Here's the plan:

Rent an RV for ten days.
Assemble the News Team.
Hit the wine making regions of France.
Drink fine Wine, eat good food, camp out under the stars every night
Will probably be taking bikes too for those rustic crusies through the countryside

does anyone have any good chateaus or vineyards of merit that they could tell me of? I am fully aware of Oz and James doing a similar trip on their programme and I'm going to check the book out, but was wodering if anyone had any hidden gems they could tell me of.

"10-4 we got a convoy!"

Sounds good.. except for the RV part and the wine part.

I'd love to do that.

if you find a place called Tavel, that does rose' (yeah, yeah, bird's drink) but it's really rather good.

Burgundy: just stay there and never leave.

Tavel is the best rosé (ctrl,alt,e)

é

yay,
always wondered that one.

cheers Winston

That sounds great

Be sure to go to Saint-Émilion.
The best red money can buy in my opinion. Obviously some Chateaus are better than others. But can't go wrong on the whole

é
WOW!

I'm so pysched on the trip, taking bikes along as well and thinking of driving alon, parking up, then going for a ride around all day, and just chilling with the good stuff.

I'm more of a red man myself but will keep em peeled for that rosé. Going to hunt down some quality sausage too.

I've done two wine roadtrips (by car) in the past. My main recommendation is to try to avoid the obvious regions. It's in the less well-travelled areas that you're more likely to meet friendly winemakers who aren't fed up with having to deal with hordes of Anglais trying to get free wine. So I'd avoid Champagne and Bordeaux. That being said, you should still probably check out the Cote d'or in Burgundy-- it's classic. The areas around Chablis are good (and nice terrain for cycling I think), esp the villages of Irancy and St Bris. I hear good things about Franche-Comté-- the owner of my local wineshop raves about this guy . Get a big rv so you have someplace to put all the wine you buy.

thanks Fuzzbrain, there's been talk of venturing off the beaten track so your info is much appreciated.

I want to hit Champagne just to try and get some high quality cottage industry type stuff, not into the big house productions, want to find some good small scale stuff.

éééééééééééééééééééééééé ééééééééééééééééééééééééééé éééééééééééééééééééééééééééééééééé éééééééééééééééééééééééé éééééééééééééééé

My limited experience leads me to doubt that there are any high quality small producers in Champagne. The small producers we chanced about were all mediocre to crap. If it's fizz you're after, I think you're likely to have more joy looking for Champagne blends outside Champagne-- most regions have a Cremant de [insert region name], some of which can be quite good. That being said we only spent a day in the Champagne region so maybe we didn't look hard enough.

or (alt,e,e) for us mac users

áéíóú
I got two in my name kids - thats why you never pronounce it right.
ever.

Guys, it was a blast; seriously the best two weeks I've had in a very long time. Swimming in rivers, sleeping in hammocks, cruising through Grand Cru vineyards, numerous tours and tastings, cooking on campfires every night and just living on the road...

I'm trying to sort through all of my photo's and i'll get them up here when I get a chance. As far as a "Big Wine Adventure" goes, I would highly reccomend it; it was amazing.



p.s As for the aim of finding small scale production we hit up Chouilly just up the road from Eperney; stumbled across the house of Hostomme who, unknown until our arrival, supply Harrods with all of their top of the line Grand Cru stuff. Had a tasting, enjoyed it very much and bought a shit load of his produce. Harrods price £60-100, from the man £10.

Quids in!