From the category archives:

Faugères

The Château des Estanilles: under new direction

October 28, 2009

I wrote about the Château des Estanilles back in May of this year. It was just my second Vine Route article, and I was pleased to meet Michel Louison and to hear about his exploits with the Faugères schist—particularly his high-density plantation of Syrah on an impossibly steep hillside, the highest spot overlooking the village [...]

Read the full article →

The Château de la Liquière: Taking Faugères forward

September 24, 2009

The Château de la Liquière mirrors, in many ways, the Faugères appellation. The Vidal family has been making wine here since the 1700s. Jean Vidal, the father of the present owner, Bernard Vidal, helped to create in the early 1950s, along with his brother Lucien and a third winemaker, the VDQS (Vin Délimité de Qualité [...]

Read the full article →

Harvesting French grapes and a lifetime of memories

September 9, 2009

Father-son outings are always special. So I was pleased with the enthusiasm my 12-year-old son displayed when I asked if he’d like to accompany me to pick grapes on the first Saturday in September. He had wanted to accompany me last year when I helped Pierre, a family friend, harvest his grapes in the tiny [...]

Read the full article →

The inspired Michel Louison of Château des Estanilles

May 16, 2009

The first thing you notice about the Château des Estanilles is that it’s closer to a Roman villa than a chateau. I’m an American whose primary method of selecting a French wine in the Pennsylvania State Liquor Stores where I shopped for wine before coming to France was the “Château de something-or-other” on the label. [...]

Read the full article →

Didier Barral: Rebel with a cause

April 10, 2009

The only result from six calls to try and arrange a meeting with Languedoc wine maker Didier Barral was his mother, who was the only one who ever seemed to answer the number that I had been given to contact him, was now able to recognize immediately my American-accented French. I decided to take a [...]

Read the full article →

Next Entries →

�� �