We live on Grande Rue in Sablet in the Provence Region of France

I have always found it very amusing that the street where our house in Sablet is located is called "Grande Rue". Read on to find out why this is so perplexing to me.

For those of you who don't know, Sablet is a small village (population 1284) located at the base of the jagged Dentelles de Montmirail west of Mont Ventoux in the Vaucluse region of Provence, France. The village sits on a hill near the Ouvèze River.

Sign at entrance to Sablet

Sablet is known for the Côtes du Rhône Villages wines produced by village winemakers. The vineyards were first cultivated by the Counts of Toulouse, to whom the area then belonged. During the 14th century, the vineyards became papal possessions when the papacy moved to Avignon. Sablet was awarded AOC of "Côtes du Rhône Villages Sablet" in 1974.

Sablet

Although the first fortifications of the village were most likely built in the 9th century to ward off attacks by the Saracens, construction on the walls didn't start until the 15th century. These ramparts have recently been restored by the Association des Compagnons des Barrys.

Sablet ramparts and tower

Sablet is filled with charming and picturesque shaded streets adorned with flowers, passageways with exposed beams, and fountains. Stone houses line narrow streets that curl in concentric circles around a beehive shaped hill up to St. Nazaire Church (12th century). St. Nazaire’s bell tower is the highest point in the village.

Our house at intersection of Rue d'Eglise and Grande Rue

Streets were named to reflect the activities of the village residents over the centuries such as climbing the "Escaliers de l'Eglise" to St. Nazaire Church or visiting the shoemaker on "Rue du Cordonnier". Not sure what they were thinking, when they named our street "Grande Rue". In French, "Grande" normally refers to something big, which Grande Rue where our house is located, is definitely not.

Me driving on Grande Rue

One of our favorite pastimes is to watch drivers, usually tourists, struggle to make the left turn from Grande Rue onto Rue d'Église just before our house to go up the hill to Saint Nazaire Church. You can't do it without a partial turn, then back up, then proceed forward up the hill. Only locals make the turn on the first attempt. We also chat with passersby, especially when we hear English being spoken.

Shirley hanging out the kitchen window overlooking the intersection of Grande Rue and Rue de l'Eglise

An interesting thing we have learned is the wine cave under our house was connected to caves under neighboring homes through a network of tunnels that ran under the streets. The locals would travel to their neighbors through the tunnels rather than on the street. The entrance to the network of tunnels was near the fountain and lavoir at Place Yvan Audouard.

Covered passageway on Grande Rue

Shirley stands in "Grande Rue" and stretches her arms between our house and the house across the street. You don't have to worry about traffic as not too many vehicles pass our front door besides the one belonging to the post office.

Shirley can almost touch both sides of Grande Rue

If you have come to visit us in Sablet, you have figured out that one of my favorite places for taking pictures of people in Sablet, is around the pretty fountain at Place Yvan Audouard, just a few steps from our house on Grande Rue.

A favorite place to take pictures is the fountain a few steps from our house

If you have comments or questions about Sablet, or elsewhere in Provence, please leave your comments below or send me an email at my address below.

If you are thinking about a trip to the South of France including spending time in Provence, we invite you to visit our website. Our house is available for rent by the week or more. We still have some weeks open in April, June, last part of July and August. You can reach us for further information by sending an email to chcmichel@aol.com.

Wine tasting in Gigondas and a hike from Col de Cayron to the Dentelles de Montmirail

We are blessed to have a house in Sablet, France and live as locals several times a year. We love our location at the base of the Dentelles de Montmirail surrounded by vineyards as far as you can see. Nearby are several small villages, some known for their beauty and others renown for the wine produced in the village.

Sablet is located between Séguret, a village classified as a "Plus Beaux Village de France," to the north and Gigondas, a village renown for its red wine to the south. We think Gigondas is one of the prettiest of all Côtes du Rhône wine villages and one you should visit especially if you love red wine.

From the road, Gigondas seems little more than a cluster of stone houses set on a hillside with a church below the Dentelles de Montmirail Mountains overlooking vineyard covered slopes and valley below.

Gigondas Village

When you turn off for Gigondas, you follow the road up through the lower village, passing a succession of cafés and tasting rooms (caves) before arriving at Place Gabriel Andéol where the Mairie (town hall) and Caveau du Gigondas (wine growers cooperative), are located.

