AOP quality wine confine the winemaker to a small set of variables which forces them to rely completely on the harvest of that year. This means that wine from this year will be completely different to the same wine next year.

Over the three days in Rhone Valley wine region, I visited Domaine Pradelle in Crozes-Hermitage AOC, Pierry in Côtes du Rhône (Ventoux, Côtes du Rhône Village and Séguret) and Vieux Télégraphe and Famile Gonnet in Chateauneuf de Pape.

Domaine Pradelle was a great way to start this experience as we visited right before the evening closing time making us the only group there. This meant that Lola was able to give us 100% of her attention and she made sure we walked out well informed (and tipsy 😛). At Domaine Pradelle, we tasted some delicate but fruity wines while learning about the differences between Vin De France, IGP and AOP/AOC. Here’s a quick read if you’re interested. She also told us a lot about how each Pradelle AOP wine differed from the other - some were aged differently, some came from a different appellation or were grown using different soil. This was a great way to taste the difference in wines which was becoming increasingly difficult as we got to the 8th and 9th wines 😉.

With a taste of Rhone Valley and a refresher on winemaking in France, our next stop was at Pierry. Pierry’s wines are almost as beautiful as the philosophy behind his wines. The bottles are numbered as a tribute to crucial events in Pierre’s family. Each wine is perfect in its own way - as if it had its own story. You don’t have to be an expert to taste the different blends of Grenache and Syrah in each bottle of red. I had the pleasure of learning about this story from the horses’ mouth - Pierre and Amandine. My experience was personalized to the max when I was able to convince them both to pour a glass of wine each and clink our glasses (sante!) to their achievements and the happy times we all were sharing in that moment. The conversation went from one topic to another and naturally, we ended up staying there much longer than we intended to. Needless to say, we walked out with their limited produce - “999” to open later in the night, while playing pool at our Airbnb.

Last but not the least - la crème de la crème - Châteauneuf du Pape (CdP). One of the oldest appellations and easily, the most prestigious one in France! I am not sure if all roads lead to CdP but I am glad mine did. I find it hard to believe that a wine produced in this region can be bad. And I do not mean to undermine the talent of the winemakers. This is an ode to the quality of harvest in this region. In 2024, Vieux Télégraphe is synonymous with CdP. The Brunier family has been watching over the destiny of the Vieux Télégraphe estate for 6 generations. The vineyard is located on the famous Crau plateau, a mecca for viticulture in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Call it luck or destiny, this was our first stop and we were able to get a tour and tasting on Monday morning without any bookings. I know it sounds weird but I could taste the delicacy that stems from pebble soil in Telegramme!

An important thing that I learned the hard way in France but especially in the countryside is that everyone takes a break from 12:00 to 15:00 🙂It is considered rude to disturb people during this time. So, when you are wine tasting, make sure to book wineries in advance or find other things to do during this time. Because my friends were not super interested in wine tastings, I’d only planned on spending one day in CdP. Desperate times call for desperate measures. So, I headed into the center of the town to see if there were any rooms open for tasting. Perhaps it was my lucky day. Famille Gonnet was not only open and offered free wine tastings, it came as a blessing in disguise for me. I tasted five of their red wines and each one was deeeelicious! Don’t take my word for it. The reds were good enough to (momentarily) convince a white wine drinker to switch to reds 🤷!

After we were all wined up, we decided to head up to the top of the church for stunning panoramic views of CdP. The view was glorious in itself but also as an added perspective into what you sip when you have a Chateuneuf du Pape. There couldn’t be a better way to follow up the wine tasting and end the afternoon.