Champagne Vineyards

Chablis Irancy

Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé, Chablis & Champagne

24 - 28 October 2010

This excellent value five day break takes in the best white wines in France and visits some beautiful unspoilt country. We travel down to the region by coach and to make the journey go with a swing, we taste some wines en route.

For the best that the Sauvignon Blanc grape can produce, we visit the vineyards of Sancerre & Pouilly Fumé; to taste some outstanding wines made from Chardonnay we taste at several small domaines around Chablis in Northern Burgundy, and for the grande finale on the last day, we taste in the Côte des Blancs region of Champagne for sparkling wines also made from Chardonnay.

We have chosen a superb selection of small, high quality domaines for you to visit where it will be possible to buy direct at excellent cellar door prices. As we are travelling by coach, you will be able to bring back up to 36 bottles each. We appreciate that many of our clients are not traditional "coach tour" travellers. Neither are we! We do everything to make the journey as comfortable as possible. There is a maximum of 32 participants, on a coach that would normally accommodate up to 48, leaving spare seats for you to spread out if you wish; our Tour Manager serves complimentary tea, coffee and biscuits on the journey, and there is even an introductory wine tasting on the journey down. Of course, you also avoid the busy airports with this kind of trip, and someone else does all the navigating and driving, so no need to worry about whose turn it is to map read or drive! So, there is much to recommend touring by coach with A&C.

The first stop is in Sancerre. As far as it is known, Sancerre was originally built by the Visigoths to control the surrounding area, which they disputed with the Franks at the fall of the Roman Empire. It later became a prosperous merchant town, which was often at odds with the French King. In the wars of religion it was Protestant and was sieged twice by royal armies, a deed for which the local inhabitants repaid them by being fervent revolutionaries come 1789. Latterly it became the home of Napoleon's Marshall MacDonald, Flora MacDonald's nephew. This Scottish legacy survives to this day, with descendants including the Estutts d'Assay of Château de Tracy. Our next and final base is the lovely wine village of Chablis, where we stay at a very pretty three star hotel, with a renowned Michelin rosette restaurant at which we will dine on the final evening.

On our return journey we stop off in Champagne’s Côte des Blancs for a visit, tasting and lunch with the excellent estate of André Jacquart et fils.