Farmstead Cheeses and Wines: Jeff’s Blog

Today we’re going to the right bank, visiting properties exclusively imported by Aquitaine. These Petits Chateaux offer value and quality, offering the consumer a chance to get to know the different appellations of Bordeaux without spending a ton of money. Our first stop is in Blaye – Haut Colombier is run by the Chety brothers [...]

I can drink and talk about Gruaud Larose and Meyney all day, but the Coup de Couer for me on our first day was spending the afternoon and evening with the husband and wife proprietors of Clos Manou. To say that Francoise and Stephane Dief are passionate about the Haut Medoc, the wines of Clos [...]

After Margaret Calvet got us situated with a rental car at Bordeaux airport, my traveling companion – Michael Tripp from the import side of Youngs Market- and I drove north along the Route des Chateaux to Pauillac. We’re staying for five days at the well situated Chateau Grand Puy Ducasse – a classified 5th growth [...]

We left the hotel for the short drive south to Meursault to taste the wines of Xavier Monnot. Monnot’s family has been in the wine trade since the 1700s, and has been making wine at the estate for three generations. Xavier owns 40 acres of vines mostly in Meursualt, with some property in Monthelie, Beaune, [...]

It was a short drive from the hotel to Domaine Albert Morot, where we would spend much of the day tasting their red wines from Beaune and the whites of Domaine Marc Morot. The domaine is a large Burgundian house with a large, damp, two level cellar that stretched for hundreds of feet. The walls [...]

We left Avignon fairly early in the morning and headed North. Our final destination was Beaune, where we would spend three nights; on the way we were to stop in Condrieu to taste some wines from Cote Rotie, Chablis and Macon. As we approached the town of Condrieu, the famed impossibly steep terraced vineyards appeared. [...]

Avignon We left Boudinaud for the quick drive to Avignon – known for the Palais de Papes, its famous bridge, and its proximity to the vineyards of Chateauneuf du Pape. We arrived at the Grand Hotel, located just outside the walls of this quaint town. We had a few hours before our tasting/dinner with Andre [...]

We checked out of the Imperator early, and drove for 30 miles or so to Mas Carlot/Mas de Bressades, two estates run by the husband wife team Natalie Blanc and Cyril mares. Cyril is responsible for his ancestral property – Mas de Bressades, while Natalie takes care of Carlot. They both employ Alain de Maizon, [...]

Day Three – Rouissillon I arrived in Perpignan rested and ready for the start of my wine voyage. I hailed a cab and arrived at a warren of faceless hotels near the airport. Not the Perpignan I’d been expecting, but I wasn’t here to be a tourist, I was here to learn about the wines [...]

I arrived on a Saturday morning, and after gathering my luggage and my thoughts, took the RER train to my hotel, the Hotel du Panthéon, located at the Place du Panthéon in the 5th arrondissment. I checked in, took a quick shower, got dressed, grabbed my camera, and went out to re-discover one of my [...]