VINTRIPS: TRAVEL TO THE HEART OF WINES

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ALSACE

Alsace is belived to be the oldest site to cultivate vineyards in France (since over 3 000 years) and, certainly one of the most beautiful.
Its famous vineyrads are mostly located along 170 km long Route des Vins d'Alzace. The wines , are regarded as the most finest of their type (Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewürtztraminer, vendanges tardives and selection grains nobles).
These wines which for historical reasons have a strong Germanic influence, are produced under three different
Appellation d'Origine Contrôlées (AOCs):
* AOC Alsace
* AOC Alsace Grand Cru (reserved uniquely for the wines from the best vineyards)
* AOC Crémant d'Alsace (for sparkling wines made by méthode champenoise).
Both dry and sweet wines are produced and often made from aromatic grape varieties.
Alzace produces some of the most noted Rieslings in the world, but on the export market, the
region is perhaps even more noted for highly aromatic Gewürtztraminer.
It is one of few wine regions in France to produce mostly varietal (mono-cépage) wines.
To be noted special, long type of the bottle, as well as typical wine glasses.
Not to forget about famous alzatian beer (biére d'Alsace). One may easily find here local micro-breweries producing beers following centuries old recepies and traditions.
Alsace is famous for its high number of picturesque villages, churches and castles and for the various beauties of its two main towns (Strasbourg and Colmar). All villages with typical houses, usually decorated with abundance of colorful flowers, are surrounded by picturesque Vosges with their thick and green forests and romantic lakes.

CHÂTEAU du HAUT KOENIGSBOURG
Since its construction in XIIth c. the Haut Koenigsbourg castle has been a constant witness to both European conflicts and rivalry between lords, kings and emperors. A number of illustrious owners left their mark on the castle's history, and successive events, even led to changes in the castle's structure.

COLMAR
For Georges Duhamel, Colmar was the most beautiful town in the world.
It has also often been said, that it is the most Alsatian town in Alsace !. Without going over the top with superlatives, Colmar undoubtely remains an exceptional town due to the wealth and variety of its historical and architectural heritage.

KAYSERSBERG
Whilst Colmar is supposed to be the most beautiful town in the world, Kaysersberg is regarded to be the most beautiful village in France !

ROUTE des VINS d'ALSACE
Over the past 50 years, the Alsace Wine Route has contributed to the success of Alzace wines. It has become famous the world over for its exceptional natural beauty, it simple course and for the instant connection its visitors feel with the region and its winegrowers. The Alsace Wine Route winds its way from north to south, for more than 170 kilometers (106 miles) along the eastern foothills of the Vosges.
This delightful itinerary leads visitors across rows of undulating, vine-covered hills, and through quaint villages with narrow streets and charming flower-decked houses clustered around the local church steeple.

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BURGUNDY

Bourgogne, is the unique place all over the world where one may find at the same time & at the same place:
* greatest wines of the world
* greatest gastronomy of the world
* greatest historical monuments of our contemporary, mediterranean civilization
In the magic world of wines, there are only two names which really counts.
These are: Bordeaux and Bourgogne
Both of them are in France, however they are totally different one from the other, not only because of their size (Bourgogne is much smaller), but as well following the fact, that they are using totally different grapes for the wines production processes. In Burgundy these are Pinot Noir for red wines and

Chardonnay for white wines. All wines are varietal [mono-cépage] wines.

RED BURGUNDYS:
are 100% made with Pinot Noir (except the Gamay).
This particular grape variety, is widely considered to produce some of the world's finest wines, but is quite difficult to cultivate and transform into wine. Bourgognes are considered to be the most elegant wines. This is because of their finesse and light structure. The tremendously broad range of bouquets, flavors, textures and impressions that Pinot Noir can produce, is totally unique. Traditional red Burgundy is famous for its fleshy, 'farmyard' aromas, but changing fashions and new easier-to-grow clones have favoured a lighter, fruitier style. Dominating fruits flavors, are these of cherry, raspberry or currant.
It is drank, usually after 5 years, except for the Grand Crus which will fully mature after 10 years and longer.

