Chateau Bonnet and Roche de Solutre

We have been staying at Chateau Bonnet vineyard - initially built in 1630 by Claude Bonnet, an alderman of the city of Macon as a holiday house. The Perrachon family - vignerons since 1830 - bought it in 1950 and now the third generation of the family run it. Julien the youngest son has been our host and we are lucky that they just picked the grapes last week and so are macerating the red wines in the vats now. Today we spent 2 1/2 hours with Julien going through the vineyards and then the winery being educated in the vinification process - his sister Charlotte is the current winemaker and she spent time at Brockenwood in the Hunter Valley. Afterwards we had the obligatory tasting of every wine they make and I have a new respect for Beaujolais (Gamay) wine - they do make a very small parcel of Chardonnay as well which is delicious.
Then after lunch we ventured out to La Roche de Solutre - a rocky outcrop which provides a panoramic view of the region. The weather was very windy with rain squalls so quite bracing to say the least. Also I decided to use an alternative route via a gate that said in French “only for fit walkers” - unfortunately my French is crap and it actually said “reserved access for rock climbers”! So when Pete and I had scrambled up to the base of a cliff face with the track leading to a rocky ravine we retreated back through the brambles and found our way back onto the spur of the mount and back on the main track to the summit. As you will see and hear the wind was gusting but the view was worth it.
On the way down we had a great view of the grapepickers harvesting Chardonnay grapes - in the video you will see there are three men with large white packs on their backs that the pickers put the grapes in and then they walk down to the trailers, walk up a ladder and tip the grapes in.
Settling in now with cheese and pate and wines from the estate - tomorrow we move onto Lyon.Read more