If you like red wine, plan to stop in at the Caveau du Gigondas (wine cooperative) where you can taste more than 100 different Gigondas wines from 80 wineries and buy them at the same price as at the winery.

Gigondas Town Hall

One of our favorite producers of Gigondas wine is Domaine la Bouïssière. We first became acquainted with this wine when we assembled our wine list for our now closed Bistro Des Copains, in Occidental, California. The tasting room is just a few steps from Place Gabriel Andéol.

Shirley at Domaine la Bouïssière Tasting Room

The Dentelles de Montmirail are short, steep mountains with a distinctive rocky ridge extending west geologically from Mont Ventoux which is located just to the east. When we go out onto the terrace off our bedroom in Sablet, we have a beautiful view of the Dentelles.

The name Dentelles, the French word for lace, refers to the jagged, rocky tops obtained by erosion, while Montmirail is derived from the Latin mons mirabilis meaning "admirable mountain" though the alternative connection with teeth, "dents" in French is equally good in my opinion.

The Dentelles de Montmirail mountain range is about 8 km (5 miles) long and runs from Vaison-la-Romaine on the north end to Beaumes-de-Venise on the south. The tallest peak of the Dentelles de Montmirail range is St-Amand, at 734 m (2,400 feet).

Dentelles de Montmirail

One day last fall, we decided to take the unsurfaced road up to Col de Cayron to get a closer look at the peaks of the Dentelles de Montmirail and see the views out over the vineyard covered Rhone valley.

One of the famous Gigondas vineyards high up over Gigondas at the foot of the Dentelles de Montmirail is seen in the picture below.

I should mention that Gigondas is a wine Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) in the southern Rhône wine region of France. It is primarily a red wine region, with a very small amount of rosé wine produced. No white wines carry the Gigondas appellation at this time.

Gigondas Vineyard

The Col de Cayron is 396 m (1300 feet) high and in the center of the Dentelles de Montmirail principle peaks.

Dentelles de Montmirail from Overlook

A splendid view of the Rhone valley with Sablet in the foreground on the left and Séguret on the right against the hill. Séguret is classified as a Most Beautiful Village in France.

View from Overlook towards Sablet and Seguret

We hiked up a trail with steps, one of approximately 600 hiking trails in the Dentelles de Montmirail range, to a peak with great views and an overlook a little farther up for a photo together.

Shirley and I on the Overlook with Mont Ventoux in Distance

There are a many trails to hike up to and around the Dentelles de Montmirail. If you do, you will be rewarded with close up views of the peaks and magnificent views out over the Rhone valley. I am sure we will be making this hike again with grandchildren in tow the next time they come to Sablet.

If you are thinking about a trip to the South of France including spending time in Provence, we invite you to visit our website at www.sablethouse.com. Our house is available for rent by the week or more. You can reach us for further information at chcmichel@aol.com

Domaine de la Damase, a Family-run Winery for 5 Generations in the Côtes du Rhône

A few months ago, I came back to the office and Cluney, my partner at Bistro Des Copains told me that while I was out, Kenny from Hobo Wine Company had stopped in with a young Frenchman whose family owns a winery near our house in Sablet.

Cluney handed me Sébastien's card and told me he extended an invitation for us to visit and taste wines the next time we were there. A few weeks later we were back, and one day after lunch we headed to Domaine de la Damase in Violès with friends Scott and Jean-Pierre in tow.

Domaine de la Damase

As I mentioned, Domaine de la Damase is located in Violès, a small village in front of the Dentelles de Montmirail. The village is surrounded by a sea of vineyards. Quite truthfully, prior to today, we had never stopped in Violès, I guess because it's the last village before Sablet from the toll road, and we are in a hurry to get home.

Courtyard at Domaine de la Damase

The Latour family has been making wine at Domaine de la Damase since 1872 when the estate was purchased. Sébastien Latour works the vineyards and makes wine with parents Bernadette and Serge. He is the 5th generation of the Latour family to make wine there.

House at Domaine de la Damase

Domaine de la Damase is small (they have about 30 acres of vineyards), organically farmed, and might have remained obscure to Americans, at least, if it weren’t for Kenny Likitprakong, a Sonoma County winemaker and owner of Hobo Wine Company who befriended the Latour family and imports some of their wines.

Sébastien did a one-year internship with Kenny Likitprakong in Santa Cruz in 2002 which was the first vintage for Hobo Wine Company.