WHITE BURGUNDYS:
are 100% made of Chardonnay (except of Aligoté).
Traditionally in Bourgogne, both fermenation, as well as maturation, are processed in the barrels. Wines are always round, flavors are highly concentrated ( white fruits, white flowers, marzipan, hazelnut). In addition to being the most expensive, the Burgundy examples of Chardonnay were long considered the benchmark standard of expressing terroir through Chardonnay.
The most famous "montrachets" Grand Crus (for. ex.Puligny-Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet, Chevalier-Montrachet) are believed to be the top of the tops.

GASTRONOMY:
They believe in France that Paris is the brain of France, Champagne it's its soul, while Burgundy is, definitely its...stomach.
Bourgogne is believed to serve the best gastronomy in France, and presumably might be the best spot for all persons enjoying epicurean life's values.
The program offers three different styles of typical burgundian meals: one in traditional auberge, another one in XIth century wine cellars, as well as in a family run, ecological Ferme-Auberge.

HISTORICAL MONUMENTS:
The vists to the most legendary historical monuments of Burgundy shall be provided:
Hospices de Beaune (XV c. hospital and refuge for the poor.) , Caves Patriarche ( tourist circuit + tasting of some 14 Burgundys in XIII c. cellars in Beaune), as well as Château du Clos de Vougeot ( with its mammoth thirteenth-century winepresses installed by the Cistercian monks to whom these vineyards belonged for nearly 700 years until the French Revolution).

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JURA

Jura is not as famous as Bourgogne or Alzace. It is therefore less popular too.
However, apart of most beautiful scenery, she offers its top rarities and delicacies: Le Vin Jaune, Le Vin de Paille, as well as famous Comté hard cheese.
The Jura is a bucolic green bowl between Burgundy and Switzerland, where the patchwork of vineyards and hayfields is occasionally interrupted by a village of tile- roofed houses or a herd of cows. Roads came fairly late to the region; canals never did. So the Jura evolved, like the marsupials of Australia, in relative isolation, which permitted the planting of grapes like Savagnin, Ploussard and Trousseau that are grown almost nowhere else, made into wines with techniques that in most places would be regarded as downright peculiar.
Even in France, the wines of the Jura are little known, but they are as distinctive as any in the world.
In a world of smooth, rounded, velvet-lined wines, they stand out as jagged and resolute, like many of the most interesting winemakers.The leading whites have a nutty, sherry-like aroma that many people regard as hopelessly oxidized, but they are actually tangy, complex, pure and delicious. The best reds barely have enough color to be called red. They are delicate and graceful, yet with an earthy intensity that can stand up to the smelliest of cheeses. Almost singularly among wine regions, the reds are usually served before the whites in the Jura because they are lighter in texture.

VIN JAUNE:
The region's most profound wine, is legendary Vin Jaune (yellow wine). Many wine connoiseurs believe that it is one of the best white wines all over the world. If not the best one.
The Savagnin grapes are harvested late and then aged in small oak barrels for a minimum of 6 years and 3 months (although some producers age their Vin Jaune for up to 10 years). As the barrels are always slightly porous, considerable portion - nearly 40% - of the wine therefore evaporates over the years of ageing (the so called "angels share"). This maturation method, similiar to that used in Spain for fino sherry, allows the wine to acquire its distinct flavors, characteristic of walnut, almond, spice and apple. Vin Jaune is best appreciated after at least 10 years in bottle and has the ability, in good vintages, to age fo century or longer.
Even lovers of Vin Jaune sometimes describe its flavor as "rancid walnut", yet this wine is an unmatched partner of regional specialities like chicken with cream sauce and morels, and of course Comté, the famous cheese of the Jura.
This unique wine is bottled in a unique bottle, squat with a deep punt, called clavelin. Each clavelin has a capacity of 62 cl. (0,62 litres) - based on the fact that for every litre of newly made wine put into barrel, just 62 centilitres is left after nearly 6,5 years of ageing. Vin Jaune is the only wine allowed to be sold in France in a bottle of this capacity, while as this unusual bottle size is not sanctioned by the american government, the wine is hard to find in the United States that, a pity since the saline, mineral force of this wine is extraordinary.

