We jumped on our bikes at 8:30 this morning under clear skies and a temperature of about 13 degrees, so yes, long sleeves were in order. The little chill in the air disappeared quickly as the sun’s heat hit us hard as we stood in the Batard-Montrachet vineyard, a producer of the Premier Cru wine (the top range of the production in this region). Long sleeves were quickly removed as our guide explained the vineyards, the types of grapes and how important each piece of land is and how the value changes quickly within very short distances, like across a street. This has to do with where the land is located on the slope as well the type of soil and age of your vines. What is very interesting is that it is illegal to water your vineyards, rain water only. So if you have older vines they grow deeper into the soil to produce better grapes, some as deep as 30 meters. Our guide did an excellent job explaining the whole lay of the land and the process.
Time for some wine tasting. We glided and pedalled our way along the backcountry roads, through the vineyards to our vine tasting destination of Andre Delorme, a winery dating back to 1942. We sample five wines before getting back on our bikes and headed for lunch. This lunch was optional and for 16 euros was indeed a feast including all you drink wine. Buffet options for you appetizers, a choice for your entree, a cheese plate followed by a choice of desserts - sorry no pics. Very hard to get back onto the bikes after this feast for the additional 20 klms back to the barge.
We were fortunate to have a van following us and this is for a few reasons, one, for Jan and anyone else who couldn’t or didn’t want to ride, second for parts maybe needed and third after lunch the van filled up as 7 of the riders were just too full and tired to continue. So all good and well taken care of.
We glided into Chalon at about 5 with a scorching 30 degrees hitting us, good time to stop with about 42 kilometres under our wheels. Time for a short break, then a town orientation tour and very happy to hear, no dinner commitment tonight, we are still full from lunch at 7. Most of us stopped in at the local market for a grab and go dinner, yes we kept it light, a sandwich, pringles and a kitkat bar. Gadventures were wonderful as we we allowed to enjoy our casual feast under the stars on deck with all our included beverages, awesome.
A bit tired so time to turn in, a few pics of the day, hope you enjoy...
A few ebikes were available.
No comments:
Post a Comment