The day following the Beaujolais fête, we were off to
Beaujolais itself for an AVF-sponsored ‘field trip’. [Once again, life here is tough. We like to think of ourselves as doing our
bit for Franco-American relations.] We
were very kindly offered a ride by a lovely French couple, Jean-Pierre and
Monique.
The weather started foggy, but that soon burned off to
reveal a lovely day with partial sun and puffy clouds over the vineyard-covered
hillsides. We drove to the village of Régnié,
which gives its name to one of the ten crus of Beaujolais. Situated on a hillside overlooking miles of
vineyards, it is famous for its 19th century church designed by the
architect Bossan, who also designed Fourvière basilica in Lyon. There are similarities between the buildings,
both of which are interesting, eclectic, but singularly lacking in grace. [Even the French are a bit ambivalent about
Fourvière, the locals referring to it as the ‘éléphant morte’, or ‘dead
elephant’, because with its four corner bell towers, it resembles an elephant’s
legs sticking into the air.]
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| St Jean L'Evangile at Régnié with some of the group |
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| Fourvière
basilica in Lyon |
We did a bit of sightseeing around the church and village,
then strolled a couple of blocks to the small winery of Thierry and Cécile
Robin, where Thierry was in the middle of fermentation, and pressing the
crushed grapes to extract the remaining liquid.
Thierry first talked about his operation in the fermenting area, which
opened onto the courtyard. We tasted the
partially fermented wine, known as ‘paradis’, while he explained the various
facets of his operation in a manner both passionate and informative.
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| Sign Pointing the Way |
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| Vine-Covered Slopes from the Winery |
We then adjourned to the barrel-vaulted cellar for more
discussion and tasting of some of his red Beaujolais wines. He makes two premier crus, Régnié and Moulin à
Vent, along with a chardonnay, a rosé and a pinot noir. We tasted both premier crus, including some
of different vintages. We found them to
be well-made, clean wines. M. Robin, as
are other young Beaujolais vignerons, is experimenting with some oak-aging of
his wines. We found this to add
considerable interest to what otherwise is a rather monochromatic wine. [Beaujolais red is made from the Gamay
grape. To be fair, tastings of unoaked
cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and pinot noir tend also to be rather
one-dimensional, without the layers of flavors and complexities we have come to
expect from these grapes. It will be
interesting to see how this experiment evolves.] Following the tastings and discussion, many
of us placed orders for wine – very inexpensive, without either the layers of
taxes as in the US, or the ridiculous prices of the much-hyped Bordeaux or
Bourgognes. Only 3.5 - 6 euros per bottle!! We have developed a small wine cellar here in Lyon,
in a locked portion of the basement of our apartment building, so we always
have a selection of wines available, and can take at least a limited advantage
of buying opportunities.
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| In the Cave Sampling Good French Wine |
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| Heading for Lunch at the Auberge - Restaurant |
Then we were back up the street to the little restaurant
where we had reservations, and a wonderful lunch of salmon in dill sauce, a
baked andouillette [a Lyonnais sausage] dish, or a nicely prepared bit of
beef. This was preceded by an aperitif
consisting of either a red or white wine with Kir, a currant liqueur made
famous by a legendary former Mayor of Dijon.
Accompanying this was a very nice broccoli dish, salad, plenty of bread,
and pasta. This all included plenty of
M. Robin’s Régnié to complement the meal.
We had pre-ordered our lunches, but one woman handled all the serving
and clearing for twenty people in another amazing display of French restaurant
efficiency.
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| Enjoying Ourselves at Lunch |
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| The Happy Group |
After cheese, dessert and coffee, we went back to the winery
to pick up and pay for our wines.
Interesting note here – Mme Robin who handled the payments with Carte
Bleu, had to position herself outside the cellar with the card reader, in line-of-sight
with a hilltop relay tower so the card reader could get a signal!
Then it was time to put our purchases in the car for the
drive back to Lyon.
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