About wines: Wine Tasting Experiences

And you don't have to be an expert to enjoy it! Have fun learning all kinds of things on wines and enjoy sharing them with your friends during dinners. Talking wine always livens up the evenings!

A wine tasting stimulates all the senses. This creative and original activity gives you the keys to recognize a French wine and its region of origin: become familiar with the processes of winemaking and blending and get a better understanding of how to combine wine and food wisely. Not to mention a complete immersion in a new linguistic universe with poetic and pictorial vocabulary. Come and discover the wines of La Vallée de la Gastronomie - France®!

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté: internationally renowned French wines

The Burgundy vineyards extend over the departments of Yonne, Côte d’Or, and Saône-et-Loire. This preserved jewel produces varied and qualitative wines whose reputations have long since crossed the borders of France.

Its cellars, with their hushed atmosphere, are home to some of the greatest wines, such as Côtes de Nuits, Côtes de Beaune, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Beaune, Hospices de Beaune, or Meursault. The region abounds with wine estates (more than a hundred) producing a wide range of French wines such as those from the Mâconnais or the Côte Chalonnaise.

By choosing to explore the rich and complex land of Burgundy-Franche-Comté, your wine tasting trip in France will be filled with the bouquets of some of the world's most highly rated vintages.

You will become familiar with a unique know-how that has been jealously guarded by generations of passionate winemakers. Tasting of the region's wines usually take place in exceptional settings at the heart of wine estates and châteaux steeped in history.

Discover how the professionals blend the wines and give them their signature taste or become a grape picker during a weekend at a domain or chateaux... the region is ideal for unusual discoveries!

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: subtle wines

The Rhône Valley is a renowned and exceptional French wineregion: come discover it with a getaway in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Côte-Rôtie, Saint-Joseph, Crozes-Hermitage, etc., the Rhône Valley, generous and diverse, is a destination of choice for wine lovers.

A wine tasting with prestigious appellations will open the whole world of oenology: AOC Beaujolais, Juliénas, Brouilly, Côte de Brouilly, Côte Rotie or Saint-Amour. Discover a new lexical field to describe the colours, tastes, and flavours of wines: full-bodied, fruity, fresh, noble, generous, tannic, rustic, lively, sweet...

On your wine tour, don't miss the Beaujolais region, famous for its "primeur" wine, sold immediately after vinification. It is sold worldwide on the third Thursday of November and is the subject of convivial celebrations throughout France.

Take a trip to the Lyon region: with a climate akin to that of the Beaujolais and a Mediterranean influence, it is the birthplace of the controlled designation of origin the coteaux-du-lyonnais. This appellation produces white wines from Chardonnay and reds from Gamay revealing aromas of red fruits.

It is also an opportunity to discover the delicious local cuisine: nougat, ravioles, Bresse chicken, etc.

Bouches-du-Rhône: sun filled wines

You want to learn about wine in an area renowned for its mild climate and picture-postcard landscapes? The Bouches-du-Rhône welcomes you for unforgettable wine-tasting experiences.

Côtes de Provence, Coteaux d'Aix, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes du Rhône, Tavel, Vacqueyras, Crozes-Hermitage are all produced with various grape varieties: Grenache, Syrah, Clairette, Sémillon, etc. A visual, olfactory, and gustatory experience, you are introduced to the recognition of aromas before learning how to match wines and dishes. The local winemakers always manage to make you discover surprising associations with local products.

Learn about the influence of the soil (limestone, clay, stony, etc.) on the nature and intensity of the wine. A stay in the region gives you the opportunity to learn the methods of wine blending and to create your own cuvée: put yourself in the winemakers' shoes for a few hours, a guaranteed change of scenery!

With the Vallée de la Gastronomie - France®enrich your stay by extending your itinerary with wine tastings in neighbouring regions. You will experiment with terroirs which, although close, produce very different wines.

Gard: freshness and authenticity

Between the Cévennes, Camargue and Nîmes, the Gard is a wild and authentic territory with wines that reflect its image.

Let's start our journey in Camargue and its hills, scrubland, and fine sandy beaches. If the southern villages are an invitation to a stroll, an abundance of activities are available. With viticulture steeped in 2,000 years of history, wine tasting is one of the most popular ways to immerse yourself in the region's culture. Filled with sunshine, the wines come in a wide range of colours: rosé, gris de gris "Sable de Camargue", or deep reds, they are perfect partners to the gourmet and generous local gastronomy.

Continue your itinerary to the city of Nîmes and discover the costières-de-nîmes, a French wine with a controlled designation of origin part of the vineyards of the Rhone Valley. This appellation produces mainly red and rosé wines to be discovered in wineries or in the many gastronomic restaurants of the region.

Let’s not forget the wines of the Cévennes and Languedoc with their aromatic intensity and liveliness typical of this terroir. To prepare your wine tour, get an insider's advice from La Vallée de la Gastronomie - France®.

Discover French wines and their region with La Vallée de la Gastronomie - France®

Wines from Burgundy, Mâconnais, Beaujolais, the Rhône Valley, Provence, etc., organize your wine tastingtrip in France with the Vallée de la Gastronomie - France®. Enjoy a bed and breakfast in the finest wine estates or chateaux and discover an ancestral know-how. Introduction to winemaking processes, tasting, blending techniques, the activities available on a wine route are numerous and varied. And of course, if you are in the region during grape harvest, you will have front row to benefit from this special moment.