We travelled to a vineyard near St. Emilion which we’d found on the park4night app. It was called Château la rose Côtes Rol estate. When we got there it was 28 degrees with no wind!!! We had a strawberry tart for lunch which we’d got on the way in a Carrefour this lined our stomachs for the tour and wine-tasting!! We met a gentleman who had been visiting the vineyard for 16 years and helping with the growing and the harvest. He was involved in the Swanage lifeboat charity and fundraising for them. He was taking back plenty of wine and cheese for a forthcoming cheese and wine tasting fundraising evening in Dorset. There were about six vans staying on a plot in front of the vineyard for free, including a couple of families with newborn babies.
We went and did the winetasting at 3:30. A very helpful and informative young lady led us through the tasting of three wines, one of which was a young wine and the others were good years of a grand cru. We made a few purchases! She was one of three sisters, lived in Pomérol, and all three worked in one way or another in the wine industry. Most of the local wine growers operate on a relatively small scale. In this case they had 4 acres for the young wine and 8 1/2 for the rest. She explained the vagaries of the climate and how this could affect the vines.
We planned to visit the town the following morning but the tour was quite short so we decided to walk into Saint Emilion – it was about a half hour walk from the vineyard and we took it very slowly because it was so hot. We were very glad that we did this because the scenery was stunning and Saint Emilion itself is a medieval village with world heritage site status. It was nice to approach it across fields of vines. The monolithic church and bell tower were particularly stunning. Everywhere you looked there were beautiful buildings and of course wine tastings on offer, cellar visits and wine shops. We went down a steep slope and stopped in the Amelia Canta bar for beer and fresh lemon juice. We grabbed an ice cream on the way back up the hill and walked back through the vineyards to our camping spot.
We spent most of the evening sitting in the shade on one side of the van as it was still incredibly hot. For dinner we had a baguette, some charcuterie and cheese, olives and cherry tomatoes.
At about 8.40 we moved to the sunny side of the van where other guests were lined up waiting to watch the sunset over the vineyard. We sat there for quite a while, it was very relaxing and there was a beautiful sunset over the vines.
What a stunning stopover place! We visited St Emilion in 1985 on the motorbike tour. I remember it being very special but couldn’ t remember the history. Glad you are getting some very decent weather there! Xx
Thanks for your comment! It was rather lovely. The weather has cooled down a bit now!