We're in Provence nailing down the final details of our upcoming Provence Experience and truly enjoying the unique feel of Winter here. Yesterday we spent the day in and around Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
In the summer, when our Provence Experience happens, all this will be exploding with every shade of green, and the vineyards will be a riot of green leaves. In the Winter, the colors are dominated by the reddish brown of the soil and rocks.
This old Grenache vine surrounded by tan colored rocks means this must be Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape star Jean Paul Versino is a third-generation wine-maker and a wonderful guy.
Comparing a range of Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines against one Côtes du Rhône. Tragically, most of this ends up in the spit bucket.
We're tasting wines because we're pre-selecting all the wines we'll be tasting during the Gastronomad Experience. (Our group of Gastronomads will be drinking only the best wines we can find.) One super wonderful wine we tasted yesterday will be gone by Summer, so we bought more than a case and asked the winemaker to hold on to it for us.
We have only two spots left for The Provence Experience. Go here for details and to reserve your place.