Wine, Glorious Wine
I have to admit that I enjoy a glass of wine, or maybe two.
Not that I'm any kind of expert - I can just about get 'oaked' and 'unoaked' or 'acidic' - and I can tell the difference between a Malbec and a Shiraz. Just.
That's why I like going to wine tastings so much. I've been lucky enough to have visited vineyards and experienced wine tastings in South Africa, Napa Valley and even Chile.
(It sounds like I've travelled the world to go to wine tastings. Unfortunately, that's not true - we just happened to be on holiday in these places and took the opportunity to taste the wine!)
Last week, though, I went to the best wine tasting experience I've ever been to. Every month a bunch of mates over here do 'something'. This month it was my turn to organised and I was recommended a wine tasting place called Chateau de Fayolle... you can see some more about it here: https://www.chateaufayolle.com/en/home/
It was the best I've ever been to.
First of all the set up is totally professional - it's the first time I've been to a wine tasting where there are lights set into the work top so you can see the colour of the wine properly. There's are basins with constantly running water for those people who 'gargle and spit'... none of our group wasted a drop so that feature wasn't really needed.
Frank is an American guy who moved out here in 2019. He and his wife Rikki bought the vineyard and now produce a small range of really good wine. There's white and rose but for me it's their selection of red wine that's top of the tree - especially the Sang de Sanglier (Blood of the Wild Boor) wine. It is truly delicious.
Frank knows his stuff, too, and is happy to talk, explain, tell anecdotes and generally be really informative. I learned more about wine and wine making in the hour or so we were with Frank than I have in all the other tastings I've been to put together.
Just the wine tasting alone would be enough of an experience but we stayed for lunch. The charcuterie board was fabulous. I won't go through the list of every meat and cheese we had but suffice to say the home made fig chutney was just gorgeous.
Finally, the surroundings were great, too. We were inside but the views are fabulous and on a summer's day the terrace will be lovely.
In terms of what it cost - well, that's reasonable, too. The wine tasting is free but we paid for lunch which was a set fee. I must admit Richard and I left with a case of 2019 white wine (which is being sold off at the moment because it has to be drunk soon - so is a real bargain), a case of Sang de Sanglier to keep for special occasions and bottle of Chateau De Fayolle sparkling wine, too.
Our friends did pretty much the same.
Personally I think it's really important that we can give our guests recommendations like this so I promise that I will go to as many wine tastings and other places as I can... just in the name of research, you understand, and for our guest's benefit and no other reason!