Alice's visit

My friend Alice and I worked together in the Legal Dept. at Wachovia, and have stayed good buddies through career changes and moves--me to Colorado and her to LA, and now to Atlanta.  She is a Francophile, like I, and meets every other week in Atlanta with a group to practice language skills.  She was arriving in Avignon Tuesday, the 15th, on the 13:00 train from Paris, for her first visit to the south of France.

The weather had been gorgeous all week, but had turned drizzly and cool that morning.  I left home early for the drive to Avignon (about an hour) so I could go by St. Saturnin les Avignon (I was living in St. Sat. les Apt) to find a fabric store that Francis had told me about.  I had admired the drapes in his salon, which were a sheer linen fabric that I have tried to find in the US, without any luck.  He told me he made them and had bought the fabric in St. Sat. les Avignon, which is sort of on the way to pick up Alice.  My Tom Tom lady got me there, and some nice people on the street immediately knew what I wanted when I asked where a "grand magasin de tissu" was.  And a large store it was.  Every kind of fabric you could think of, all jumbled into a great rambling warehouse of a building.  I found lots of the linen sort of fabric I wanted---it is very popular for curtains here.  Unfortunately, getting it home would be far too much trouble and expense than I could undertake.  But I did find the store, Gregoire, on the web, so perhaps I'll be able to order some.

Alice's train was a about 30 minutes en retard--and I thought they always ran on time.  We got into the car and drove back to St. Sat. for her to settle in and rest a bit, stopping along the way in Gordes for a late lunch and walk around.  Alice had been on a whirlwind travel schedule before she met me---a day in Chapel Hill, NC for a meeting, a few days in Tampa to see her friend Christopher's Royal Ballet of Scotland group perform, then to Paris and finally home with me.  She needed an early night.

On Wed. morning we had a 9:00 meet with Abdel Hamid, wine sommelier and retailer, for a tour of the Rhone valley wine region.  Abdel had cooked in restaurants for years, some of which were Michelin starred, and now does tours, wine tastings in restaurants, and sells wine at several markets in the Vaucluse.  We went first to a small, but several generations old, winery near Vacqueyras, Domaine La Fourmone.  It is run by a woman, granddaughter of the first owner.  Abdel commented on how many wineries are now being operated by women, and that they are turning out to be exceptionally good vintners.  We tasted a rose, a red and a white from Vacqueyras, one Gigondas and one Beaumes de Venise---all good.  We also got a little lesson from Abdel about the region.  This is a part of the Cote du Rhone region, where some areas have been especially recognized as outstanding by winning their own appellation, or AOC.  Gigondas is included in these, as is Beaumes de Venise, famous for its sweet white wine.  The most famous is Chateauneuf-du-Pape, which is on our itinerary for later in the day.

Alice and Abdel walking in, and admiring,  the Domaine La Fourmone vines

Entrance to the tasting room and cave at Domaine La Fourmone

Our next stop was a side trip to the Dentelles de Montmirail, and a vineyard where the vendange had not yet finished.  The dentelles are a short range of mountains with spiky tops, sort of like the Needles, and white rock.  The vendange, or grape harvest, is normally done by early Oct., but in this area there had been a late, and cool, summer, so the grapes ripened late.  Here are a couple pictures of the mountains and the grape harvest.

Les Dentelles de Montmirail

Grape harvesting---note the barely visible pickers in the middle of the picture

Grapes ready for the crusher

Lunch was at a little place in Gigondas that Abdel knew from having worked in the village before.  I had excellent house made raviolis.  If you see "maison" on a French menu board it means the dish has been made in the restaurant and should be extra good and fresh.
                                                       
                                                                   





As we walked around before lunch, we saw a class of plein aire artists working here.  One of them had set up at this spot to paint the doorway---not a bad choice.       

Next we drove to the Chateaufneuf-du-Pape AOC, and 2 degustations.  First was the Domaine de Beaurenard, one of the oldest vineyards in the area, now operated by the seventh generation of the family.  We were taken on a complete back stage tour of the whole wine making process and the gorgeous cellar where the barrels were aging.

Our last stop, and probably the best wine we had, was at Chateau Gigognan, also in Chateauneuf-du-Pape.  All of these wineries have vines in other areas, and make more than the CNduP wines.  Because of France's strict regulations, if the grapes are not grown in the area, the wine can't be labeled with the AOC.  CNduP has extraordinary soils, one of the reasons its grapes are special.  Check out this vineyard:

The rocks warm up in the sun, retain and reflect the heat, keeping the vines and grapes at a more constant and warm temperature.  This particular vineyard is also "bio", meaning organic, so the grass and plants have been left around the vines, rather than being chemically treated.  This rocky terroir is reflected in the taste of these wines.  At Chateau Gigognan Alice found her favorite wine, and a sort to namesake, Cardinalice, a bottle of which we enjoyed for the next couple days.

More adventures with Alice---both the good and the not-so-good--- to come.