While there are two towns listed here they are immediately opposite each other across the Rhone and are also called the Twin Cities. They are independant though and apparently quite competative. We opted for a slightly different walking tour today rather than the usual town tour. It was a hike up through the the vinyards on each side of the valley. It was listed as being for fit walkers only and we were a bit uncertain at first but having listened to the preview of it we decided we could manage it. We were fine and were glad we decided to tackle it.
We walked through the very pretty town square of Tain stopping for a brief explanation of their Roman history of which they retain the Bull's Alter. This was a vessel for capturing blood from a slaughtered beast which was drunk as it flowed over the lip to take the stength of the bull. See photo. Other items were whisked off to other museums.
From there we climbed up through the vineyards which was a steep walk up a winding narrow unpaved road. Half way we stopped for an explanation of the type of vines, soil type, fertilisation and the rules controlling the earning of the Appelation Controle label. This is the standard which is applied to the grower in order for them to be able to use a particular brand for their wine. The red graped grown here are Shiraz but there are two standards of wine on this hillside. The upper level is Hermitage and there are only a few wineries which are entitled to use this name. The quality of the wine is determined by the altitude, the granitic soil, the aspect of the hillside and the rules for growing. The land is so limited it sells for millions of Euros per hectare and now very rarely changes hands. The wine sells for hundreds of Euros per bottle, mostly in the USA. The growers can only fertilise with goat manure, limit prduction to 6 bunches per vine, use no water other than from the sky, use no pesticides and hand pick . The vineyard is so steep that the grapes are carried down the hill in 60 kg baskets by strong young men called carriers who work with the pickers.
Below this area is a lesser quality of wine which is entitled to a qualified Hermitage label. We could not see any difference on the wine label when we saw one so it must just go on the buyers knowledge of the particular vineyards. This qualification of the standard is because these vines are grown closer to the river where frost is a risk and the soil type is less granitic and more river pebble residue. This area is bigger, extending along the river valley. The growers here also light kerosine fires in buckets throughout the vineyard when it is high risk nights for frost. This is not allowed in the Hermitage vineyards although the incidence of frost is less higher up the slope. This wine sells at 30E per bottle upwards and they have not yet released the 2015 vintage as it is too young. It was a very interesting walk and not over at this stage. We then walked across the bridge to Turnon and met the reprsentative of a large wine cooperative. She walked us up their hillside though not a high. Here we sipped examples of their wine and heard about the co-op and their wine. It was a thoroughly enjoyable morning. This was topped off by a visit to the local renoun chocolate factory. The afternoon was relaxation time as we sailed up river to Lyon. We had dinner with and Aussie couple from Melbourne.
No comments:
Post a Comment