Knowing
that we were preparing ourselves for lots of visitors over the coming months,
we felt it would be a good idea to build up a reserve of some delicious
European wine. Whilst we’ve tasted some nice German wines, France was the
obvious place to visit.
Alsace
is the closest wine region to us in Frankfurt, being three and a half hours away by car. As we were leaving after Chris finished work on the Friday, we felt it was
best to stay a bit closer to home.
Riquewihr was our destination, one of France’s top 10 prettiest
villages.
We
were not disappointed. A walled medieval town of roughly 1000 people, it is surrounded
by vineyards and other small villages as far as the eye can see. So quaint, picturesque, pretty, perfect! It's easy to get lost in your own thoughts of the beauty of this village as you wander the cobbled streets. Unfortunately
for us, we were visiting in the off season so the weather on the Saturday was
overcast. Due to the time of year we also missed the gorgeous colours of the flowers lining the streets
and the leaves on the vines, however it worked to our advantage as we were able
to spend a lot of time with the wine makers discussing the wines; and found we didn’t
have to navigate our way through the streets filled with hoards of tourists like you do
in the summer season.
Unlike winery experiences in Australia, all the
wine makers have vin caves or shops in and around the main street of town so we were
able to walk from shop to shop trying wines, which was such a refreshing change!
No need for a designated driver. We learned that The Alsace Wine Route,
also known as Route des Vins, encompasses over 100 towns & villages, as
well as 50 Grand Cru terroirs. A Grand Cru hill is the creme de la creme of the
vineyard, which the best wine is made from and Riquewihr has boasts two, the Schoenenbourg
and Sporen. Again, unlike Australian wineries, the wine makers in the area have their own
designated patch on each Grand Cru, so it gives everyone the opportunity to sell some of the
best wine from both hills. We purchased quite a number of Rieslings, Pinot
Blancs & Pinot Noir that day and were extremely grateful that the walk back
to our B&B wasn't too strenuous!
Of course, a trip to France isn't complete unless
you’ve gorged yourself silly on yummy food. And our trip to Riquewihr was no
exception! Our lovely host, Martine recommended we try La Grappe d’Or for a meal and we
were lucky enough to secure a reservation for the Saturday evening. During the day, however, we feasted on a delicious continental
breakfast prepared by Martine, followed by a mid morning savoury crepe, followed by lunch, followed by a nutella crepe; and
that was all before 4pm! Needless to say, we weren’t quite ready for dinner by
the time we arrived at the restaurant, but we just had to push through as the
food was utterly amazing. Our entrée
consisted of lobster and avocado in tomato foam, which was served in a cocktail glass and for the main, I had the
duck (as seen below), which was incredible.
Sadly, our stay to pretty Riquewihr was over
as quickly as it began. You can read
more about our journey home via Ribeauville & Colmar in the next post.
