Just five of our party of 21 flew in this morning – the rest of us having been enjoying the joys of Lyon in the days leading up to the start of the tour.
We were quickly aboard our coach, and en route from Lyon airport to Ampuis, in the heart of Côte Rôtie. As soon as we crossed the Rhône River we were among the vineyards on the right bank, the verdant vines clinging to terraces and unbelievably steep slopes – this is a place where mechanisation is a luxury!
Our first stop was the Bistrot de Serine, where we sat in their shaded courtyard and enjoyed a delicious three course lunch – the starter was a joy to behold as you can see from the picture at the top of this blog! Accompanied by three lovely wines, a Collines Rhodaniennes Viognier, a Condrieu and a Côte Rôtie, this was a great start to our exploration of this most northern of the appellations we are visiting.
After coffee we headed in the coach a little way north to the village of Verenay, where we visited Clusel Roch, a family owned and run winery. Marie Clusel welcomed us and took us on a short tour of their cellar, where their Condrieu and Côte Rôtie were in barrel, and told us the story of the family. Her great grandparents had a plot of land on which they grew produce, including grapes, in the 1930s. In the 1980s her father and mother converted to organic grape growing and started to make their own wine. They now own 14ha of vines and have a fantastic reputation.
Our tasting of seven wines confirmed this reputation is deserved. We of course had Condrieu and Côte Rôtie, but also a Vin de France blend of white grapes from the Rhône and Savoie, and a Coteaux Lyonnais red, made from Gamay. ‘Les Vergers’ is a Syrah made under Côtes du Rhône appellation because the vineyard (which they now own) was not included in the Côte Rôtie appellation when it was set up in the 1930s because the then owner didn’t want to pay the dues!
We finished the tasting with a 2010 Côte Rôtie which showed beautiful maturity – the farmyard aromas adding complexity to the floral and spicy notes we had already become familiar with. A short bout of wine buying preceded our coach journey to Saint-Étienne where we are staying.