Great wine need not be expensive and great wine need not be big and rich. These are the precepts of most experienced wine lovers. Unfortunately, finding such wines, particularly from regions with already strong reputations or that produce vast quantities of wine, can be a significant challenge.

In North America Alsace tends to be known either for cheap uninspired quaffing wine or expensive, rich and intense wines with considerable alcohol.

In Alsace, the majority of wine is made on the valley floor by co-ops and most is sold and poured with little respect for the condition of what is in the bottle. Most Alsatians and tourists seem to simply drink whatever the local co-op or small family producer has available at the moment. Most of these wines are terrible, as can be experienced in many of the region’s tasting Caveaus.

Above the co-ops and tiny family producers are the grand wines of Alsace: Trimbach, Schoffit, Deiss, Zind-Humbrecht, Weinbach. These are impressive wines with considerable pedigree and which sell for commensurate prices.

Hidden in between these layers of flab and cream are the true gems of Alsace – those wineries which are making aromatic, balanced, food focused, and terroir driven wines for reasonable prices. Domaine Ernest Burn exemplifies this part of Alsace and was one of the most down to earth wine experiences I had on my trip.

Revitalizing History

The Burns are one of France’s true wine making families, with roots in the industry for almost 400 years. Ernest Burn was one of the pioneers of post-World War I Alsace and began his winery by re-purposing historic vineyards that had either fallen into disuse or had been reduced to making jug wine. Parcel by parcel, Ernest replanted all the vines and rebuilt the original walls that surrounded the various plots, creating what is now known as the Goldert vineyard, which is now a Grand Cru from which a few wineries make wine. The crown jewel in the Goldert vineyard is the iconic Clos St. Imer.

The Clos

Domaine Burn’s top wines are made with fruit grown in the unique Clos St. Imer vineyard near Gueberschwihr (St. Imer is the town’s patron saint). The soils here are calcareous sandstone and clayey soil. This vineyard is unique in Alsace in that the grapes ripen more slowly and evenly, making harvest fully 1 month later than almost everywhere else in the region. When I was visiting, while every other domaine was busy with the early September harvest, Burn was sitting tightly waiting for perfect ripeness in October.

Amazingly, despite the lateness of harvest these wines retain a freshness that is uncommon in Alsace even as they also exude power and elegance.

The Wines

I met and tasted through the wines with Francis Burn’s 20-something year old son, who was both modest but also clearly very involved in the winemaking. We both struggled through our modest French and English and managed to have quite an interesting tasting.

All of the wines had a freshness and clarity that can be missed in many more expensive Alsatian bottles. These are also impressively aromatic, contain tremendous length and ageability, and generally sit between 13-14% ABV. And they sell for ½ the price of the famous Domaines, even as most of the wines are better (if imported, these wines would likely sell for about $40 CDN in BC). The specialty at this domaine is Muscat, and these wines were truly exceptional, but I was impressed across the spectrum and would have bought several cases if my luggage limits allowed it.

Riesling Goldert Clos St. Imer 2005: Expressive, good body and nice minerality. Very Good+ 17 Euro.

Muscat Goldert Clos St. Imer 2006: Classic aromas of peach, flowers and honey. There is also great minerality on the palate that buoys the richness. Excellent. 17 Euro.

Muscat Goldert Clos St. Imer 2007: Spicy with botrytis character coming through. However, the palate remains refreshing with clarity. Long and balanced. 13% ABV – yep, that’s uncommon. Very Good+. 17 Euro.

Le Dauphin Muscat Clos St. Imer 2005: Peachy goodness and very impressive. This is more austere Muscat and pretty much everyone would be shocked at the depth and complexity the Burns achieve with this much maligned grape. A geeky wine. Excellent.

Pinot Gris Goldert Clos St. Imer 2004: Pear and spice, bringing the grape into its stronger spice-loving territory. Perfect balance and much more restraint than is common with this grape in Alsace. Very Good+.

Pinot Gris Goldert Clos St. Imer 2007: Incredible spice on the nose, but this is more opulent and less expressive than some. Nonetheless, the flavour and power are killer. 14.5% ABV. Excellent.

