A while ago I used to post frequent pictures of bottles we'd sampled. Now, the lineup of empties destined for the bottle bank is a little less random - it only includes the bottles we'd chosen ourselves, without extras brought by guests. But now we can't travel the bottles evoke more than ever our memories of the places we've visited, winemakers we've met, and favourite grapes. Above, a few reds. left to right, one of several excellent wines from a Vinsobres producer, the Domaine de Deurre. We first discovered the village of Vinsobres during some of our first forays into the Vaucluse in the mid-90s, and vividly recall the magic of climbing the steep winding hill northwards and seeing Mont Ventoux rising ever higher to the south as we drove.
The next in line is from a much more recent trip, our first visit to the Jura last year. There we discovered the pretty town of Arbois in the hills not far from the Swiss border, and an excellent wine co-op whose pinot noir we are enjoying. The other three reds are all Beaujolais crûs, from the area south of Mâcon which we've visited often over the past 25+ years - the Fleury and Saint Amour are both from the huge variety of good wines produced by the firm Georges Duboeuf - he himself died last year, having been a pioneer in the growing reputation of Beaujolais wines, and we have acquired several of these wines for a future tasting with friends once the lockdown is over, but we decided to try these two 'extras' in advance of that. The Côte de Brouilly however is from one of our longest-standing contacts in the area, Les Roches Bleues,, which we discovered through the 3D Wines scheme for buying wines direct from producers in France. I've just discovered that this firm has become insolvent - a pity, they introduced us to several excellent producers, some of whom have become friends. But the miracle of Beaujolais is the variety of wines they produce from the single grape variety, gamay
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