As you may know, we attended Hospice du Rhone, 2011. The premise of this event is to share the beauty of the Rhone wines with the world…via Paso Robles! The event features seminars, tastings, and food pairings, all focused on the Rhones.
The first seminar of the event was literally called “Rhone Valley Wines“. We sat in a huge room, at a table covered with wines and listened to the actual producers that are making and tasting wines from the French Rhone Valley that has been known for producing wine for over 2,ooo years. In fact, one of the most ironic things is that Wine Enthusiast awarded the Rhone Valley with the “Wine Region of the Year” for 2010…funny…they’ve been doing this for a while!
The Rhone Valley is 182,500 acres, stretched along a 150 mile long area in France. It goes from roughly Avignon to Leon and puts out about 22 varieties of grapes. It’s the 2nd largest producing region in France with over 400 million bottles. Impressive…but that’s not surprising, considering their history and notoriety.
So, the purpose of this seminar was to let us taste the range of wine from this region so that we could see what the capabilities, combined with the rich roots could put out. We were blown away…not only by the wines, but by the far-reaching depth of wine making knowledge and intrinsic skill.
What a treat to experience the whole package…we get to taste Rhone wines in the Paso Robles area all the time, but to see, hear, and taste the wines from their origin, crafted by the people that have this stuff built into their blood, was a whole different experience.
Join us…will you? Get the feel for the wines and the vibe….the video just gives you a brief glimpse into what the seminar gave us. You can experience the same thing by seeking out the wines, and/or by showing up at Hospice du Rhone 2012! Come on…hop on the ride….
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I_BfV4_OXI[/youtube]
The Wines:
Chateau de Nages, 2009 Costieres de Nimes, Notre Pais, Blanc
Chateau de Nages, 2009 Costieres de Nimes, Chateau de Nage Vieilles, Vignes, Rouge
Domaine de Cabasse, 2007 Cotes du Rhone Villages Seguret, Cuvee Garnacho, Rouge
Domaine de Cabasse, 2007 Gigondas, Rouge
Domaine Alain Voge, 2008 Cotes du Rhone, Les Peyrouses
Domaine Alain Voge, 2007 Cornas, Les Vieilles Vignes
Related articles
- Hospice du Rhone, NOT Royal Wedding! (hootnannieblog.com)
- Hospice du Rhone: Somm Point of View (hootnannieblog.com)
- Finding Clos Solene Wines at HdR – YES!!! (hootnannieblog.com)
Very good, and very educational. Sounds like a seminar no one would want to miss. Thanks for sharing an awesome event.
It was great, Bev! We love learning more and more about wine…and this event is an incredible source of info!
Uh, was that my 2 seconds of fame?
Haha!!! NO, there was more…you just wait, mister!!!