Top Provence Wine Tasting Tours - page 4

First - Gordana is an amazing tour guide. She’s very friendly and lively, and makes everyone feel welcome and comfortable on the tour. The sites she picked were outstanding and chosen with care and deliberation so we would have a unique and special experience. Everywhere we went, we were the only people there. No large tour groups! The first stop allowed us to see where many producers ferment and age their wines. Got to taste a variety of different specialties of the region. The second stop was the real winner of the tour and the reason to do this tour. You will be in a 12th century cave tasting several wines hand-picked by a local Master Sommalier, Guy, who knows wine with a level of detail and passion that would be hard to find elsewhere. His selections and the tasting were just an amazing experience that I will remember for a long time. If you have the means, he can ship a case anywhere in the world. The cost is not cheap, but considering you are shipping bottles home that you cannot buy at home, the value is priceless. Finally, we made a couple stops in some fields to see where/how the grapes are actually grown. We learned so much about “terroir” and the rules governing local growing in the region. I loved all of these technical details. Wine making is really a dance of science and art. Add in the history of the region, the rule-making bodies keeping a level playing field, and the debate of tradition vs using newer methods and technologies, and there was so much interesting stuff to be learned all in one day. While I would do this tour in a heartbeat, I would encourage those attending to bring some snacks and a bottle of water. We were hungry and thirsty (for water) at the end.