Gewurztraminer Goldert Clos St. Imer 2007: This has beautiful typicity and is very well made but does not quite hold the interest as much as the Muscats. Very Good+. 17 Euro.

Riesling Vendanges Tardives Clos St. Imer 1997: Exciting wine and showing the profound ageability of these wines. There is no lack of freshness and this would astound most if tasted blind: it is far more youthful than its age. Grapefruit and citrus on the nose, but amazing petrol and mineral secondary flavours on the palate. 13% ABV. Excellent. 25 Euros (that’s about $35 for a 14 year old wine).

Muscat Goldert Vendanges Tardives Clos St. Imer 2005: Grapey, fresh and clean. This wine has an absolutely stunning flavour of intense jasmine flowers. Excellent.

Pinot Gris Goldert Vendanges Tardives Clos St. Imer 2002: This could still evolve for 5 more years, but right now it is rich, spicy and with a clean long finish. Wonderful. Very Good+ to Excellent.

Gewurztraminer Goldert Vendanges Tardives Clos St. Imer 2006: Heavily Botrytized: raisin, honey, spice – very similar to the amazing Alsatian gingerbread found throughout the region. Excellent. 50 Euros.

Domaine Burn makes the kind of wines that I wish we saw more of in North America. Minerally, clean, lower alcohols but still expressive and intense. These yet go amazingly with food and have the drinkability to be house whites. It is rare to encounter such fundamentally impressive wines at such reasonable prices and in some ways this may have been the best winery I visited in France.

The epiphany is one of the great moments of human existence. These are the moments that awaken self-discovery and broaden our minds to the world. Any wine geek will have several of these moments as part of their personal history in wine. They are by no means uniform, and I feel as though the occasion of epiphany shapes future preferences and biases.

For me, my first sips of Domaine Weinbach several years ago was an epiphany that reformed my perspective on Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and Muscat. Now I feel my love of Alsace likely stems from that moment I first opened a Weinbach Pinot Gris and realized that Pinot Gris does not have to suck.

Weinbach, which has surely created similar moments for others, was the basis for my image of Alsace: powerful, hugely expressive and highly concentrated wines. In many ways this is the current perception of Alsace in North America, and it was certainly the style I expected while visiting the region.

Strangely, Weinbach, which was the first winery I visited on my trip, was also the only winery that fit this archetype of the powerful Alsatian white. And, after my visits at Domaine Deiss and Domaine Burn, along with the many other wines I drank, I realized that this old epiphany had run its course. It was time to turn my mind to the other side of Alsace.

Perhaps it was for this reason that my visit was not quite what I expected it to be.

The Personality of Weinbach

Domaine Weinbach is owned by the Faller family, but was originally the purview of the Capocin monks. As such, the Domaine is situated within the walled Clos de Capocin vineyard, which was the original site of the monk’s labour. Unlike most of the best sites in Alsace, this vineyard is on flat land rather than the foothills of the Vosges. Driving up to the Domain is a quick turn off the main road with the walled clos hugging closely to the road until you turn into the Domaine itself.

At the door we were greated by Catherine Faller, the public face of the Domaine (you will find her photo all over the internet). Catherine is an excitable woman who is certainly passionate about her wines, her family and the winery, but who also exudes a form of hyperactivity that I can’t say I have encountered before in the wine world.

Our visit was punctuated by Ms. Faller jumping up suddenly and running to another room of tasters slamming the door behind her. Just as we settled into the flight, out burst Catherine, without warning, from the door on the other side of the room.

It made me wonder: are these frenetic wines? In some ways the fruit is so powerful that it loses elegance and finesse. On the other hand, its presence is immediately noticeable and holds an explosive energy that is rare in white wine. As such, these are great wines, even if they may not be in a style one would appreciate on a regular basis.

Concentration Made Vinous

The Domaine sits just outside the artisan focused town of Keysersberg, which was one of my personal favourites in Alsace with its hand made glass and pottery – not to mention an exceptional farmer’s market. But, outside the clos, its holdings are quite varied, ranging from the granite soils of the Furstentum and Schlossberg vineyards on the hills outside of Keysersberg to the marl and limestone of the Altenbourg vineyard just next to Furstentum (different from the Bergheim Grand Cru), which produces some of Alsace’s greatest Gewurztraminer.

