My Trip Around The French Wine Regions...

Not the usual post you would expect to find on a legal blog, however, I wanted to share what I have been up to since finishing University amid a pandemic and having no job secured.

So, where do I begin...

Finishing University already feels like a lifetime ago but I do remember feeling very lost not having a job to walk straight in to. After spending a few weeks trolling the internet and having no success, my partner and I decided to try and figure out if we could tour around France, learning about wine (and of course tasting along the way). We purchased an incredibly old 4x4, packed our bags, booked a one-way ferry ticket and headed toward Dover. The prospect of sleeping in the back of our car for over a month seemed rather fun to begin with, however, I can confirm the novelty does soon wear off.

When we arrived in France, we began by heading towards the Champagne region, which I was beyond excited with considering my favourite drink is Champagne. There, I discovered my love for boutique Champagne houses, my number 1 being Michel Gonet, and found it all incredibly interesting understanding the amount of effort that goes into the Champagne process.

After spending 4/5 nights enjoying bubbles, we set off for Burgundy. Burgundy wine has never been my favourite, as I find the reds quite high in tannins, although I am sure the older bottles would suit me more. I did enjoy trying a range of Burgundy's, and adored a bottle of 2015 Santenay, in particular. The white options were rather heavy for my liking although I learnt to appreciate their complexity and found a few hidden gems. The beautiful tiny local villages are engrained in my memory and the iconic rolling hills of vineyard after vineyard.

Next, we ventured to the Rhone Valley. Unfortunately, this was cut incredibly short, after only one day, as we had an accident and smashed the back window of our car into smithereens. On our way to repair in Bergerac, we did stop by Chateauneuf-de-Pape to explore the village and of course, taste some red. I must say, the people were rather brash and not the most welcoming to us English, and the wine fell a little on the disappointing side too. Maybe that was due to the wine we tasted being too young, or maybe it just wasn't for me. I was a tad surprised by this, as I have been partial to a glass of Chateauneuf-de-Pape in the UK and never been as disappointed before. Leaving wasn't all that difficult due to the above, and we headed to Bergerac for our window replacement.

With a shiny new window in place, we took the opportunity to stop at some unplanned vineyards in Monbazillac. The traditional Monbazillac is a sweet white wine, usually had at the end of a meal. It was remarkably easy to drink and had a wonderful balance of sweet yet fresh and crisp still. Our favourite discovery from the whole France trip was Chateau Feely. A biodynamic vineyard, the wines were simply special and like nothing I have ever tasted before. It ignited an intrigue to learn more about biodynamic wines. As mentioned, these vineyards were not ever in the original route planned, yet I am beyond glad that we took the time to visit.

Next up was Bordeaux, both left and right bank. Left bank included Haut-Medoc, while the right held Saint-Emillion and other names that were familiar to me. I have to say, I much prefer Bordeaux wines to Burgundy, so I was in my element here. Much heavier, juicer and richer reds were on the menu. In Haut-Medoc, the Chateau's were big and bold and you could see them from a mile, whereas Saint-Emillion and much of the right bank had a pretty village vibe, with Chateau's much more discreetly placed. The stand out vineyard had to be Chateau Chatelet, a Grand Cru Classe producer. I will definitely be returning there in the future!

Finally, we travelled through the Loire Valley, on our return to Calais. Nothing astounded us here, with an exception of a private wine tasting with the Head Sommelier at La Cote Saint Jacques. It is worth noting that we missed half of the Loire due to poor map planning, so this region will definitely need to be further explored at a later date!

So there you have it - my six week travels around the French wine regions... I learnt a lot about wine and a lot about myself. It gave me time to really evaluate what I want from my life and it increased my knowledge and love for experimenting and tasting new wines. I recognise how ridiculously lucky we were to be able to travel during these times and make the absolute most of an awful situation.

In the future, I may well include some more wine reviews here on my blog and share deeper information from our trip and specific areas/vineyards that were memorable to me. But, for now, I hope you have enjoyed hearing about my antics across France and that you are inspired to try a wine you wouldn't usually, or just generally try something new in life.

Until next time...