My journey through the famed Rhone Valley of France began at the very northern tip, in the city of Lyon. We traveled through the northern portion of the valley to the centrally located city of Valence.

The next morning we left Valence by car and drove through some incredible scenery to the village of Hermitage, where we enjoyed an incredible tasting at Delas Winery. This visit will be the subject of a future print article in the November edition of The Vindicator.

We next traveled by train through the central and southern portions of the valley, ending up in the historic city of Avignon. The city was the home to seven popes in the 14th century and there are some amazing historic sites there.

We took a day to tour the southern half of the valley and our day was divided into two significant portions: Tavel and Chateaunuef du Pape.

Tavel is considered both the historic and present day home of Rose' wine. We visited a co-op there and tasted three Rose's of different style and quality. All were made with the nine indigenious grapes a grown in Tavel (as governed by French law).

The wines were all fruit forward and fun to drink. They offered significant juicy and ripe red berry fruit flavors and varying levels of acidity. The thing that stood out to me was the incredible ammount of different Rose offered at the co-op.

They were displaying 25-30 different Rose's throughout the tasting room. They also affored what I'll call a Rose' "filling station" where locals could bring in a jug (3L minimum) and get it filled from what looked like a gas pump. There was a lot of Rose sold at the co-op during the hour we were visiting.

Next we moved on to the famed Chateaunuef Du Pape AOC. The stunning thing here was how the grapes are grown. While some of the vineyards have traditional clay soil, a higher percentage of the grapes are grown in giant river rocks or limestone. I have read about this in several books, but was blown away to see it in person.

After some time on the vineyards, we toured and tasted at the Ogier Winery. The tasting room and winery was very modern and you could tell there was some significant investment there in recent years. I highly recommend you seek out their wines. Here is what I tasted at Ogier.

2010 Ogier Chateanuef Du Pape

2012 Ogier "Oratorio" Cote du Rhone

2013 Ogier "Clos L'Oratorie Des Pape" CDP

2014 Ogier "Clos L'Oratorie Des Pape" CDP

2012 Ogier "Eclats Calcaires" CDP

2012 Ogier "Galet Rouls" CDP

This was an exceptional tasting and it gave me the chance to truly appreciate how the three different soil types help create significantly different wines.

I'll be doing an event featuring Rhone reds from the Delas Winery on Thursday October 1stt at Trumbull Coountry Club. the event is opne to the public. Tickets are $50 for five wines and a paired Tapas diner menu. You can make a reservation by emailing me at brian.fry@myvalleyvino.com.