Weinbach’s wines are all consistently good quality, though it is clear that certain sites stand out for particular varieties. These are all heady, intense, concentrated wines that yet retain food pairing potential given their good acidities. The range of wines can be dizzying and hold a silly nomenclature that should be refined, but you can read about that elsewhere. The wines are brilliant, but you have to know what you are getting into. If you can’t handle serious concentration, look elsewhere. Most of the wines range from 30-40 euros.

Riesling Schlossberg 2009: Planted in 1975 on granite soils. This is still tight right now, but it is classic Alsatian Riesling. Dry, clean, bright and expressive with excellent concentration. Very juicy and floral. Excellent.

Cuvee St. Catherine Riesling 2009: 2009 is a very high quality but warmish vintage. This is planted mid-slope (Schlossbourg I believe) and with vines 40-60 years old. Again, ripe orchard fruits. A rich wine but with balance. Excellent.

Pinot Gris Reserve Particulere 2009: Clean, rich, concentrated and balanced. Basically this is the hallmark of all of Weinbach’s 2009 wines. Very Good+.

Pinot Gris Altenbourg 2008: I love the 2008 vintage in Alsace. These are wines with higher acidity than normal and with great finesse. Anyone looking for brighter, more acid structure based wines from Alsace needs to pick up the 2008 vintage. Layered richness of grapefruit and honey on this wine but with great acid. Love it. Excellent.

Cuvee Laurence Gewurztraminer 2009: From the lower part of the Altenbourg Lieu Dit, this is amazingly floral, with honey and a nice balance despite the low acids. Excellent.

Gewurztraminer Altenbourg 2008: This is incredible Gewurztraminer. In fact, it is shocking that Goo can taste like this. It may be the best I’ve ever had. Excellent to Excellent+

Gewurztraminer Vendanges Tardives Furstentum 2006: Late harvest, equivalent to German Spatlese. Expressive nose, good depth, profoundly delicious. Excellent.

Riesling Schlossberg Selection de Grains Nobles 2007: Now we’re in Berenauslese territory. Citrus, particularly grapefruit, and thick rich dense nearly perfect dessert wine. Excellent+, but very expensive.

Gewurztraminer Furstentum Selection de Grain Nobles 2006: Good, but less exciting than the previous two ‘sweet’ wines. Excellent.

In the end I left Weinbach without a new epiphany. Although all the wines are fantastic, I am not sure they represent Alsace as it truly is. They are, really, all about Weinbach and its unique terroirs. They are certainly wines worth drinking and are exceptional in themselves, but, particularly given their prices, they may not be for everyone.

Mention Alsace to a retailer and you are just as likely to receive a look of consternation as you are one of excitement. Thorny Alsace may be one of the hardest categories of wine to sell consumers. The common complaint is the difficulty determining both style and sweetness merely by looking at the label. Even particular producers make both dry and sweet wines and do not label them as such. Consumers, it is said, simply do not understand what they are getting and balk at the price of entry for something both confusing and without obvious pedigree.

Pedigree, of course, is a relative statement in the wine world where marketing matters more than actual knowledge. It is a shame that Alsatian wines are both not being picked up by consumers in North America very often and, to be frank, are not being sold properly by the front line retail employee.

The conundrum of sweetness confounds and divides the wine growers in Alsace themselves. As any business owner would be, many growers are aware of the difficulty that their importers profess consumers encounter not knowing ‘sweetness’. Some even make scales of sweetness on their wines to combat the issue. A small number, however, reject this solution as overly simple. My host at Deiss explained that the Domaine’s philosophy has always been one of complexification rather than simplification. Terroir is a difficult concept and does not fall easily into simple categorization.