Pretty Petunias in a Stone Planter at Domaine de la Damase

World War II Ordinance Found in Field

Sébastien took us to a room filled with the heady aroma of wine. He pulled wine for tasting in a long pipette from the top of oak barrels full of Grenache and Mourvedre aging until ready for bottling.

Sébastien Latour Fills Glasses From Barrel

Old Wine Barrels

Domaine de la Damase Barrel Room

In the middle of our tasting, Sébastien's 98 year old grandfather Joffre walked into the "cave" (tasting room) and took a glass from Sébastien. We said "bonjour" and commented about the wine. He responded but we couldn't understand and Sébastien explained that he only speaks Provençal, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast part of France.

Joffre Latour

Joffre Latour seems to be a remarkable person for a man of 98 years of age; maybe there is some truth to the French paradox and red wine.

Shirley with Joffre Latour

Joffre Latour Walking in the Courtyard

The wines of Domaine de la Damase

Sébastien and his parents make wines labeled as Côtes du Rhône and Côtes du Rhône Villages Plan-de-Dieu. They also make single varietal bottlings of Grenache and Mourvedre, which because they put “Grenache” and "Mourvedre" on the label instead of Côtes du Rhône, French law says these wines are technically “Vin de Pays de Vaucluse."

They also make and package “Vin de Pays de Vaucluse" red, white and rosé wines in the "Le Bag in Box" format.

Shirley and I with Sébastien Latour

Upon our return from France, we added the 2011 Côtes du Rhône, a blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Carignane, to our wine list at Bistro Des Copains. Modestly priced, it pairs very well with our daube, rabbit, macaroni and cheese, pissaladière or braised lamb shank like I had Friday night.

A Pretty Wine Barrel

Our favorite wineries are those that make good wines and with whom we develop a connection with the winemaker's family and staff. I would add Domaine de la Damase to that list.

If you are in the area, you should go by and meet Sébastien and taste the Domaine de la Damase wines. If you can't do that, come to Bistro Des Copains and order a glass or bottle of the 2011 Côtes du Rhône.

Domaine de la Damase
271 Route d'Orange
84150 Violès
France
06 19 13 37 85

Have a great day! Chat Soon.

Vinsobres, pretty village and producer of excellent wines in the Côtes du Rhône

We love wine and are fortunate to have a house in Sonoma County, California, one of the premier wine growing regions in the US and a house in Sablet, one of the 18 villages in the French Côtes du Rhône wine region authorized to put their village name on wine labels.

Did you know that there is a hierarchy for Côtes du Rhône wines? Yes, that's true! Côtes du Rhône wines are widely distributed so I think it might be helpful for me to try to explain the hierarchy of these wines. Be patient, there is a link between this explanation and Vinsobres.

The Côtes du Rhône appellation (map) stretches 125 miles between Vienne in the north to Avignon in the south and is separated into sub regions of Rhône wine: Côtes du Rhône septentrional in the northern part of the region from Vienne to Valence and Côtes du Rhône meridional from Montélimar to Avignon in the south.

The first level consist of 171 communes (similar to a township in the US) in the French departments of Ardèche, Bouche du Rhône, Drôme, Gard, Loire, and Vaucluse that produce wine. The average production of Côtes du Rhône wine is about 419 million bottles a year, making this one of the largest appellation regions in the world. Level 2 is Côtes du Rhône-Villages which are villages around the region which supposedly produce a higher quality of wine.

The third level is Côtes du Rhône-Villages (named village) which are 18 villages including our own Sablet who are authorised to put their village name on wine labels. The top level are Crus, a total of 15 villages who can put their name on the label but do not have to mention Côtes du Rhône. These include such well known appellations as Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage in the north and Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Gigondas in the south. One of the lesser known Crus, or at least to us is Vinsobres.

Vinsobres is a small village (population 1,101) on a big hill (604 - 1,706 feet elevation) crowned with a 12th century priory about 14 miles north of Sablet across the L'Eygues River in the French department of the Drôme. Since the southern part of Drôme is regarded as Provence, the area is called Drôme Provençale.

Vinsobres

Every March the committee of Vinsobres winemakers puts on the "Salon des Vins de l'AOC Vinsobres" (wine festival) to promote their wines and locally produced artisan products such as olive oil, charcuterie, chocolate, nougat, cheese and escargot. This year the festival took place on March 17.

Pretty Vinsobres house

Last March we were in Sablet and saw brightly colored signs along the roads announcing the upcoming wine festival in Vinsobres. Since we had not been to Vinsobres nor did we know anything about their wine, we decided to kill two birds with one stone so to speak, and go to the "Salon des Vins de l'AOC Vinsobres."

