Champagne Vineyards

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Champagne Vineyards

Chablis Irancy

Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé, Chablis & Champagne

25 - 29 October 2009

This excellent value five day break takes in the best white wines in France and visits some beautiful unspoilt country. We travel down to the region by coach and to make the journey go with a swing, we taste some wines en route.

For the best that the Sauvignon Blanc grape can produce in the ‘Old World’ we visit the vineyards of Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé; to taste classic wines from Chardonnay we visit domaines around Chablis and for a finale we taste Champagnes from the Côte des Blancs for sparkling wines made from Chardonnay.

The first stop is the pretty hilltop town of Sancerre. As far as it is known, Sancerre was built by the Goths to control the area, which they unsuccessfully disputed with the Franks at the fall of the Roman Empire. It became a prosperous merchant town, which seems to have always been at odds with the French King. In the ‘wars of religion’ it was Protestant and was besieged twice by royal armies, later it became a hotbed of revolution.

Our visits in the eastern Loire include Château de Tracy for really top quality Pouilly-Fumé and for Sancerre, Château de Sancerre, Joseph Mellot where we also enjoy a rustic lunch of local specialities.

Our next base is Auxerre which sits on the banks of the River Yonne; the medieval town centre has cobbled streets linedwith timber-framed houses. The skyline is dominated by three magnificent church spires: the Cathedral, with its damaged yet attractive facade and C13th stained glass; St Germain, in which there are rooms containing C9th frescoes and St Pierre en Vallée, which has a Gothic and C17th façade. We stay in a charming Manor House hotel here.

From here we spend our days visiting and tasting with first class producers who make top quality wines. Domaine Jean- Marc Brocard have a wine-making philosophy that demonstrates the soil in the style of the wines. We are enthusiastically received by the Dampt family at Emmanuel Dampt and try his excellent value Tonnerre and a fine ‘Vieilles Vignes’ Chablis. It’s not all white wines. We taste the red Sancerre made from Pinot Noir, which can be a pretty serious wine. We also visit the Bourgogne-Irancy appellation, where at Leon Bienvenu we see that these can be decent red Burgundies. We’ll also taste some enjoyable sauvignons from St Bris.

On our return journey we stop off in Champagne’s Côte des Blancs for a visit, tasting and lunch with the excellent estate of André Jacquart et fils.