A trip through the provinces of France is a true treat for wine connoisseurs. Here are two excellent suggestions for meandering through some pretty vineyards and gathering inspiration and some bottles for your collection.
Burgundy
The Burgundy region in south eastern France is inland and famous for the remarkable castles and churches, plus the natural beauty of the mountains, mirror lakes and vast wild countryside. The Loire Valley is famous worldwide for its spectacular French wine and picturesque vineyards.
Burgundy wine is possibly the most famous, but there are many other sublime varieties from the region such as Chablis, Côteaux de l’Auxerrois, Côte-de-Nuits, Côte-de-Beaune, Hautes-Côtes, Côtes Chalonnaise et Mâconnais, and, of course, Pouilly-sur-Loire.
Wine lovers will know these types of wines as they are well stocked in UK supermarkets. This is the right place for serious wine collectors and those who love to lose themselves in quiet, wild, untouched places will relish visiting Burgundy.
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a very relaxed and tolerant place – ruled by the English for a time in history – and there remains a certain English flair to the region. Visitors to Bordeaux raise their glasses many times here as the area is renowned for its wines, which are considered amongst the best in the world.
The area produces the most wine of any place in the world, with 800 million bottles sold from the region annually. Check out the coveted ‘holy grail’ of wine tours here such at Château Haut Brion, Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Latour, Château Margaux and more.
Tours can be organised through many operators, although the Château Latour visits are only open to serious collectors and wine professionals. Alternatively, instead of going along with a tour group, individuals can take a daily wine tour.
Come and see these magical regions in southern France, which is a gorgeous area where wine-tasting memories are waiting to be made.
Guest Post by Jane Shelley
Jessica Festa is the editor of the travel sites Jessie on a Journey (http://jessieonajourney.com) and Epicure & Culture (http://epicureandculture.com). Along with blogging at We Blog The World, her byline has appeared in publications like Huffington Post, Gadling, Fodor’s, Travel + Escape, Matador, Viator, The Culture-Ist and many others. After getting her BA/MA in Communication from the State University of New York at Albany, she realized she wasn’t really to stop backpacking and made travel her full time job. Some of her most memorable experiences include studying abroad in Sydney, teaching English in Thailand, doing orphanage work in Ghana, hiking her way through South America and traveling solo through Europe. She has a passion for backpacking, adventure, hiking, wine and getting off the beaten path.
