Hump Day: Wine Tasting in Pic Saint Loup

Remember when I told you how much we're digging wines from Pic Saint Loup?  Well, last weekend we decided to rent a car and head out there with a few friends to partake in our first French Wine Tasting Adventure! We chose 3 different vineyards based on our favorite wines and one recommendation from a friend.  We started off at Mas Gourdou which was definitely the highlight of the day (we peaked early).  We had a guided tour by the winemaker himself, Jean-Claude Therond.  Even if I didn't understand most (ok fine, all) of what he was saying, one thing was for sure:  his vineyard was beautiful.

 

 

Jean-Claude entered into winemaking late in life and he, his wife and son now run the vineyard, which is full of really old vines - some exceeding 50 years old!  After he took us on a tour of the vineyard, we went into the small tasting room and tried 7 different wines.

The Hub loved the first white we tasted, called Soleil D'Automne.  It was crisp and buttery.  Mas Gourdou only produced 1,000 bottles of this wine, so we snatched a few up.  Jean-Claude recommended serving this wine as an apertif or with fromage.  We also tasted a red, Joseph Onesime, which was the wine we had tried at a restaurant that led us to visit Mas Gourdou in the first place.  I loved learning that the name comes from Jean-Claude's father's name (Joseph) and his father-in-law's name (Onesime).  The other red that we really enjoyed was the Divin Venin (Divine Venom) which was aged in barrels for 2 years.  Jean-Claude told us to let this wine aerate in a carafe for 24 hours!!  We bought two bottles so that we could try the wine both ways and see if we could taste the difference.  Yes, we snatched up quite a few bottles from Mas Gourdou.

 

After a few hours hanging with J-C, we hiked up to a picnic spot overlooking all of Pic Saint Loup where we enjoyed a lovely lunch.

 

After lunch, we drove to our second winery:  Mas Bruguiere.  This was not quite the same experience as touring J-C's amazing domaine, but we had a nice time playing around and trying out some wines.  My favorites were the La Grenadiere, which is mostly Syrah aged 18 months in barrel, and the Calcadiz, a 50-50 Syrah - Grenache blend that was light yet spicy.

 

We finished the day at Domaine de L'Hortus, which was recommended to us by The Hub's co-worker.  This was a larger scale vineyard and it showed.  Maybe because it was the end of a hot day, or maybe because it was our 3rd winery, but I didn't take as careful of notes about these wines.  The woman working the tasting room was banging out the tastes and we were slamming 'em down.  Is that why we bought 6 bottles from here?  Doesn't matter, the wine was fantastic!  We bought a bottle of the white because The Hub was a big fan and 3 bottles of the La Bergerie because it was a really easy red wine at a great price.

 

Probably the best part about wine tasting in Pic Saint Loup is that it was only about 30 km away!  The Hub and I realized that we're actually closer to "wine country" here in Montpellier than we were in San Francisco...not too shabby.  We'll definitely be back soon.

5 Responses to “Hump Day: Wine Tasting in Pic Saint Loup”

1. Andy says:

   June 29, 2011 at 8:24 pm

   “The Hub and I realized that we’re actually closer to “wine country” here in Montpellier than we were in San Francisco”

   Delightfully dangerous!

   Reply
2. Ellyn Fasel says:

   June 29, 2011 at 10:56 pm

   Thank you for the information!!! I really think it’s going to prove useful to a lot of people.

   Reply
3. Gab says:

   July 7, 2011 at 10:22 pm

   wow! If I had known you’d write about your wine adventure, I probably would have sweat the choice a bit more (pressure pressure ;p ) …then again it is my bro who lives in palo alto that found Hortus on a visit to me in my 12th c village; and mocked me for being so lame. I quote, now that your hub is here “another American can teach you about your local wines.” Nice reading you. :D gorgeous photos

   Reply
   • Natalie says:

     July 8, 2011 at 1:03 am

     so funny! we loved hortus! we’ll take any suggestions you’ve got ;)

     Reply
4. Gloriane says:

   December 10, 2016 at 12:28 pm

   Desha tju pergezoj per kete web faqe jeni te mreuullkeshem eshte shume e qelluar .Desha te bej nje pyetje:Frutat a jane ushqim qe te shtojn ne peshe apo i ndihmojne zvoglimin e peshes se une jam duke perdorur fruta po po me duket qe po shtoj peshe , po ashtu edhe per domatet thojne qe shton kalori e desha ta di nese ka mundesi 1 pergjigje te thjeshte klm

   Reply