11éme Fête des Vignes, or 3 days of wine tasting!

As I type this, I have the lemon pudding in the oven and Pink Martini playing through the speakers. But enough of cozy home life. The last three days there has been a wine festival in Montpellier, and surrounding area. For Friday and Saturday, 37 wineries were in the Espalanade Charles-de-Gaulle, almost an extension of the Place de Comedie. Little wooden huts were set up (and more of them will host the Christmas market starting next week) and for 2€ you received a glass (not plastic) and tickets for three tastings. Some tastings were more generous than others, but it was fun, especially with new friends, Charles and Jeannette, recently returned from the States as after the tasting, they thought it only right that we sit in one of the outdoor restaurant bars and share a bottle of rosé. Good thing Les and I were walking home.

We returned on Saturday and of course, there was music,,,,,,.

and food........

and entertainment......and we were also given a free breathalyzer, mandatory in all cars.

Today 32 of the area domaines/caves were open, so we plotted a bicycle trip to visit 5 of them and off we went. By 10:30am, were were in the village of Saint Georges d"Orques and couldn't find the first one on our list, so headed to the second, which produces the wine that is sold in the Cooperative just arround the corner from us. There was a party going on. Line dances, a great band that could cover Johnny Cash, John Denver, Simon and Garfunkel. Amazing! This time, wine tastings, as many as you wanted, were free and the moules were 2€. Here are some photos to give you the floavour.

The next one we went to, Domaine de Saumarez, looked closed up, but when we knocked, a young woman came to greet us. Born to Biritsh parents here, she had just graduated from a university north of London. We couldn't figure out which one, so we asked and it was Cambridge. How modest. We'ver heard of that university in such humble tones.

Next stop was Domaine Belles Pierres, where I bought a wine that will be best around 2020, so will put it downstairs for Doug and Carol to enjoy. Then on to Domaine Saint Julia which was situated in what looked like a three story home. They had opened the garage, the two boys (13,14?) were in charge of selling the wine and using the visa machine. 

This domaine also had a nice spread and the sister of the owner approached us to chat as her son was studying in Montreal. She missed him and he missed cheese.

And after one more stop in Grabels, we tottered on home, six hours and 32km and many hills later. Dinner was charcuterie from the fridge, enjoyed with a little red wine from our local cave. 15€ for 5litres. Oh my, it's going to be hard to face the wine and cheese in Canada.