We only stayed in Carcassone for one night so today we were on our way to Arles in the heart of Provence. Cool. First up, a visit to a local winery, Château des Hospitaliers. Now, I’m always happy to taste the local wines (hello?) and this family estate was beautiful. The lovely owners were very kind and warmly welcomed us with the obligatory winery tour.
These are grape vines.
Wow, Grape Vines...
Can we slip away to the tasting room while they continue to talk about...grape vines?
Oh cool...vats.
What's inside the vat?
But we were polite and did not throw stones at the people who asked “and what kind of wood are these barrels made of?” It’s France people, what do you think they are making them out of…American Pine? Help us!
There was one unique thing on the tour that was a treat and I had never seen before. The owners created an awesome building which included this courtyard with plants growing on the walls (something about “green” which apparently does not include burning Styrofoam). It looks like he had put fabric on the walls with holes or little cups to insert plants and it had a drip irrigation – some sort of wall hydroponic system. Where can I get one of those?
Their beautiful vineyard included lots of cats to play with and a pond with frogs on Lilly pads. Happiness.
So after stuffing ourselves with homemade tasties, sampling local wine, and purchasing 3 bottles plus 10 liters of box wine…
Restez à l'écoute,
Caroline
1 comment:
I agree with you on the tastings - definitely the best part. When JC & I go on tours, it's two-part. The tour guide tells about the wine and JC tells me about the machinery, chemical reactions going on with the wine, and whatever else his engineering mind comes up with. It's definitely an interesting experience...of course...somehow it doesn't stick in my mind so I don't seem to remember it. I blame it on the bottle of wine we drink after - that's definitely it.
Post a Comment