August 13th
The Patriarche et Fils wine cave is just around the corner from us and it has great reviews regarding the tour so off we went to check it out. The tour cost 18 Euros each and it is self-guided with tasting at the end of 3 whites and 3 reds as well as Creme de Cassis. There are 5km of tunnels below the city for storing the 3,000,000 bottles of wine that are actually from many different wine makers around the Cote d'Or. The oldest bottle in the cellar is from 1904. The sommelier didn't think it would be so good now, but who knows? Patriarche doesn't make wine, they store it, market it and of course you can purchase some. We purchased one bottle of white and one of red from Santenay. It didn't make much of a dent in the 1,000,000 bottles sold at Patriarch each year but we wanted to do our part. During the tour there are informational videos and plaques to read and several proverbs along the way. One of my favorites was by Salvador Dali which said, "One who knows how to taste wine, never drinks wine again, but tastes secrets instead." Another said, "The best wine is not necessarily the most expensive one, but the one we share with others." Jay liked that one and proved it by purchasing one of the least expensive bottles in the cellar.😏 (It was delicious!)
 |
