I think when it comes to travel I’ve referred to a few cities on the planet as my favourite – New York, it’s hard to resist the concrete jungle and endless culinary possibilities. Paris, there’s a reason that the French say all roads lead to Paris. San Francisco, it’s hard to go wrong with proximity to Napa, and Sonoma as well as being the culinary epicentre of the West Coast. But, when I talk about Lyon I’m really serious.
My heart truly belongs to Lyon. This city is the culinary heart of France – it’s not as claustrophobic as Paris – and it’s a stone’s throw away from three of the greatest wine regions on the planet – Bourgogne, Beaujolais, and Cotes du Rhône. I was lucky enough to spend a day in each of these regions after spending a few days in Lyon.
I first headed south to visit Tain-L’Hermitage – my wife was working in a fine dining establishment when she introduced me to Valrhona chocolate. Valrhona is a portmanteau of Valley and Rhone – and it is the best chocolate I have ever tasted. Needless to say it was easy to choose this small French town as our first destination. In Tain-L’Hermitage you will find the city of chocolate (Cité du Chocolate Valrhona). The museum offers the history of Valrhona. My biggest take away from this place was how concepts of terroir translate from wine to other agricultural products. Valrhona has purchased the plantations where they get their cocoa so they can control the quality of the product from plant to finished chocolate. The entire portfolio of chocolate is outstanding – but I’m a fan of the high cocoa milk chocolate called Jivara.
Tain-L’Hermitage is at the heart of Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage, and Cornas. When I’m in France, I’m on the hunt for wines I can afford. So you will rarely find top producers profiled on this website. But that’s part of the fun of tasting through France. This most recent trip I was equipped with the “Guide Hachette des Vins” – I have had a few friends explain to me that this is the French bible when it comes to wine. So my search for value let me to Domaine des Remizieres. The Guide rated the 2016 Cuvée Christophe Crozes-Hermitage highly – and I was looking forward to tasting some Syrah. This winery is definitely worth visiting as they make both Syrah from Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage, and Saint Joseph. There is also white made from marsanne from Crozes-Hermitage, and Hermitage.
Here are some wines that were clear highlights from this visit.
2016 Saint Joseph – This is soft and juicy with blueberry, plum, cassis – there are nice spice notes and a hint of smoke. The tannin is very soft and integrated but this wine has the structure to age gracefully 3-4 years in a cellar.
2016 Crozes-Hermitage Cuvée Christophe – This was the wine that made me seek out this winery – and I was not disappointed. I purchased a bottle of this at the winery and enjoyed it while I was in France. There is a nice cocoa note on the nose and palate – lots of cassis and blackberry. There is nice concentration, and this will age with grace in a cellar for 5-6 years – but the tannin is already well integrated and this is drinking great right now.
2016 Hermitage Cuvée Emilie – I don’t think I’ll ever forget the moment I first tasted this wine. The concentration of flavours is just so – satisfying. Black currant, campfire smoke, licorice, blackberry, spice. This is a bottle that is ready to drink now – but the tannin is a lot bigger than the Saint Joseph and Crozes Hermitage – you could drink this now with a bit of decanting but I would hold this bottle for 3-5 year to drink it young – or up to 15 years.
2017 Hermitage (Blanc) Cuvée Emilie – This is a blend of 97% Marsanne and 3% Rousanne – This is very rich and elegant. This is a fantastically balanced wine that has a solid acid foundation to balance the round mouthfeel. This is complex with notes of spice working well with orchard fruit.