This made me wonder. Why is it that we consumers (and even many in the industry) are so ready to accept the vast differences in style, tannin, flavour, approachability and food pairing potential of Burgundy, but, in a region with the second most complex soil makeup in all of France we shun the ‘problem of sweetness’ as an oversight or mistake – a misdirection. It is, I learned on my trip, in fact the exact opposite of misdirection. “Sweetness” is relative in Alsace because the terroir is so complex. What may be a perfectly reasonable scale of sweetness for the wines of Gassman (up in the hills around Bergheim) would be completely inappropriate for the wines of Domaine Burn (whose unique Clos St. Imer vineyard ripens 1 month later than everywhere else and produces stunningly aromatic Muscat).

The “sweetness problem” of Alsace is, rather, the problem of North American Consumers who have been taught to expect dryness in their wines as a matter of course and to treat residual sugar as dessert. Of course, as anyone who has paired sweet wine with savory food knows, such consumers are missing out on some of the greatest food pairings available. And even disregarding food, part of the beauty of wine is its differentiation and ability to constantly surprise. That sweetness is difficult to discern in Alsace? That is just a matter of its terroir, and the uniqueness of the wines. To truly understand them, just as in Burgundy, you have to learn a lot about the vineyards, the climate, the soils, the siting and the producer. Alsace is confounding because it is complex.

The Prescient Pariah

There are perhaps no more complex wines in Alsace than those of Marcel Deiss. Jean-Michel Deiss is both a pariah and a visionary in Alsace. Deiss turned his grandfather’s domaine from a producer of bulk wines into one of super-premium terroir focused cuvees not simply by reducing yields and reforming wine making, but more importantly, by challenging the very AOC laws that allowed Alsace to reemerge from the unknown.

When the Grand Cru system was set up in Alsace in 1975, the regulator associated particular Grand Cru vineyards with particular grapes. You could only make a Grand Cru from Altenbourg de Bergheim, for example, with Riesling, Gewurztraminer or Pinot Gris, but not with Pinot Blanc or Muscat. Further, there was no option to blend the grapes. Deiss challenged this traditional take on terroir after having spent much time learning the history of coplanting in Alsace. Many of the Grand Crus were, in fact, traditionally planted with a wide variety of grapes side by side. To separate these grapes into separate wines, argued Deiss, was to eviscerate the terroir of the place.

Without detailing his struggle with the regulating body, it is important to note the outcome: Deiss succeeded in receiving a special dispensation for his portions of several Grand Cru vineyards that allows him to coplant and blend many grapes into a single Grand Cru wine. Thus are Deiss’ wines labelled by vineyard rather than grape, challenging the traditional labelling practices in Alsace.

A man of drive and passion, Deiss, of course, is not satisfied with his current achievements and is currently printing “1er cru” on all of his wines made from special vineyards sitting on the slopes of the Vosges mountains but that are not Grand Cru vineyards. Currently there is no AOC system to distinguish these vineyards from the high yielding and uninteresting ones on the plains, and Deiss has decided after many attempts to discuss the issue with the regulator, to simply start printing “1er cru” on his label and wait for the legal challenge. Such is Deiss.

Of Vineyards and Coplantation

This same panache translates into the wines themselves, of which there are many. Each wine has a particularly unique sense of place and is considerably different from anything else being made in Alsace.

Deiss owns 27 hectares spread over 200+ parcels, which essentially means there are a lot of small pieces of land. Many of these pieces have their own unique terroir, and Deiss is only beginning to get at the depth and complexity of what he has discovered with his coplantation method.

The coplanting method is extremely complex to master, however, as the grapes do not all mature at the same rate. Pinot Gris ripens before Gewurztraminer, for example. This creates unique challenges in vineyard management, sometimes requiring greater density of planting and intensity canopy management. Often the grapes must be left to hang for a considerable time (particularly considering Alsace’s marginal climate). Under these methods, it takes 5-7 years before a vineyard is ready to produce wine and Deiss refuses to ever do a green harvest, calling it the perfect example of what you should not do.

