Jean-Pierre Meffre - Domaine Saint Gayan

It’s our final day in the Rhône valley and we are beginning to flag a little as we wend our way out of Orange once again at 8.30am.  We’ve long since given up trying to convince friends and family that tasting wine is an arduous task, but you can have too much of a good thing.  We are now well into three figures for wines tasted and considered this week for our Rhône 2009 vintage report, so we are both looking forward to getting back home.  Yet it’s hard to feel sorry for ourselves as we roll up at Domaine Saint Gayan in 20 degree sunshine.  Its 9am and Mont Ventoux towers above us in a blue sky, beautiful but brutal, and Jean-Pierre Meffre takes us through his gamme covering Sablet, Rasteau, Gigondas and Châteauneuf-du-Pape (where he owns less than a hectare that abuts the vineyards of Beaucastel).  We taste a succession of vintages and its clear that the 2009′s will have a freshness and elegance by comparison with their beefier 2007 siblings.

Heading north (on the home stretch now) we arrive at Domaine Biguet just outside Saint Péray, west of Valence. We’re an hour late for our tasting but Jean-Louis Thiers remains relaxed and promptly shows us in to his neat tasting room.  Saint Péray is commonly recognised for its sparkling wines that historically out-priced Champagne, but the still version (also made from 100% Marsanne) deserves to be better known, with aromas of orchard fruit and a ripe, rich palate.

Our final tasting en route to Lyon airport is fittingly at Domaine Georges Vernay in Condrieu.  Here we taste the range of 2009 Viogniers for which the estate is justifiably world-renowned, as well as red Côtes du Rhône (interestingly from vines within the AOC limits of Condrieu) and a sleek St Joseph from 35 year old vines.  Paul Amsellem (Christine Vernay’s husband) is gamely hosting a large party of Norwegians, so winemaker Christine conducts our tasting and the conversation flows from yields and lieu-dits to the ‘dematerialisation’ of the music industry.

Alas, we have to flee as our return flight beckons, but it’s been one hell of a week!

Jason & Tom.

Caravan - North Wales

For as long as I can remember I’ve taken holidays in the wilds of North Wales and  growing up in the Midlands I’m sure I’m not alone in this experience. It’s a place of breathtaking beauty and extremes – if the sun shines its idyllic however if it decides to rain, its well, the reverse.

My parents have a static caravan that has to still be painted green to ‘blend in’ with the country side on the North coast of the Llynn peninsula, it’s nearly all owned by the National Trust so it’s a case of no (white) blots on the landscape.

I spent my childhood on the spectacular beaches and now my children do the same – nothing appears to have changed in the last 40 years and all still seems reassuringly familiar.

On heading off last week I had packed my holiday wines – I’d not tempted fate and had my usual selection of southern Rhone reds – no whites or rosé, as that would have suggested that I was expecting the sun to shine at least once during the week and recent experience had indicated warming reds would be more appropriate.

I suspected that my Welsh wine experience would be a fairly solitary one but once you’ve got wine under your skin it seems to appear when you least expect it. We met another family with small children on the camp site (again borrowing their parents caravan and with a good 20 years of holidaying there under their belt) and during a chat over an impromptu BBQ Jeremy asked if I’d like a drink – and then went on to say, I really only drink wine and I love French wine – small world. So, we set about my holiday consignment and over the next few days we dispatched my Vacqueyras: Cuvée Spéciale 2003, Côtes du Rhône Villages Rasteau: Saint Gayan 2006 and a few others, including my last bottle of Vin de Pays Duché d’Uzès: Camp Galhan Pérassière 2007 that I’d left there from my last visit.

Slate - Blaenau Ffestiniog

Later in the week we were on a small beach called Towyn that has always had a small shop (or ‘shed’) on the cliff top that sells ice creams and other beach paraphernalia – but this year had diversified into general random Welsh products – I’ve always liked the ‘unusual’ so was intrigued to see, for want of a better word,  a “lump” of Welsh slate by the assorted Ben 10 surf boards – but slate with 3 holes drilled through that I decided had to be made for wine – and it was!

The slate was from the, now closed, Blaenau Ffestiniog quarry so there was never going to be another one – in the same way that wine vintages can never be repeated it was a must have – my wife was not as keen it has to be said – but anyway it’s now safely back in Wiltshire.

So, once you’ve got the wine bug – it catches you out when you least expect it!