Favourite vineyards - Rhone Valley, August 2017

Domaine de Monteillet

Northern Rhone Valley, France. 

We drove to the small town of Condrieu via Annecy and Lyon where we met our daughter and her boyfriend.

Day 1: We drove first to Gervans and found the winery, Fayolle Fils et Fille. We tasted some wines from St. Peray and Crozes Hermitage, with grape types Marsanne and Syrah. The St. Peray white was my favourite. We bought six wines between us.

Then we continued on to our hotel and restaurant, Michel Chabran in the small village of Pont de l'Isere on the east side of the Rhone near Valance. Our room was very spacious and interesting and the hotel staff were very charming.

Day 2: Today we set off to drive to Condrieu up the scenic road. We turned off to visit a wine estate high up over the Rhone, called Domaine de Monteillet. We tasted five white wines including some delicious Viognier. We chose 3 types and bought 6 bottles to share. The prices were quite reasonable.

Cave de Tain

The village of Condrieu itself was disappointing so we went on to Viennes, an old Roman town. There we saw the ancient temple, the amphitheatre and the cathedral. We had a late lunch of lasagne.

In the evening we had an apero and dinner at our hotel, Michel Chabran. The chef of that name introduced himself to us. We had very slow service. Lobster and fois gras were prominent on the menu. I also had a delicious chocolate dessert. The others had cheese. It was rather a rich meal.

Cellars of Cave de Tain

Day 3: We drove up the national road to Tain L'Hermitage and saw a chocolate museum, Valrhona. A very interesting place with interactive displays and free samples! But we weren't tempted to buy any.

We checked out the winery Cave de Tain, and booked a wine tour for later in the afternoon.

Then we drove to the nearby town of Romans, where we visited a collegiate church and saw the market and the river d'Isere. We had a beer in a cafe and saw a historic clock tower. It was very sunny.

Then back to the Cave de Tain for a tour of the cellars, founded in 1933, where they now store wine in concrete vats as well as in different sized barrels. We also saw their wine library containing examples of past vintages.

We tasted three wines and bought two bottles each. They had Crozes Hermitage white and red, plus St. Joseph and Cornas reds.

Back in Switzerland we still have several bottles of Viognier and Crozes Hermitage waiting to be enjoyed!

By Julia and Richard Newton