Turns out, in wine country in France, you can pretty much drive up to any of the wineries unannounced, invite yourself to a wine tasting of the local wine and buy some to take home. We know this because we did it twice, sort of accidentally.
There was a vineyard called Chateau St. Jean Les Durance in Manosque that I kind of scoped out before we drove north. I wasn't exactly sure how visits worked and I emailed them through the website to ask. I didn't hear back but figured we could stop by after our visit to the lavender fields just to see what it was all about. As we pulled into what appeared to be a deserted road, we finally approached a lovely stone building with metal stilo's out front.
We saw a glass doorway to the right that didn't really look open but decided to try going in anyway. Sure enough, it was open and there we were in a showroom with a display of the wines and olive oils made on that land. A woman appeared from the back and warmly welcomed us. She asked us if we'd like to try some of the wines (of course we said yes!) and she proceeded to pull out around seven different wines for us to try.
She proceeded to give us tasting notes and flavor profiles of the wines we were trying. She was so nice and knowledgeable and it was honestly some of the best wine I've ever had. I loved their white wine and the lavender wine we tried. Of course we bought a few bottles.
She showed us some barrels and these terracotta clay pots that they make some of the wines in, which is an old world way to create wine. It was so fascinating!
They even had grape juice they offered the kids in a wine glass so they could be included. The juice is made from the same grapes they grow on the land.
The next day as we were driving back to the coast, the GPS took us off the highway for some reason. As we meandered through the country side, we noticed vineyards on either side of the road with a sign ahead that said "Vente de vin" (wine for sale). So I immediately turn into a driveway style road and pass through open gates to see where it would lead us.
Again, there were no cars and no sign of other visitors, so we weren't' sure what we were going to find. A couple of minutes later we approach a modern like building that also did not look open. Of course, we got out of the car and tried to open the door. And it was open!
This particular vineyard mixes wine with art so the showroom had products for sale but also displays of art. It was SO cool!
And just like the other vineyard, the woman met us with warmth and kindness, offering us to try their excellent wines. Of course, we bought a few bottles. That's another thing, they are SO inexpensive. Like 7 euro - 12 euro per bottle. Unreal.
It was a true French experience that was completely unplanned. So cool!
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