Excerpt Thirty Three

I was up early, I placed a pod in my Nespresso machine. We would embark on the adventure to the Rhone Valley today.  I reached into my small refrigerator and took out a plain yogurt, and ripped off a hunk of bread from a baguette laying on my kitchen counter. One of my favorite varietals had in fact become Syrah which was the prevalent red grape in the Rhone Valley. We would be taking a train from Paris to Vienne, a major town in the Rhone Alps located on the Rhone River about twenty miles outside of the city of Lyon. Sebastian was on his way over and we would grab an Uber to the train station together. 

“So what happened last night? With Damien?” Sebastian abruptly asked as I got into the car. 

“I’m not sure I even want to discuss it.” I said quickly. 

“Ok, well I think Emmanuel and I are done. We got into a huge argument this morning. We are going to Rhone, who cares, but it isn’t the best timing for me.” 

“I’m so sorry, maybe once the wine is flowing later we can chat, I just am sort of in my head about everything.” I said this with truth and some sadness, I was upset at what was transpiring for both of us. Sebastian agreed and offered me a pain au chocolat. I was appeased and suddenly happy. 

“Let’s do this!” Alan, one of my classmates high-fived me when we boarded the train. I had to admit I was excited. I reminisced about our Bordeaux trip which had seemed so distant before our off-site internships. The class trips always underpromised and overdelivered and I was sure the Rhone Valley would be no exception. 

We would start with Northern Rhone, and the Côte Rotie appellation. This appellation produced almost all Syrah as far as red wine, and was allowed three white wine grapes to be grown. Those grapes were Roussanne, Marsanne, and Viogner. I was anticipating tasting the whites there, as my usual go to’s had been predominantly Chardonnay from Burgundy and the champagnes I had fallen in love with. I wanted to expand my preferences. 

We approached our first vineyard … Stephane Ogier. We were told that Stephane Ogier produced wines from some of the most famous Côte Rotie areas including Lancement, Côte-Rozier, and La Vialliere. His wines were sought after by the greatest chefs and most serious wine lovers around the world. Stephane introduced himself and I had to say, handsome came to mind. He was tall in stature and very gracious of all of us upon our entrance. This was a winery that we were privy to only because of Professor Ramage and his connections. I could tell this was not somewhere tourists were coming, this was a place for serious wine professionals. We tasted an array of Syrahs once in the cellar. We were being poured Syrahs straight out of the barrel, this wine wasn’t even bottled yet! A long plastic tube with a suction was being placed in the french oak barrels with vintages and blends no one in the open market was tasting… then released into our glasses.