Château de Sancerre

Champagne Vineyards

Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé, Chablis & Champagne

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

We are featuring Chablis & Burgundy as our new coach tour for 2011 where you will find similar visits to estates in our Sancerre, Pouilly-Fume, Chablis & Champagne 2010 Wine Tour. This fantastic new addition to our 2011 Wine Tours programme will taste the fantastic Sauvignon Blancs of Chablis as well as the full-bodied reds of Burgundy, for more information click here.

In 2010, we chose a superb selection of small, high quality domaines for you to visit where it was possible to buy direct at excellent cellar door prices. As we travelled by coach, you were 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 was 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.

Of course we also tasted other top Sancerres (both red and white) and other good value appellations such as Reuilly and Quincy (lots of these wines are in the Directors cellar, for great value delicious drinking wine!).

Our next base was the wine village of Chablis, where we stayed at a pretty 3* hotel with a renowned Michelin rosette restaurant, where we dined on the last evening. Our visits are to good domaines that between them produce Bourgogne Tonnere, Irancy (red), St Bris (Sauvignon), Côtes d’Auxerre (Pinot Noir or Chardonnay), Passe-tout-grains, Aligote and rosé plus Chablis right up to Grand Cru quality.

On the return journey we stopped off in Champagne’s Côte des Blancs for a tasting and lunch with the family estate of André Jacquart et fils.

Outline Itinerary

Day 1. Morning depart London Victoria Coach Station. Meet Folkestone. Channel crossing by Shuttle. Early evening arrive Sancerre, overnight Sancerre 3* hotel.
Day 2. AM visit. Lunch at winery. PM visit. Free evening. Overnight Sancerre 3* hotel.
Day 3. AM visit. Lunch at winery. Travel to Chablis. Free evening. Overnight Chablis 3* hotel.
Day 4. AM visit. Free time Auxerre. PM visit. Optional visit. Michelin Rosette dinner (included). Overnight Chablis 3* hotel.
Day 5. Depart for Champagne. Lunch at Champagne House. Early evening Shuttle crossing to Folkestone. Continue to London Victoria Coach Station.