Wine: The Idiosyncrasies of Place

The wines show astral complexity, and a mystery uncommon not only in Alsace, but throughout the wine world. The vineyard designated wines are exceptionally special wines that demonstrate Alsace’s immensity of differentiation and also how much more there is to reveal in this beautiful lush land dotted with half-timbered villages. I note that Deiss’ range of varietally labeled wines are produced for export and do not represent what he is all about. All of the wines are exceptionally balanced, poised and expressive, so I won’t repeat that for each tasting note.

Langenberg 2008: The vineyard is planted with Pinot Noir. As all pinots are genetically the same, Deiss argued that the Pinot Noir was as logically part of this wine as Pinot Gris. The regulator eventually bought his story and made a special derogation to include Pinot Noir in this vineyard blend. A hugely expressive nose that is honeyed and even slightly oxidative. Aged in larger oak barrels and utterly unique. 30g/l of residual sugar. Very Good+ to Excellent. 23 Euros.

Engelgarten 2008: labelled 1er cru as a vineyard situated on the slope. It’s hard to describe “terroir” in words. So let’s just say Very Good+ to Excellent. 20g/l of residual sugar. 24 Euros.

Schoffweg 2007: Grown on white limestone found in northern Bergheim, this wine also sees barrique aging as opposed to the traditional foudres. As with all of these wines, the aromatics are knock out expressive. This wine is more savory and mineral driven than the previous two, though, and has greater density and power. 11g/l of residual sugar. Excellent. 32 Euros.

Rotenberg 2007: A lusher juicy wine that is more fruit driven than mineral intensive, though that element is here. 30g/l of residual sugar. Very Good+ 29 Euros.

Gwenspiel 2004: This vineyard is unique insofar as the blend sees far more Gewurztraminer than the others – traditionally comprising 33% of the blend. Floral but also mossy and smelling of some subterranean society. Wicked wine and you’d never guess Gewurztraminer – a testament to coplanting. 20g/l of residual sugar. Very Good+. 26 Euros.

Gwenspiel 2005: In 2005 the weather was such that the vineyard saw much more rot. Because Gewurztraminer has a greater tendency than other grapes to get noble rot as opposed to grey rot, this year’s blend saw 50% Gewurztraminer since so much of the other grapes had to be discarded. The Goo character thus comes out much greater here, though I’d still call it delicious. 35g/l of residual sugar. 30 euros. Very Good+

Burg 2007: At this point I was already amazed at how many different vineyard bottlings Deiss made and how good each was and how different from the others. Onto the Burg, a vineyard lying on limestone and marl. The limestone here is a unique type of quartz and it makes the soils tougher to penetrate. This makes the wine richer, more tannic and a bit closed in its youth. I was informed that the wine becomes far more interesting after 10 years in the bottle. Excellent.

Huebuhl 2007: A spicy nose suggesting late harvest, which this is. Regulations don’t allow the wine to be sold as such, however, so consumers will simply have to be in the know. Quite astonishingly delicious in its flowers and honey. A stand up and notice wine. Excellent. 29 Euros.

Alternberg de Bergheim 2007 Grand Cru: The big boys. We are talking another level here – the difference between village level Burgundy and a top Grand Cru in Vosne. Ratchet up the aromatic expressivity and complexity, add quince, nuts, incredible, almost shocking length, and a striking minerality, and you realize words are useless. On limestone and marl. Excellent+ (and one of the greatest white wines I’ve had). 56 Euros.

Schoenenbourg 2007 Grand Cru: Make that another of the greatest white wines I’ve had. This is actually entirely Riesling. Who cares what it tastes like – it’s amazing! And this baby can age 15-20 years easily. Excellent++. 58 Euros.

Vendanges Tardives Gewurztraminer 2004: Thank god I was spitting. This and the remaining two wines are all good, but are not the raison d’etre of Deiss. So I’ll mostly just give ratings. Excellent.

Selection de Grains Nobile Gewurztraminer 2003: Excellent.

Quintessence Gewurztraminer 2005: It is useful to explain the meaning of “Quintessence”. Whereas Vendanges Tardives are late harvest wines made using the whole cluster of grapes and Selection wines are made only with the grapes affected by noble rot, Quintessence wines are a whole new level of crazyness. The grapes for this wine are individually hand picked off of the vine. Pickers look for perfection. The quality of fruit is so pure it’s almost painful. The wine is also incredibly rich, along the lines of Sauternes. Deiss sells this at cost (most everyone else charges double). Excellent+. 75 Euros.