An arched door through the old stone defensive wall

Vinsobres was first settled by the Romans. There seems to be some question about the origin of the village name. Some sources say the name comes from Vinzobrio, the oldest recorded reference from 1137. It comes from the pre-Celtic vintio (height), and the Celtic suffix briga (mountain). Other sources say the name probably originates from Latin "vin sobris" or "vin sobrio" meaning "wine and work."

Vinsobres boulangerie

Narrow streets, old stone houses and vaulted passageways are sandwiched between two churches, one Protestant at the top of the village and one Catholic at the bottom.

Vinsobres house with vaulted passageway

Add to this blue and green shutters and beige and ochre roof tiles, all of which makes Vinsobres a quaint village to explore.

A Vinsobres street

Wine is clearly the "raison d'être" (reason for existence) for Vinsobres. Vineyards cover about one-half of the 8018 acres in the commune, mostly on slopes where terraces are required to grow the vines. The vineyard parcels on these slopes are included in the Vinsobres Cru appellation. Vineyards off the slopes are in level 1 of the Côtes du Rhône hierarchy.

Arbor covered bar near the Catholic Church

I should mention that the Côtes du Rhône AOC was established in 1937. The committee of Vinsobres winemakers was formed in 1957 when Vinsobres wines were included in the new Côtes du Rhône-Villages appellation. In 1967, the wines of Vinsobres were elevated to Côtes du Rhône Village Vinsobres and on February 15, 2006, the red wines were reclassified to Crus.

The 18th century Catholic Church of Vinsobres

According to the committee of Vinsobres winemakers, 68.34% of the vineyards today are planted with Grenache, 24.15% of the vineyards are Syrah, 2.76% are Mourvedre, 1.84% are Cinsault, and 1.45% are Carignan.

Vinsobres café patrons enjoy the early spring day

About 72% of the grapes are vinified by La Vinsobraise, the local cooperative in Vinsobres. The rest is vinified and bottled by 21 wineries or sold to négociants who produce, bottle and market the wine under the négociant's label.

Vinsobres house with pretty blue shutters

The "Salon des Vins de l'AOC Vinsobres" (wine festival) took place in the Vinsobres community hall.

Vinsobres community hall

Vinsobres is also known for their "Craquantes de Vinsobres," a small, dry, almond biscuit (think Italian biscotti). Supposedly they first appeared in 1908 at the boulangerie in Vinsobres.

"Salon des Vins de l'AOC Vinsobres" (wine festival)

One of the Vinsobres wines we tasted and liked a lot was from Domaine L'Ancienne Ecole, a small, newish (their first harvest was in 2007) winery owned by Anna and Wilson Thorburn.

Anna Thorburn proprietor of Domaine L'Ancienne Ecole

Every festival in Provence has vendors selling a variety of goods, some good quality, other stuff is junk to be truthful and this festival was no exception.

Vendor selling locally made objects of wood

Vendor selling locally made Provencal souvenirs

We climbed up to the 12th century priory, which became a Catholic Church, and finally a Protestant temple of the Reformed Church.

12th century priory

From the church, there is a great view of the Vinsobres vineyards and Mont Ventoux.

View from the top of the village near the Protestant Church

View from the top of the village near the Protestant Church

View from the top of the village near the Protestant Church

Vinsobres street

Vinsobres

While I was writing this post about Vinsobres, I found out that in 2012, Wine Spectator Magazine included the 2010 Famille Perrin Vinsobres AOC Les Cornuds on its list of 100 Best Wines for 2012. So I set off to Bottle Barn, probably the best place to buy wine near where we live in Northern California to see if they had this wine.

Lucky for me, they did and it was only $15.99 a bottle. So I stocked up and took a bottle with me to try last night with dinner at our Bistro Des Copains. It was perfect with our braised rabbit with kale and served over noodles in a mustard sauce.

Organically produced by Famille Perrin (they also own Château de Beaucastel), this wine is quite big but very elegant, with black cherry flavors (50/50 Grenache and Syrah). If you find it, buy a bottle. It's not only a very good wine, especially with food, it's relatively cheap, one of the great things about Côtes du Rhône wine.

2010 Perrin Famille Vinsobres AOC Les Cornuds

Have a great Easter weekend. Bonne journée mes amis et à bientôt.