Aosta in the Italian Alps

15 November 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  12 minutes

Aosta and mountains © Tiia Monto/cc-by-sa-3.0

Aosta and mountains © Tiia Monto/cc-by-sa-3.0

Aosta (French: Aoste, formerly Aouste; Arpitan: Aoûta, Veulla or Ouhta; Latin: Augusta Praetoria Salassorum; Walser: Augschtal; Piedmontese: Osta) is the principal city of Aosta Valley, a bilingual region in the Italian Alps, 110 km (68 mi) north-northwest of Turin. It is situated near the Italian entrance of the Mont Blanc Tunnel, at the confluence of the Buthier and the Dora Baltea, and at the junction of the Great and Little St Bernard Pass routes.   read more…

Château Margaux and Château Lascombes in Margaux-Cantenac

29 April 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon appétit, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  18 minutes

Château Margaux © Benjamin Zingg/cc-by-sa-2.5

Château Margaux © Benjamin Zingg/cc-by-sa-2.5

Château Margaux, archaically La Mothe de Margaux, is a wine estate of Bordeaux wine, and was one of four wines to achieve Premier cru (first growth) status in the Bordeaux Classification of 1855. The estate’s best wines are very expensive, with a standard-sized bottle of the Château Margaux grand vin retailing at an average price of $639. The estate is located in the commune of Margaux on the left bank of the Garonne estuary in the Médoc region, in the département of Gironde, and the wine is delimited to the AOC of Margaux. The estate also produces a second wine named Pavillon Rouge du Château Margaux, a third wine named Margaux de Château Margaux, as well as a dry white wine named Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux which does not conform to the Margaux appellation directives.   read more…

Wine Quarter in Lower Austria

26 May 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

Vino Versum Poysdorf © Werner Kraus/cc-by-sa-3.0

Vino Versum Poysdorf © Werner Kraus/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Weinviertel (“wine quarter”) or Viertel unter dem Manhartsberg (“area below the Manhartsberg“) is located in the northeast of Lower Austria. In the east, the Weinviertel borders Slovakia at the March River. In the south, it borders Mostviertel and Industrieviertel, its limits being the Wagram, the Danube and the Marchfeld. Its western neighbor is Waldviertel, the traditional border being the Manhartsberg. In the north, the Weinviertel is adjacent to the Czech Republic, more specifically Moravia. The river Thaya runs back and forth across the border.   read more…

California’s Wine Country

30 December 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon appétit Reading Time:  7 minutes

Sonoma Vineyards in Russian River Valley © flickr.com - Simon Davison/cc-by-2.0

Sonoma Vineyards in Russian River Valley © flickr.com – Simon Davison/cc-by-2.0

The Wine Country is an area of Northern California known worldwide as a premium wine-growing region. Viticulture and wine-making have been practiced in the region since the mid-19th century. There are over 400 wineries in the area north of San Francisco, mostly located in the area’s valleys, including Napa Valley in Napa County, and the Sonoma Valley, Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Bennett Valley, and Russian River Valley in Sonoma County. Wine grapes are also grown at higher elevations, such as Atlas Peak and Mount Veeder AVAs. The region is defined not only by its viticulture, but also its ecology, geology, architecture, cuisine, and culture. The majority of the grape harvest, by both area and value, derives from Sonoma County.   read more…

Château Haut-Brion in Aquitaine

12 September 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon appétit Reading Time:  20 minutes

Château Haut-Brion © flickr.com - BillBl/cc-by-2.0

Château Haut-Brion © flickr.com – BillBl/cc-by-2.0

Château Haut-Brion is a French wine, rated a Premier Cru Classé (First Growth), produced in Pessac just outside the city of Bordeaux. It differs from the other wines on the list in its geographic location in the north of the wine-growing region of Graves. Of the five first growths, it is the only wine with the Pessac-Léognan appellation and is in some sense the ancestor of a classification that remains the benchmark to this day. In addition to the grand vin, Haut-Brion produces a red second wine. Formerly named Château Bahans Haut-Brion, beginning with the 2007 vintage, it was renamed Le Clarence de Haut Brion. The vineyard also produces a dry white wine named Château Haut-Brion Blanc, with a limited release of the second dry white wine, Les Plantiers du Haut-Brion, renamed La Clarté de Haut-Brion for the 2008 vintage. Since 2003, Domaine Clarence Dillon’s daughter company, Clarence Dillon Wines, has also released the Bordeaux brand wine named Clarendelle. The annual production ranges from 10,000 to 12,000 cases (900 to 1,080 hL) of the red grand vin Château Haut-Brion, and from 650 to 850 cases (59 to 76 hL) of Château Haut-Brion Blanc. Of the second wines, the red Le Clarence de Haut-Brion previously named Château Bahans Haut-Brion, has a production of 5,000 to 7,000 cases (450 to 630 hL), and the white La Clarté de Haut-Brion, previously named Les Plantiers du Haut-Brion, has a production of 1,000 to 1,200 cases (90 to 108 hL).   read more…

Neustadt on the German wine route

7 November 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Franzfoto/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Franzfoto/cc-by-sa-3.0

Neustadt an der Weinstraße (formerly known as “Neustadt an der Haardt”) is a town located in Rhineland-Palatinate. With 52,000 inhabitants, it is the largest town called Neustadt.   read more…

Château Lafite Rothschild and Château Mouton Rothschild in Pauillac

7 December 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon appétit Reading Time:  9 minutes

Chateau Lafite © Ken Case

Chateau Lafite © Ken Case

Château Lafite Rothschild

Château Lafite-Rothschild and Château Mouton Rothschild are legendary wine estates located in the village of Pauillac in the Médoc, 50 km (30 mi) north-west of the city of Bordeaux. Their red wines of the same names are regarded as one of the world’s greatest clarets. Château Lafite-Rothschild was the property of Gombaud de Lafite in 1234. In the 17th century, the property of Château Lafite was purchased by the Ségur family, including the 16th century manor house that still stands. Although vines almost certainly already existed on the site, around 1680, Jacques de Ségur planted the majority of the vineyard. The estate is owned by members of the Rothschild family since the 19th century. The name Lafite comes from the Gascon term “la hite” meaning “small hill”.   read more…

Pauillac en Médoc

21 September 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon appétit Reading Time:  6 minutes

Château Batailley © CGC 1855

Château Batailley © CGC 1855

Pauillac is a commune in the Gironde department, Aquitaine, Médoc region in southwestern France close to Bordeaux. The town of Pauillac is the largest in the Médoc, with a population of over 5000. Pauillac is somewhat more elevated than the surrounding area, rising to a peak of nearly 30 metres above sea-level in the region of Château Pontet-Canet. The soil is gravelly, as with most of the Haut-Médoc. The forest to the west shelters the vines from the Atlantic winds.   read more…

Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune‎ in Burgundy

14 September 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon appétit, Museums, Exhibitions Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Arnaud 25/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Arnaud 25/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Hospices de Beaune or Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune is a former charitable almshouse in Beaune in the Burgundy region. It was founded in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin, chancellor of Burgundy, as a hospital for the poor and needy. The original hospital building, the Hôtel-Dieu, one of the finest examples of French fifteenth-century architecture, is now a museum. Services for patients are now provided in modern hospital buildings.   read more…

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