We’ve never been wine snobs; we’re simply fans of things that taste good to us, and grapes have long been a part of that. We got married years ago in California’s wine country and now we live in the heart of France’s largest wine-producing region. In fact, it is often cited as the largest single vineyard surface area in the world. It produces about one-third of all French wine—more than the entire United States combined. We didn’t hesitate, then, when our friends Sally and Larry suggested that we accompany them to lunch at the wine and food school La Maison du Rire, which sits right in the heart of the Corbières, just a stone’s throw from the Boutenac terroir—our absolute favorite.
The last major event we attended in Atlanta before moving here was an Australian wine show that featured over 200 different bottles. To narrow the choices we selected only sparkling reds, but even then there were 7 or 8 to try. Here, in major wine areas like Bordeaux and Burgundy the caves we’ve been to have offered that same manageable number of tastings. Keeping with that logic, during the COVID lockdowns, when our favorite wine store began offering free delivery, we created our own at-home “windowsill and doorway” events, trying something new each night while toasting our neighbors from a safe distance across the street.
A dining experience that we find especially enjoyable is when the food and wine are paired; the chef prepares the dishes and the sommelier selects the wine that will go with each course. That’s the exact concept that school owner Emma uses where she takes on both roles, choosing first the wine she wants to feature at the meal and then creating recipes to match. Here are some snippets from her website to describe the Jura and Savoie wines we tried: “Unique and expressive; these mountainous regions never fail to surprise; from sparkling wines to the unique Vin Jaune; magnificent Alpine landscape; refreshing, crispy and herbal.” Combine those with 7 restaurant-quality, perfectly portioned plates and you have a delicious afternoon!
We were on a train two weeks ago where an American passenger was struggling with a mountain of luggage on her way to a Burgundy tasting in Lyon. She had even brought a separate, hard-sided suitcase specifically to fill with bottles to take back to the States. Watching her, I couldn’t help but think of the hassle: the sheer weight of a wine-laden trunk, the anxiety of checked baggage filled with fragile glass bottles, and the encounter with customs and tariffs upon arrival. While I appreciate the desire for cherished souvenirs, it struck me that it might be far easier to simply drink the wine here—letting the flavors live in her memory—and then explore the “imported” section of her local wine store back home.
One of the greatest joys of living in the heart of French wine country is that there can be a “special occasion” every day. We recently met a newcomer to Carcassonne who summed up the transition like this: he now spends less on a good bottle of wine than he was spending on a fancy latte back in the US. Welcome to France—we’ll drink to that!
Photo notes: Bill took all of today’s photos at the wine tasting lunch at La Maison du Rire. In the featured photo you can see the 7 wines that we tried and in the first paragraph is the Crémant de Jura that started us off. Thank you to Sally and Larry for the invitation and to Emma, our host for the afternoon.
