A Tour De France – Six Regions And Six Health Reasons

This month at Rochester Park, Wines2U in collaboration with Body & Soul propose their very own Tour de France, exploring the wonderful variety of French wines – with 9 wines on show. Rather less energetic than a 14 day bike ride!

Our tour begins in the Champagne region in France’s north, enjoying (what else?!) a glass of Champagne from a family owned producer whose history of champagne production dates back to the mid-seventeenth century (Champagne Moutard). From there, we travel in a south-easterly direction to the Loire, where we will enjoy a delicate, cool Sancerre Rosé produced from the Pinot Noir grape. We stay in the Loire Valley to taste a delicious white from the Chenin Blanc grape (Vouvray) and an outstanding, flinty Sauvignon Blanc (Pouilly Fumé) for which the Loire is so famous. A trip to France is incomplete without visiting the Languedoc in the sunny South-West, and here we will sample a very interesting white wine – a blend of SIX grape varieties (!) from a very fine producer in Faugères.

It is at this point we will switch to red wines, and we head back north to Burgundy (more specifically the Côte Chalonnaise) to taste a relatively lightweight juicy red from the village of Givry. Burgundy is of course the spiritual home of the Pinot Noir grape. From here, we head to the Bordeaux region and taste an excellent Merlot-dominated red from the Côte de Bourg area where excellent value can be found. Finally, the “pièce de resistance” of the tasting will be a rich, spicy yet elegant Châteauneuf du Pape – which, being from the Rhône Valley, our sixth region, completes our Tour de France.

Wines2U have generously added a final red to the line-up. After the tasting, guests are invited to enjoy a very quaffable Syrah, or Shiraz if you prefer, from the Languedoc region. This is a wine at an every-day drinking price but is anything but every-day quality – this was one of only 14 wines unanimously recommended by all the judges at Singapore’s ‘The Local Nose’ in 2010. Quite a feat at a very reasonable $25.00 per bottle!

Wines2U imports a unique range from artisanal, mostly family-owned vignerons – wines which express their ‘terroir’ and that drink well above their price tags. The tasting will be hosted by Wines2U’s Managing Director, Alex Meaney, who will go through and talk a little about each wine. Having been in the wine business for almost 14 years, on the buying as well as selling side of wines from all over the world, in London, Brussels and now Singapore, he seeks to deliver a fun, informal yet informative tasting where people can meet and chat as well as learn a few new things about the world of wine.

All the wines are exclusive to Wines2U in Singapore.