#Yang Jungah
2017.06.12
Chapter 3. Let’s Have a Winery Tour in France!
Introducing the columns written by member of Amorepacific Group
ColumnistYang Jungah
Amorepacific Mass MC Team
# intro
A summer vacation can offer a sweet break in the middle of a busy year! Some of you may have enjoyed it already, and some of you may have not yet decided where to go. Paris, a favorite tourist destination of many, is visited by about 40 million tourists every year. The reason why so many people travel to Paris each year might be not only because of the charm and atmosphere of the city itself, but because of the desire to visit the setting of numerous paintings, movies and novels in person and see the traces of the artists who have lived there.
Deciding which winery to visit is like picking a tour destination. For the vacation of last and this year, I visited Bourgogne and Loire, two of the most famous wine regions of France. The reason I decided to visit wineries in France was because I had been very impressed with the amazing taste of one particular wine with a pretty label that I had stumbled upon. I was eager to meet the producer of the perfect wine for my preference. Instead of joining a wine tour package, I checked the location of the winery I wanted to visit on the map, found the route and underwent all the little hassles by myself. Thanks to the hardship, the trip became an unforgettably special experience. So, let me begin the third column with the story of the 'trip to the vineyard of France' that has something a little bit more special than a bottle of wine.
Deciding which winery to visit is like picking a tour destination. For the vacation of last and this year, I visited Bourgogne and Loire, two of the most famous wine regions of France. The reason I decided to visit wineries in France was because I had been very impressed with the amazing taste of one particular wine with a pretty label that I had stumbled upon. I was eager to meet the producer of the perfect wine for my preference. Instead of joining a wine tour package, I checked the location of the winery I wanted to visit on the map, found the route and underwent all the little hassles by myself. Thanks to the hardship, the trip became an unforgettably special experience. So, let me begin the third column with the story of the 'trip to the vineyard of France' that has something a little bit more special than a bottle of wine.
I saw, I drank, I thought (J'AI VU, J'AI BU, J'AI CRU)
The places I will introduce in this column are the Bourgogne and Loire in France, where my favorite wines are produced. If we compare the travel in each region to a TV program genre, Bourgogne would be like a "wine documentary" while Loire would be more like a "wine drama". The key feature of Bourgogne is that you can visit the wineries of top-class wine producers, taste wine from each field and enjoy the history and philosophy of producers with marked individualities. In the Loire, by contrast, you can enjoy relatively casual wines, spend time visiting old castles in various sizes and discover the wonders of the beautiful small towns along the long stretches of the Loire Valley.
Nicolas Joly, the alchemist of vines and soil @Loire
Cosmetics scent, bubble gum scent, pineapple scent. Although these scents sound irrelevant to wine, they are one of the salient features of natural wine, which is made from handpicked grapes without using chemical fertilizer, herbicides or pesticides. In the Loire, they produce natural wine a lot. Furthermore, they also make 'naturalistic' wines or biodynamic wines, which set the harvest time according to the nature's cycle like the sun, the moon and stars.
Nicolas Joly, the pioneer of the biodynamic wine in France, was once a surgeon, but abandoned his job as a doctor and devoted his life to wine. The wines filled with his passion are a perfect choice when you want to experience naturalistic wine. Especially, the 'Coulée de Serrant,' a vineyard of the winery, is one of only three vineyards with its own appellation of origin (AOC), along with 'Romanée-Conti' in Bourgogne and 'Château-Grillet' in Ronne. Situated on a sloping hill, Nicolas Joly's winery is also a place where you can experience the spectacular views of the Loire. So, even if you don't want wine tasting, be sure to stop by if you plan to visit the Angers region of France!
To visit, a reservation is required. You can request a reservation by e-mail through the website, or ask your hotel concierge to make one. In my case, I booked the day before the visit. But, to make sure, it's a good idea to book about a week or so in advance.
★ Website : https://coulee-de-serrant.com/en/
★ Telephone : 0033 (0)2 41 72 22 32
To visit, a reservation is required. You can request a reservation by e-mail through the website, or ask your hotel concierge to make one. In my case, I booked the day before the visit. But, to make sure, it's a good idea to book about a week or so in advance.