Out of all the wines I tasted in France, I have no issue calling Deiss not only the greatest Domain in Alsace, but one of the best in France. That is all.

In the past two weeks I successfully grew my belly with the fruits of French terroir, tasting the wines and foods of Alsace, Lyon, the Rhone, and Provence. That so much variety came from such a tiny corner of Europe resonates far more with personal experience as compared to pouring over the Oxford Wine Atlas. As with most of my experiences on my trip, the visceral and immediate reshaped my book knowledge fundamentally and helped ground my opinions of French wine and food. Over the next several weeks I will write a series of feature articles on each of the producers I visited.

Both the quality and diversity of wine and food was astounding, but the most important insights came from spending time in some of the most storied vineyards and regions in the world and getting a sense of them as a place, without the romance and passion of imagination. The down to earth moments I spent walking through the vineyards and towns, dining at restaurants and talking to producers revealed the most about France when they were not what I expected and when they did not match up with my image of the place. But these insights will await future posts. For now I will present breadth and juxtaposition over depth – a comparison which serves as an excellent primer for the more in depth experiences to follow.

Three Star Dining at Auberge de L’Ill

Ok, so my France experience didn’t begin humbly. The first evening I drove into Alsace, I quickly dropped off my luggage and headed over to Illhaeusern to dine at France’s second oldest three star Michelin restaurant: Auberge de L’Ill (which had held three stars since 1967, a year after France’s longest running three star chef – Paul Bocuse).

Auberge de L’Ill offers classic French dining at its absolute apex. But the apex comes here with subtlety rather than bravado, wow moments or auteur like inspiration. Rather, Auberge is a complete experience. Atmosphere, lighting, service, execution, presentation, wine, timing – each element of the dining experience fit seamlessly into the other and made the three hour experience as close to the most perfect restaurant experience I’ve had. That all of this came without a ‘wow’ moment or one single killer dish made me realize how lacking the other (non-food) elements of the dining experience are in Vancouver.

The 1997 Leon Beyer Les Ecaillers (a Grand Cru, though not labeled as such) served as a perfect introduction to Alsace. Both a nervy dry wine and a stunning example of how well the best Rieslings of Alsace can Age, the Beyer was an exceptional wine: a honeyed waxy and densely mineral thing of beauty. As for the food, here are some of the courses:

At another dinner later in Alsace, enjoyed at Wistub du Sommelier in Bergheim, I also tasted this 1999 Hengst “Samain” Riesling from Josmeyer (their top wine from the Grand Cru Hengst – multiple tries, hand picked and whole bunch pressed) – also an exceptional wine but lacking the same level of finesse as the Beyer. Still, it is clear that the best Rieslings from Alsace age beautifully:

Lyon

After Alsace, I journeyed 3 hours by car to Lyon, the gustatory capital of France. The majority of the meals I had here were outstanding, though classically French insofar as they relied more on dairy fat and heavier cuts of meat for flavour. At Chez Lea I had the world’s best Vinnegar Chicken and Lyonnaise Salade (basically Caesar on steroids), and later at the Michelin starred L’Alexandrin I gorged on a spice focused menu with decidedly experimental touches and a stunning 1998 Volnay (the top vineyards of which I have to mention are sorely underrated).

The consistent theme in Lyon was gargantuan portions. Such portions demanded the considerable digestif qualities of good wine, which I found adequately supplied by Antic Wines in old Lyon. This is one hell of a wine store, with a moldy downstairs cellar complete with a “magnum room” consisting of 20+ year old wines from all across France. Antic supplied me with the following three outstanding wines:

Des Tours is owned by Chateau Rayas, who makes the most renowned Chateauneuf du Pape around. The wine, 10 years old, was still youthful but avoided the over heavyness of the majority of Southern Rhone wines, instead supplying a healthy portion of pretty flowers, light berry fruit and earth.

