In small wine villages, we spend a fair amount of time looking for wineries down remote roads and showing up at places that are supposed to be open but are not, even though we called ahead of time. Most of the chateaux are staffed by only one or two people (in many cases, the owners)…
We ducked into this basement wine shop because it is one of the few that sells some of the region’s best wines – Chateau Rayas, Chateau de Beaucastel and Clos des Papes. Think of it as a boutique that only carries a few high-end brands, only in a crumbling, dusty cave. The owner, Pierre, was…
Since we were in the area, we had to swing by Châteauneuf-du-Pape, which is considered one of the finest appellations in the world. It is one of the 16 Crus of the Rhône Valley and one of the first of France’s AOC’s (appellations d’origine controlee). Within the official area of 32 square km, 320 chateaux…