France 2024 — The Cowart Kitchen

During this incredible trip, we traveled through the Rhône Valley, Burgundy, and Champagne regions of France. We met some of the most incredible people including winemakers, château owners, guides, and more. I am so grateful for the connections we made and the absolutely incredible wine we got to experience.

Domaine de Boisseyt

This family-run vineyard is situated within the northern Rhône Valley. We tasted some of their outstanding wines from vineyards in the subregions of Condrieu, Saint-Joseph, and Côte Rôtie.
Our guide Peter identified theses sub-regions on a map of the northern Rhône Valley to help us place what we were tasting.

Côte Rôtie is known as one of finest subregions of the northern Rhône Valley.

It is particularly famous for producing high-quality Syrah with elegance, complexity, and aging potential. It is unique for its exceptionally steep vineyards (which you can see in the background of this picture) and its complex soils.
It is also common to see blending of a small percentage of Viognier (a white grape) with Syrah to add an aromatic lift and complexity to the wines.

Our next stop in the northern Rhône was Pierre Gaillard. These wines are very well known for their quality and elegance.

We were able to see a lot of action as the harvest was just coming to end! Harvest in the vineyards is a busy time as the grapes are picked and winemakers begin the process of fermenting wines for the new vintage.
In this photo, we can see the winemaker performing the “pump over” technique. During fermentation, the skins of the grapes float to the top of the vat forming what is called a cap. The juice is drained from the bottom and pumped back over the top of the cap. This helps to incorporate the color and tannins from the skins into the juice as well as oxygenate the juice.

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View of the Rhône River from the top of Hermitage hill. Hermitage is another prestigious subregion of the northern Rhône Valley known for powerful and age-worthy Syrah.

We had an outstanding stay at the Château de Bagnols. This five-star hotel is a former 13th century castle located in the Beaujolais region of France. It was amazing to see the before and after photos of the restoration. Pictures truly could not capture the view of French countryside. The restaurant in the center courtyard of the chateau was wonderful. The wine and the octopus carpaccio were to die for!

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Domaine des Duc de Magenta in Côte de Beaune, Burgundy

This winery is owned and operated by a fifth generation French Duke (hence the name). The Duke’s cousin and her pup Tada gave us a wonderful tour and treated us to a tasting in their cellar. Their Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru was phenomenal and I brought home a bottle!

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Château de Meursault in Côte de Beaune, Burgundy

This visit was more modern than our previous one at Domaine des Duc de Magenta. We loved having a variety of experiences! Their VIP tasting room was stunning and tasting their Grand Cru wines (some of the most expensive wines out there) was a once in a lifetime experience.

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The Burgundy region of France is known for some of the most expensive and prestigious wines in the world. Just driving through the Grand Cru vineyards and seeing them in person was its own experience.
Pictured here are the Grand Cru vineyards of Romanée-Conti. Wines of recent vintages (within the last 10 years) go for $15,000-$20,000 per bottle. Prices for older and more exceptional vintages can easily exceed $20,000 to $50,000. So obviously I was giddy just snap this pic!

Pro Tip:

Pair escargot with Aligoté, a zesty and crisp white wine from Burgundy.

One of the most memorable experiences of our trip was a visit to the Jean-Claude Boisset winery. We were honored to have a VIP viewing of the family’s extensive private wine collection, with wines dating back to 1865. The tasting was held in the family’s cellar surrounded by this unimaginable collection. One of the wines included in our tasting was a 2009 Grand Cru Chablis. I have never tasted anything like this and I don’t think I will ever forget it!

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Our stay at the Château Saint Sabine was my absolute favorite of the trip. This 17th-century château is located in the heart of Burgundy. The service was outstanding and the property was breathtaking. We had an incredible five course dinner in their restaurant. I cannot say enough great things about our time here.
In the center photo below, the château manager provided a selection of three local gins and made me the best G&T I have ever had.

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Another front runner for most memorable and favorite of our experiences was our time at Pierre Paillard in Champagne. We went for a drive in the vineyards in the cutest little car and were then treated to a wonderful private tour of the cellar. A delicious three course wine-paired lunch followed and the chef cooked right in front of us. The chef was kind enough to pass along a few of his favorite French cooking tips!