4-3-2016: Day 7, Chateauneuf-du-pape

April 2 - We Meet Our Guide Harry

Speaking of wine – we have a special treat courtesy of Tina and Jim’s connections in Paso.  We have hooked up with Harry Karis, author of THE book on Chateauneuf-du-Pape.  

Harry will be driving us to the best of the wineries in the Rhone Valley and Provence region over 4 or 5 days as we will soak in and concentrate as much as possible (emphasis on soaking) on the wine and region.  We cannot wait to meet Mr. Karis, as he is one interesting guy!  

The first adventure Mr. Karis admits to is being a guitar player in a rock and roll band in the mid 70’s where he started enjoying wine.  In the 80’s he moved on the opening a restaurant and continued and ramped up his knowledge and appreciation of wine.  But not one to relax, Mr. Karis decides, at age 40 to finish medical school!  That degree no doubt helped pay for great wines from all over the world but he focused on Southern Rhone wines and especially Chateauneuf-du-Pape.  However, Mr. Karis did not find a great book on Chateauneuf-du-Pape - so he wrote one!  Not just a little book about his favorite wine, he wrote THE book!  

And we get to spend time with this guy while drinking incredible wine in the beautiful Rhone Valley.  Whew!

 

There he is - the famous Harry and he smiles and has a sense of humor - this should be fun. Let's go a wine tasting! But first we tour the vineyards cause they are different. Really different. Glaciers were active in the Avignon region and pushed up rocks from the riverbed of the Rhone - tons and tons of smooth river Rock that cover much of the ground. So much of the ground is covered in rocks with vines sticking up here and there. It is early Spring and the vines have just broken buds in the last week. There are no supporting wires for the grapes here so it just looks different. Take a look at the photos Tina will post. 

Avignon has a wine event for the local wine people and Harry gets us in. It is just a local affair but the room is filled with 50 or so Wine people just wanting to pour as much as you can hold. Thank goodness Harry is with us and he leads us to 5 or 6 that each pour 4 or 5 wines to try. We sip and dump as this could be hazardous to our health! But each wine is wonderful! These are all Rhone wines so prevalent in Paso Robles but right away we see the difference as these are so layered and balanced so now we have two Rhone river wine areas we love! Our guide is famous here and many folks stop to pay their respects and to visit. 

We see maybe only one other American at a tasting spot and he is serious - taking notes on the Chateauneuf-du-pape we are trying. Silly me, I thought there was only one Chateauneuf-du-pape but there are many. Chateauneuf is a village and they have both white and reds in this region. So the education begins. We talk to the American and somehow Jim and I reach to dump and talk at the same time and comes a big wave of wine all over the American. White wine thank goodness but a good amount . The guy is way cool, does not miss a beat and says he have more clothes in his room and besides it should dry soon. But he talks to our guide and finally he stops, takes a breath, stops writing and says, "Are you Harry Karis?" And he begins to shake. "I have one of the first copies of your book! I have it all marked up and notes written in the margin. Can I get a picture with you". And he pulls out his camera phone and smiles the biggest smile with Harry. He wants our emails and he forgets about his wet wine pants cause today he meant Harry! 

What a treat being at a wine event for locals and us. We need a break and we like to walk and so does Harry so we head for the hills. We walk above the vineyard to a castle that was bombed in the war and still in need of total repair - but everything here is charming and so is the view. 

What a nice day so we head back to our lovely room.