Described to me as “Selosse but more consistent”, the Brochet Champagne was actually of a very similar level of quality to the storied wines of Selosse (and only 35 Euros). A dense vinous wine it yet had stark minerality and precision to balance out its sumptuous fruit. Someone needs to import this now.

Perhaps the crown jewel of my Antic wine purchases was the top Cornas (old vines) from Mattieu Barret, a self-professed ‘natural wine’ maker. Barret uses no sulpher in his wines sold in France (though adds some for export) and this was a perfectly stored example. I have never had Syrah that tastes like this – exhuberant, pretty, floral, but also deeply animalistic and intensely and obviously Syrah. This wine proved to me that natural wines can in fact be terroir focused and true to their varieties. It is also clear that such wines should be shipped both with a minimal level of sulpher and proper refrigerated conditions.

Provence

Heading down to Provence proved a perfect antidote to the gargantuan portions and rich butter focused cuisine of Alsace and Lyon. Light, Mediterranean dishes focused on the freshness of ingredients, the lightness of vegetables and olive oil rather than butter – Provencal food is more similar to that of Spain than what many associate with traditional French food. Unfortunately, the Southern Rhone has, for the most part, given up on making wines with finesse and balance and instead seeks the easy to achieve fruit and alcohol that certain American critics seem to adore. It became even more clear to me after eating the food in the Southern Rhone and Provence that these wines are not naturally paired with the cuisine and have been distorted. A shame. That said, there are still a few true to life wines here, including this sumptuous but well balanced white:

And this fascinating 1989 Chateauneuf from a producer I’ve never heard of:

Even if not all of the wines were great, the scenery made up for it:

Tain L’Hermitage

After Provence, I headed back up to Hermitage. My wine experience here was amazing, and the producers I visited will be the subject of future articles. However, I feel compelled to report on the superb wine experience offered by Tain’s Le Mangevins restaurant. Food here is simple, well prepared fresh cuisine that is purposefully designed to take a back seat to the brilliant wine list, a page of which you can view here:

I drank two amazing wines at this restaurant. The first, a stunning example of both white Hermitage and the much maligned 2008 vintage, Paul and Vincent Jaboulet’s 2008 Ermitage Blanc was dense minerally and incredibly complex. This is a new venture of the famous Jaboulet family and is clearly already starting to outpace the much more famous Negocient (now owned by an international conglomerate).

I also drank Bernard Faurie’s 2007 Hermitage Rouge, a profound wine, aged in old oak and extremely traditional. This was a restrained hermitage, filled with violets, earth, blackberry and plum, it is a perfect example of what Hermitage is all about but it is not the sort of Syrah that many now associate with the place (a byproduct of the over jammed up wines of Chapoutier and Delas – much loved by Parker et al). I’d rather not say more simply because this wine is already so rare that it is already hard enough for the believers to get this stuff.

The Rest

A quick stop in Lyon as I returned to Germany in preparation for my flight back to Vancouver led to a quick stop at Bernachon, the master of Chocolate:

In Germany I stayed for one day in Bacharach to check out the castles and prettiness. What I found is that the MittelRhine is actually producing some serious wines, including this Grand Cru beauty from Toni Jost:

Oh, and the slate vineyards are as perlious and mind-numbingly steep as they say:

So France, a complex country of many voices. The cuisine and wine are outstanding, but there is a clear sense here of a conflict between tradition and forward thinking, sometimes with the new exciting challenges coming out of certain market failures brought about by too much adherence to tradition. That said, it is, of course, the tradition that has made France so marketable. I think this is a conflicted country, and one which harbours a considerable array of approaches to wine and food that, while they are both regional and the source for so much international inspiration, are also clearly increasingly inspired by reactions from the United States and elsewhere and are begining to develop a fairly strong sense of irony and self-criticism. To me, it was more the conflict between the stark traditionalists and those with a more developed sense of self-awareness that defined my experience than any sort of utopic traditionalism. In this manner, France is clearly on the cusp of something entirely different from what it has been, even as it rediscovers the greatness of its terroirs. In the next several articles, I will take a look at the varied producers that I visited and the conflicts and insights they provided.