★ Website : https://coulee-de-serrant.com/en/
★ Telephone : 0033 (0)2 41 72 22 32
Anne Gros, the perfectionist female winemaker @Bourgogne
In the Bourgogne, unlike most other wine producing regions, red wine is made only from Pinot Noir grapes and white wine from Chardonnay grapes. Pinot Noir is a difficult varietal to cultivate because it has looser grape cluster and the skin is thinner than other grapes. Bourgogne wineries in France produce the world's finest wines with 100% Pinot Noir variety, without using robust grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot. For this reason, the wine producers' ability is critical and the same kind of grape varieties from adjacent fields may yield different wine tastes in Bourgogne. As the wine is made with such great care, a bottle of good Bourgogne wine can cost from a few million won to tens of million won. If you are a wine lover, try as many wine as you like in Bourgogne. You can taste 6-7 kinds of wine for free with the purchase of a bottle of wine, which is usually around 30 euros.
If we need to pick the fastest-rising female wine producer of the Bourgogne, where the finest wines are made in France, it must be Anne Gros, my favorite producer. She makes wine with her husband not only in Bourgogne, but also in the Minervois region of Languedoc in southern France. Visit Anne Gros of Bourgogne and you can taste various kinds of wines, from the light wines of the Minervois region to the premium wines of Bourgognes like Échezeaux and Chambolle-Musigny. If you arrange a tour program for 100 euros per group (4 people, 90 minutes) on its website, you can enjoy the tour around her vineyard and listen to the explanation on the characteristics of wines from different fields and her winemaking process. You can also enjoy wines directly from the oak barrels in the wine cave.
★ Website : www.anne-gros.com/
★ Reservation : domaine-annegros@orange.fr
★ Website : www.anne-gros.com/
★ Reservation : domaine-annegros@orange.fr
One night in an old castle of Loire
As Loire was a popular vacation place of royal families and the nobility since the Middle Ages, there are more than 80 castles in the area designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. In particular, many tourists visit the region just for the Château d'Amboise, which houses the tomb of Leonardo da Vinci, and Château d'Ussé, which inspired the story of Sleeping Beauty.
Some of the many big and small castles are renovated into a hotel and available for tourists. The castle 'Château de l'Epinay,' where I stayed, was a wonderful place that had a bathroom larger than my master room, a fireplace I had only seen in movies, and a picturesque garden outside the window. The price is not much different from the cost for a typical hotel room. So, if you are visiting Loire, be sure to stay a night at a beautiful castle!
★ Places to stay in the Loire region
- A Chateau in the Anger region : Château de l'Epinay (https://www.chateauepinay.com/en/)
- Airbnb stay in Tours : https://www.airbnb.co.kr/rooms/13947526
★ Places to stay in the Loire region
- A Chateau in the Anger region : Château de l'Epinay (https://www.chateauepinay.com/en/)
- Airbnb stay in Tours : https://www.airbnb.co.kr/rooms/13947526
"We are all celebrities under stars" - A quote by a vineyard man
The person who said this cheesy quote is Jean-Luc, a wine producer in Bourgogne, who is wearing sunglasses in the picture below. He said this while gazing the star-filled sky on the terrace in the middle of the vineyard with his family. As I mentioned earlier, traveling to a winery in Bourgogne is like filming a wine documentary. You meet the producers you saw on the wine labels in person, and have a chance to learn the way they handle grapes and their philosophy of life. There are numerous wineries lining the stretch of road and thick wine lists are found in small cafeterias as well as fine restaurants. You can find as many wine shops there as convenience stores in Korea, and encounter wine bars that are run by famous producers such as Roch. Therefore, it's no exaggeration to say that while you stay in Bourgogne, wines always accompany you wherever you go.
Even the host of the lodge I had booked through airbnb was part of a wine family and the house had a French version of the "Drops of God," a famous comic book, about wine along with an 'aroma tasting kit' that sommeliers used to appreciate wine aromas. All the people I met at a wine shop or in the market were somehow related to wineries, like working in vineyards or having a friend and family-run wineries. Luckily, I was even invited to Jean-Luc's and could spend a meaningful time there drinking unlabeled wines he had made in the terrace surrounded by vineyards, and even experiencing a side of French family life.
★ Place to stay
- Airbnb stay in the Beaune region, Bourgogne : https://www.airbnb.co.kr/rooms/12329491
★ Place to stay
- Airbnb stay in the Beaune region, Bourgogne : https://www.airbnb.co.kr/rooms/12329491
The most memorable moments during the tour to wineries were definitely when 'meeting the passionate wine producers' who had dedicated their lives to perfecting a well-made wine. It was this personable experience that stays in the memory more than sampling any of the expensive wines or having an overnight stay in a magnificent chateau. Learning the history and origin of what you like is more meaningful than simply enjoying it. It would not be just the case of winery. If you are dreaming a trip but hesistate because you are afraid of difficulties and complexity, I would urge you to go for it during this summer vacation. Thank you for reading!
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