Wine,
cuisine, history and culture of a region off the beaten
track
This
French wine and cuisine tour programme presents
the wine, food and culture of the Languedoc-Roussillon
region,
as
a heady mix of French, Catalan and Spanish culture, in
Southwest France. The seven-day/six-night trip is designed
to provide a coherent balance of culture, gastronomy and
tasting. (see
map below)
Day 1 - Panoramic Tour
Toulouse - Carcassonne - Limoux
The trip starts in Toulouse with a panoramic tour of the city before heading
south towards Carcassonne and its XIIth century citadel. Wine-tasting at
the Château Pennautier.
Day
2 - History & Regional Specialties
Limoux – Collioure
Limoux, wine centre and home to
France’s first sparkling wine. Visit to the Domaine
Sieur d’Arques for the history of this wine … followed
by a tasting. Lunch at hotel with regional specialties
and then drive through spectacular rugged country with
steep-sided gorges, mountain-top castles and windswept
vineyards to Collioure on the Mediterranean coast.
Day
3 - Tasting & Gastronomy
Collioure - Cases de Pene
A day out in the Roussillon vineyards at Cases de Pene, then lunch at Château
de Jau, before visit and tasting at Mas Lavail.
Day 4 - Visit & Cruise
Collioure - Perpignan
Perpignan, capital of French Catalonia has a chequered his-tory: Visit of
the town in the morning before embarking on a 3-hour cruise out of Collioure
in the afternoon.
Day 5 - Dalí & Special Meal
Collioure - Figueres
The Holy Grail for Dali lovers: guided tour of the
Dalí Museum at
Figueres, just over the border in Spain, in the morning. Gourmet meal at
Clos de Pauliles in the evening.
Day 6 - Modern Art
Collioure - Céret -
Toulouse
Departure for the capital of cubism, Céret, to visit the Mu-seum of
Modern Art. Return through deepest Languedoc-Roussillon for a last dinner
in Toulouse.
end
Price:
from €2100 per person . ENQUIRE
More
about the wines and the topography ...
If
I told you that France's most exciting vineyards were
to be found in the CDRV then you'd either think I was
talking about a new chain of supermarkets or you'd
just nod wisely and open another bottle of 'Clot de
l'Oum'. But more and more wine-lovers are hearing the
stories and finding stray bottles that confirm the
rumours: France has found a terroir where
the old rules no longer apply and new methods can be
experimented with.
We
are talking about the "Côtes de Roussillon
Villages" appellation in the southern-most part
of France, between the Corbières and the Spanish
border. On the fringes of this official region there
are other smaller, wilder and untamed vine-growing
areas with tongue-twisting names like 'Vins de Pays
des Coteaux de Fenouillèdes' that are attracting
interest from wine-makers from as far afield as Australia
and South Africa. In what Wine writer Jancis Robinson
has described as 'spaghetti western terrain' young
wine-makers are experimenting new techniques with old
established grapes like Carignan and Mourvèdre,
reducing the yield to extract concentrated flinty,
mineral wines of extraordinary strength and character.
Also
within the CDRV appellation is the tiny appellation
of Maury, a sweet dark dessert wine, traditionally
aged and 'maderisé' in oak barrels left of the
roofs of the farms. Tastes have changed and the younger
vignerons feel free to bend the rules and use this
schist-rich land to produce exceptional reds. Officials
who control French wine appellations appear to be turning
a blind eye, knowing that if France can't innovate
and follow world trends then the New World wines will
win out. Perhaps it's due to the region's heretical
past when 13th century religious dissenters of the
Cathar persuasion defied central authority with with
their tenacious movement and held out in mountain-top
strongholds against the power of Rome. These Cathar
castles still dominate the Agly valley at Quéribus
and Puilaurens, dramatic witnesses to past struggles.
Roussillon's
wines are not limited to the CDRV however: there are
the 'other' CDR wines in the vast plain north and south
of Perpignan which include some stunning whites (the
Muscat Sec) as well as some very drinkable reds. Towards
the coast we find the mini-appellations of Collioure
around the seaside village of the same name and the
sweet white dessert wines of Banyuls. Chocolate lovers
will note that of all the wines in the world only two
are generally recommended to go with any chocolate
dish: Maury and Banyuls.
©Simon
Oliver 2007
