by Caspar Bowes

A visit to the ruined castle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape is always on the cards, especially as there is a rather nifty restaurant just downslope: Les Vergers des Papes. Go there only if you can handle dour staff.In some ways, the wines of Châteauneuf are precise opposites to those of Burgundy…

I always make a detour to get this view from the top of the Hill of Hermitage each time I visit the region. Note the closeness of the valley walls, walls that form a funnel down which the Mistral wind is squeezed and through which it gathers force: a power expended in the southern part of the valley…

I took this shot after lunch in Tournon. From that bank, one looks back at Tournon's twin of Tain l'Hermitage, the pair separated by the mighty Rhône. You can see a great deal of building taking place in Tain and, indeed, Tain seems the younger twin by some margin, lacking the character and, y…

I took this bit of film standing on a pontoon jetty on the River Rhône just down from the domaine of René Rostaing in Ampuis...in the wind, evidently.…

The inner doings of the ruined castle of Chateauneuf-du-PapeToday has been a cycle of pleasure and pain, a brief description of which will give you some insight into the daily experiences of a wine merchant on a buying trip to France. I headed out to Chateauneuf after breakfast and had an extremely …