On the first day of French class at
Coeur de France, they give you a special vocabulary sheet. On one side is words related to the region's specialty goat cheese,
crottins de chevignol, and on the other side is all the wine and wine tasting words you could ever need.
Started the first day of class with a fantastic tour of
Domaine Henri Bourgeois, given by the husband of the woman who runs the school - he used to run his own small winery! First time learning of silex (flint) versus caillottes (limestone) flavors in Sancerre white wines, and how very specific regions of a winery can produce very specific flavors. Sancerre is a very special place for wine.
The next dégoustation was a few days (or a week, happens weekly) later at
Vincent Grall Vigneron. Due to the heat, we were indoors at their store rather than at the winery. A small operation, it was great getting a little tour of their fermentation vats and lots of
crottins de chevignol to go with the wines!
The last dégoustation was at the
Joseph Mellot shop in Sancerre town centre. Lots of selection, far more reasonably priced than in the 'States, and of course, with more
crottins de chevignol.