VIN de PAILLE:
Le Vin de Paille (straw wine, or raisin wine), is a wine made from grapes that have been dried to concentrate their juice. The classic method dries clusters of grapes on mats of straw in the sun, but some regions dry them under cover, some hang up the grapes, and the straw may be replaced by modern racks. The technique dates back to pre-Roman times, and most production of these wines has been in Northern Italy and the French Alps. Straw wines are typically sweet to very sweet white wines, similar in density and sweetness to Sauternes and capable of long life. The low yields and labour-intensive production method means that they are quite expensive.

ARBOIS:
Historical town of Arbois, birth place of Louis Pasteur, is regarded as wine and culinary capital of Jura. Little town of character, classified as considerable place of taste under the auspices of National Council of Culinary Arts.

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3 WINE REGIONS
1 WINE TOUR

DAY-TO-DAY PROGRAM

Day 1
Transfer to accommodation
Welcome drink
Dinner
Overnight
Kaysersberg area, Alsace

Day 2
Visit to Colmar, private wine tasting, lunch at micro-brewery,
visit to Château Haut Koenigsbourg,
Route des Vins d'Alsace, dinner at Ferme-Auberge in Vosges.
Overnight.

Day 3
Visit to BIO winemaker, biodynamic vineyards,
organic wines, cellars visit, private wine tasting,
SlowFood culinary class, including lunch.
Transfer to Burgundy (300 km / 3 hrs)
Dinner & overnight
Beaune area

Day 4
Pinot Noirs:
Côtes de Nuits, Château du Clos de Vougeot, Grand Crus vineyards, transfer to medieval Beaune (capital of Bourgognes), tour of historical centre including visits to famous Hospices de Beaune and Caves Patriarche.
Dinner at XI c. cellars.
Overnight.

Day 5
Chardonnays:
Côtes de Beaune, Montrachets, Château de Meursault,
private wine tasting at XIII c. château.
Transfer to Jura (100 km / 1,2 hrs)
Dinner & overnight.
Arbois area.

Day 6
Move to Domaine Désiré Petit
to for a visit to a winery specialized
in local grape varieties and wine tasting.
A day in a most typical for Jura,
historical winemakers village Pupillin.
Introduction to legendary
Vin Jaune and Vin de Paille.
Wine tasting dinner.
Overnight

Day 7
Transfer to Arbois for a stroll through the historical centre,
birthplace of Louis Pasteur.
Tour of "La Maison de Louis Pasteur".

15:00 Transfer to destinations
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TERMS and CONDITIONS

Price
Subject to final confirmation, in function of required accomodations and meals standards.

Quoted price includes:
* Wine Tourism program,
* Wine Tourism insurance
* Friendly wine education
* SlowFood culinary class (Alzatian cuisine)
* Bed&Breakfast accommodations (6 nights/double occupancy)
* Return transfer by our roomy 9 seater from/to the airports:
Warsaw or Strasbourg or Berlin or Frankfurt or Praha or EuroAirport
* All necessary transfers
* Daily breakfast
* Meals as indicated in the itinerary (6x dinners / 6 x lunches)
* Full time assistance of multilingual (French/English/Polish) Wine Guide
* Private visits of wine cellars
* 3 x wine tasting (day 2, day 3 and day 5)

Quoted price does not include:
* Wines for meals,
* Personal expences, entrance tickets, wine tasting charges (other than day 2/3/5) etc.
* All items not specified in the above Price includes

Note:
* Program may be modified without prior notice.
* Tailor-made custom wine tours, available on request
* Quoted price is net and calculated on the basis of 6/7 participants.
* Year through programs.

Infos:
* info@winowww.pl
* (+48) 783 732 430

Copyright © by Adam Stankiewicz, VINTRIPS , 2010

2010-03-23T08:16:00.001-07:00

Bed&Breakfast

Up to standard B&B accommodations shall be provided at
winemaker's, traditional homes.

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Transfers

All transfers by WINETAXI, roomy, air-conditioned 9 seater vehicle, including transfers from and back to the airports.

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4 DAYS WINE TOURS

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