When we stayed in Lyon for
year, 2010-2011, everything was fresh and new and sometimes a bit
daunting. We did not have an instinctive
feel for the geography and layout of the city and the surrounding
countryside. The prospect of driving on
French roads and highways was also intimidating as French drivers often
appeared reckless.
As time went by, we have
become familiar with our surroundings and much more comfortable with French
traffic. What initially appeared to be
reckless behavior had resolved itself primarily into a different way of
behavior that was generally consistent and predictable and therefor completely
manageable once we had learned what to expect.
Dominique and Roger, our landlords
at the time, often went to great pains to act as gracious hosts, driving us to
places and events in the surrounding countryside. In the early spring of 2011, it was decided
that we should go exploring in southern Bourgogne, in the area where the renowned
white wine Pouilly-Fuissé originates. See
the post of March 28, 2011 – when we first discovered the winery of Domaine
Thibert.
David has often thought we should re-visit the winery. We did not know where it was located in the
area as we had visited eight years ago and we had not made an effort to find
out. So our rediscovery was done by
chance when on our way out of Solutré-Pouilly after our post-Roche de Solutré
lunch we decided to leave the village via a different road. After a few minutes, we arrived at the
village of Fuissé and noted that the town square looked familiar.
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| Sign in the Town Square |
There was the ruined 12th century
church, now undergoing restoration, and down the road a bit was Domaine
Thibert!
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| Anna Looking at Restoration of 12th Century Church |
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| Sign Explaining Church Restoration and Conversion Project |
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| Sign Outside Domaine Thibert |
We immediately parked and began to explore. The old church building had been a boarded-up
wreck eight years ago. Now it was undergoing a major restoration and conversion
to a wine-making facility and tasting room.
We will certainly return to check on progress next year!
Down the street was the sign for Domaine Thibert. We walked in and looked around – nobody except some folks
in the adjacent office. One of the young
ladies quickly responded to our inquiry about tasting and purchasing of
wine. She turned out to be the daughter
of one of the members of the brother-sister team now managing the
facility. She spent a great deal of time
with us, describing the winery and its history and wines and then led us
through a very informative tasting of the various chardonnay-based wines from
the surrounding area vineyards. In fact
she recounted how local records show the family in the area in the 1600s.
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| Tasting Room at Domaine Thibert |
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| David and our Gracious Tasting Guide |
After our tasting session, our hostess posed for a photo and took our picture after assembling our bottles.
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| David and Anna Ready to Leave with our Wine |
With our purchases of several bottles for our cellar In
Lyon and a couple to take home, we headed back to Lyon.
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