Lyon, Beaujolais and Burgandy

Lyon is a big modern city located on the confluence of the Rhône, which goes from Switzerland to the Mediterranean, and the Saône, goes from Lyon towards Paris. They have taken the old port and cranes etc, out and replaced the area with some very modern buildings and malls. However it still has the narrow medieval type alley ways,

Lyon Alley

And of course the required Cathedral, in this case a Basilica erected in the 1870’s by a very rich individual for pilgrims. Now taken over by the church and city it is still a place for pilgrims as well as a big tourist draw.

Interior of the Basilica

Lyon is located at the southern bottom of the Beaujolais wine region, part of Burgundy, and this area is limited to two grape varieties, Gamay for reds and Chardonnay for whites. Although less prestigious than its northern Burgundy cousins it is still a large wine area. They produce around 100 million bottles a year of mostly red Beaujolais, but one area has been allowed to produce a white Beaujolais from the Chardonnay grape. The countryside is stunning with vast slopes of grapes, that are strictly controlled by the government and wine society. For instance you can have different varieties, but then you are not allowed to market as a Beaujolais wine. 

Wine Country

In some areas, you are not allowed to buy a vineyard unless you are a local, the price per hectare is controlled and the maximum size per vine yard is limited to around 15 hectares or 40 acres, so all the wineries here are family businesses. 

We tasted at a nice winery, on 10 hectares,  that has been in the family for 16 generations ran by a father and son. The father was very knowledgeable and informative and the wines were good. The road intersection we stopped at had three separate family owned wineries beside each other.

Tasting Room 

Then we went to the village of Oingt, pronounced One, which has not changed since it was established as a medieval village. It's quaint, cute and very old. Mostly populated now by weekend folks. 

On the streets of Oingt

Another tour out into the countryside, this time into the white Beaujolais area. Again a very limited area that is allowed to grow and market with Beaujolais. Although the wine may be marketed as only the wine makers name, when it has the Beaujolais name on the label you know what the variety is for both the reds and whites. 

More wine country

Again we had stunning vistas and acres and acres of farmland. In this area they are not allowed to irrigate, so the quantity of production is dependant on the amount of rainfall, dry summer less volume. This can also affect the taste of the wine as when limited to one variety and small acreage there is no opportunity to blend for consistency. The tasting room we went to is located in a medieval castle and has numerous rooms that portray the medieval living conditions, it also works as a B and B with five rooms for rent. Not being a big Chardonnay fan, I was more than impressed with the wines, although aged in oak barrels there was very little oak on the palate. 

On the drive back to meet the ship, which had relocated, we drove through a farm valley adjacent to the Saône river. Loreen and I were excited to see fields of cereal crops, cattle farms and equestrian centres. The people sitting around us must have wondered where we came from, when amongst 100s of acres of vineyards we were exclaiming to each other as we pointed Charolais and Limousine cattle and debated about the breeds we didn't recognise.

Charolais Cattle

On the way to Dijon to catch the train to Paris, we stopped in Beaune and visited a wine cellar, Caves Patriarche, situated in a large old building that used to a cloister or convent for nuns. It has around five miles of tunnels that wander around underground where they store thousands of bottles of wine. Beaune is in the center of the Burgundy wine region, and here they only do Chardonnay’s and Pinot Noirs. The cellar does not grow any grapes but buys from producers and bottles and markets. Burgundy Pinots, according to our sommelier, are supposedly the best in the world and the prices at this cellar varied from $25cdn to well over $100cdn. We tasted three Pinots and like the wines in Châteauneuf de Pape, I did not find any to my taste.

Tunnel of Aging Barrels

Maybe walked through an 1/8 of a mile of tunnels filled with unlabeled bottles

The bottles are filled and racked with a large index card on each rack that identifies the vintage and other pertinent information needed. When the wine is deemed to be ready to sold then the bottles are labeled.   

Tomorrow Paris.