The best Gourmet Provence tour available…a collaboration between La Madelene and fanatical foodies Kevan and Jennifer of Leaf Travel…available W/C 15th/22nd/29th November 2010.

Wine, Olive oil, Goats cheese, Truffles….a complete immersion in 3 days + dining in the finest restaurants of the Vaucluse!

Gourmet Provence: Wine and food discovery tour

Day 1 Tuesday: arrive late pm at La Madelene…Champagne reception and a four course dinner with fine wines in the Chapel dining room

Day 2 Wednesday

The truffle day: A Truffle hunt, Truffle omelette for lunch, the Provencal town of Vaison la Romaine and a truffle feast in the evening 

Your tour leaders for the day: Kavan Kristjanson and Jennifer Hastings of Leaf-Travel, professional caterers and gourmet travel experts

Breakfast at Leisure

AM and Lunch: Accompany Kevan and Jennifer on a black truffle search with Max and his dogs at the farm Le Gros-Noyer just on the edge of Malaucene. The truffle season is just starting up, with luck around 90 minutes work should yield sufficient “black diamonds” for Kevan and Jennifer to demostrate the preperation of a classic Provencal lunch – a truffle omelettte- at their house which neighbours the farm.

PM: Visit to the town of Vaison la Romaine, 8 kms from Malaucene, a charming town on the river Ouveze with a very picaresque medieval old town, a Gallo-Roman archeological site (the largest in France) and a lively newer part of the town with many interesting shops.

Dinner – at Chez Serge, Carpentras (http://www.chez-serge.com), and specialists in the “menu de truffe” – 4 courses all prepared with truffles

Day 3 Thursday

Wine tasting day (deliberately contrasting scale of producers, from a “garagist” wine maker to the leading estate of Chateauneuf du Pape)

Your wine tour escort for the day: Philip Reddaway a WSET approved professional wine educator and tour leader

Breakfast at Leisure

AM: Winery visit: Meet Philippe Gimel, maverick producer of stunning Ventoux wines – Saint Jean du Barroux - that have attracted a cult following in California and elsewhere. Visit his organic vineyard and taste at his garage winery that serves as a temporary home for his wine making.

Gimel is a one-man band with huge energy, passion and vision, a genuine one-off.for more see: http://saintjeandubarrouxfrance.spaces.live.com

Lunch: at Gigondas’s best restaurant L’Oustalet file://localhost/(http/:www.restaurant-oustalet.fr owned by the Perrin family of Beaucastel fame.

PM: Winery visit: Chateau Beaucastel – along with Rayas, Bonneau and Vieux Telegraph this is the leading estate of Chateauneuf du Pape making superb red and white CDP and a negociant business covering Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Vinsobres etc. Visit the cave and taste the range in the atmospheric cellars. For more see: http://www.beaucastel.com/

Dinner – Dinner at Le Grand Pre (http://www.legrandpre.com) the Michelin starred restaurant run by Flora and Raoul Reichrath at Roaix, exceptional cuisine and a fantastic Rhone wine list.

Day 4 Friday

Carpentras Provencal market and another gourmet excursion, either an olive mill or a goats cheese farm.

Once again Kevan and Jennifer will be your hosts for the day

Breakfast at Leisure

AM: Visit to Carpentras Provencal market – this is a vast market covering nearly the entire town and aside from vegetables, fruit, olives, charcuterie, cheese, plants and fabrics includes, from the end of November one of the most important truffle markets in the region.

Lunch: At Maitre Cuisinier de France Michel Philibert’s restaurant “La Gajulea” at Le Barroux - http://philibertmichel.free.fr

PM: Visit to the Olive mill attached to the Abbaye Sainte-Madeleine located in the beautiful Dentelles hills above the village of Le Barroux  (http://www.barroux.org/huil/pubhuile.html)– this Olive mill forms part of a working Benedictine monastry, the group will be able to observe the monks, (fully atired in their habits!) in the art of olive oil production. The visit will be followed by an Olive oil briefing/tasting demonstration from Kevan and Jennifer.either in the grounds of the monastry or at their home dependent on the weather.

OR

PM: Visit to a cheese farm in the Drome, artisan producers of fabulous Picodon goat’s cheese. those tangy, salty tablets of chevre that are so popular here and in the Ardeche. The group will have an opportunity to see cheese making in action alongside the farmers…and taste the results at different stages of  “affinage” (aging).

Dinner: A 5 course Provencal gourmet meal prepared by Jude, Kevan and Jennifer and served in the chapel dining room at La Madelene, accompanied by fine wines from Philip’s cellar…perhaps a 1999 Beaucastel, or a 1998 Gigondas “Cuvee Florence” from Domaine Goubert.

Day 5: Saturday

The tour ends after breakfast on the Saturday

The Price: €2300 per couple including all restaurant meals, 4 nights accommodation at La Madelene, food and wine excursions, gourmet dinners and fine wine at La Madelene

The lead story in this month’s Wine Spectator is all about the emerging stardom of Granache and Syrah in the USA. Hot on the heels of the Grenache Symposium , see my blog entry earlier this month, Rhone varietals seem to riding the zeitgeist. In their editorial Wine Spectator’s James Laube comments: ” It wasnt so long ago that some Californian vintners were predicting that Sangiovese would be the next great thing. Yet Sangiovese never really took hold, making it more a wine of unfulfilled promise than a substantive player. Syrah stepped in next, making a stronger case with high quality wines. Now the next big thing could be Grenache, part of the Rhone grape family……Grenache isnt considered a classic variety by many, yet it is proving to be one of the most exciting and enticing wines to emerge in California in the past decade, capable of stardom, even if only on a small stage. One hopes that when vintners describe it as the Pinot Noir of Rhone varieties , some of Pinot’s magic rubs off”. Cheers to that James! For more see www.winespectator.com

Thanks (again) to ace film makers Jon and Jess…

I am delighted to announce that the famed Chateauneuf du Pape estate Domaine de la Janesse will become part of our network this year. This large estate producing nearly 250,000 bottles annually ( though only a small part of this is CDP) has risen through the ranks over the last 20 years to the very top bracket. Consistently lauded by the critics ( et moi: see last year’s blog entry on their marvelous Terre Argiles Cotes du Rhone) this is an estate run by the Sabon family…the picture is of Isabelle Sabon..which oozes class yet without overt pretension or fuss. Not only are the CDP’s top class - their Chaupin cuvee was placed in the top 4 of 200 CDPs from the 2007 vintage tasted blind in this month’s Decanter magazine - but their extensive CDR holdings on the right of the A7 route de soleil that marks the eastern flank of the appellation ( next to Beaucastel’s Coudelet) produce probably the best Cotes du Rhone range in the area, the aforementioned Terre Argiles, the Garrigue, a tradition CDR, a vin de pays and two whites including a 100% viognier. By the way the Decanter tasting note for the Chaupin read: “Intense, touch of smoke, tobacco,black fruits and sweet spices. Dry, full bodied,soft tannins,lots of fruit and spices. The finish is long with refreshing acidity…drink from 2015. 18.9/20.00″ A near perfect note! We look forward to taking La Madelene guests to visit Isabelle and the Janesse estate later this spring.