Wine lovers'follow Madonna's lead to southern France…we're talkintravel

Part I:  It’s difficult for Americans to comprehend how much wine is part of the French culture. (www.franceguide.com) During our last trip to the Languedoc-Roussillon region, (www.sunfrance.com), an up and coming wine area, we're reminded that our language is not the only difference between our two countries.

Danielle (email her at dlchristol@free.fr), a Montpellier resident, gave my husband Rich and I a tour of her hometown, including a public park dedicated to a man who saved the local vineyards from freezing during a particularly severe winter. As we talked, she told us a story illustrating how bad the wine used to be. “I remember sitting with my (elementary school) teachers at lunch,” she said, “and they gave me a glass of wine and it was terrible.” Here are three things you won’t normally hear about in America, teachers drinking wine at lunch, teachers letting students taste the wine and a grade school student knowing the difference between good and bad wine!

Today’s teachers are no doubt even nicer to their students since the area dubbed “the new Provence” is now receiving acclaim for it’s wine now from none other than Wine Spectator magazine, (www.winespectator.com), the oenophiles’ bible.

The most productive wine region in the world has wineries to suit everyone’s taste, including:
- vineyards that have been in families for generations, where a living room doubles as a tasting room (www.chateaulessolliux.com),
- -a sleek stainless steel winery (www.chateu-valmy.com) that purchases new oak barrels every year,
- -wine made grapes grown in the sand in La Grande Motte (www.lagrandemotte-tourisme.com)
- a husband and wife team that has the most unusual wine tasting room; huge oak barrels outfitted with couches.

  photos by Rich Carlson / foto-op