Rhône Wine Tour with Matt Walls

June 11 – June 16, 2023

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YOUR 6 DAY RHÔNE TOUR INCLUDES: 

• Instruction throughout by renowned Decanter columnist and Rhône expert Matt Walls
• All professional-level tours and tastings at top-quality wine producers
• Services of a Tour Manager throughout, to provide customer service and logistics support
• 1 night at 4-Star Hotel Mercure Lyon Centre – Gare Part Dieu in Lyon, double occupancy
• 2 nights at 4-Star Fac & Spera Hotel & Spa in Tain l’Hermitage, double occupancy
• 2 nights at 4-Star Hotel Europe in Avignon, double occupancy
• Welcome drink with your tour instructor and tour manager
• 5 buffet breakfasts
• 3 gourmet lunches with fine local wines
• 2 gastronomic dinners, expertly matched with top-quality wines of the region
• Special grouped tasting and gourmet lunch with winemakers of Chateauneuf-du-Pape
• Masterclass and tasting at InterRhône
• Deluxe, air-conditioned motor coach transportation throughout, with bottled water on-board

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This trip is SOLD OUT.

Join the waitlist to be immediately informed should seats become available.

MEET YOUR WINE GUIDES

Your Wine Tour Instructor: Matt Walls

• Matt Walls is a freelance wine writer, author and consultant who contributes to various UK and international publications such as Club Oenologique, timatkin.com and Decanter, where he is a contributing editor.
• He is Panel Chair for the Rhône at the Decanter World Wine Awards.
• He has recently returned to the UK after living near Avignon in southern France for two years researching his latest book Wines of the Rhône, which was shortlisted for the André Simon Food and Drink Book Awards 2022.

Your Tour Manager : Mary Kirk, DipWSET

Assisting the instructor and making sure logistics run smoothly and that your needs are answered will be Mary Kirk.

Mary has been leading wine tours in France for 15 years and has been tour manager for WSG study trips or over 5 years. She is also a DipWSET, FWS and certified French Sommelier-Conseil.

She may be a familiar face to some of you because she also takes care of WSG members as our Community and Membership Manager.

Mary also teaches wine in Paris, specifically Sommellerie at Ferrandi Gastronomic school of Paris, as well as the FWS program at the Butler Academy in Paris. Her other activities include leading wine events and consulting in the French wine sector.

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5 reasons to join our Rhône Wine Tour in 2023

• Discover this remarkable Rhone wine region with your instructor Matt Walls, wine writer and Rhône specialist for Decanter magazine.
• Visit the most renowned estates of the Northern and Southern Rhone. Tour the stunning vineyard sites with winegrowers for a detailed and precise study of the unique terroirs of appellations such as Condrieu, Côte Rôtie, Hermitage or Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
• Meet the winemakers and enjoy extensive insider tastings of some of the best Rhone wines. Experience the depth and exceptional quality of these seductive yet not always well-known Syrah, Viognier or Grenache-based wines.
• Lunch and dine in the region's best restaurants and enjoy tasting Rhone wines in a gastronomic setting, perfectly paired with creative local cuisine.

Travel with a group of wine students who are serious about wine, either as wine professionals or committed wine lovers. Share an educational, epicurean and unforgettable experience while mastering the world of Rhône. Trips are open to people from all countries, and are held in English.

This was an outstanding presentation on the Rhone region. I left with a better understanding of the diverse terroir and will be able to articulate important facts about the area in a way that I could never explain by merely reading a book. Being there in

Andy Sechrist

rhone Study Trip with Andrew Jefford, October 2022

I loved seeing this area of France and I love Rhone wines. This was a great group as well, amiable and knowledgeable about wine. We tasted some wonderful wines! Mary also made this trip go smoothly in a very nice manner.

Lynn McCluskey

rhone Study Trip with Andrew Jefford, October 2022

I enjoyed the thoughtfulness put into the logistics, the wine visits, the hotel stays, and the meal planning. Moreover, I most enjoyed the expert skills of Mary Kirk in guiding us through the journey.

Mona Hart

rhone Study Trip with Andrew Jefford, October 2022

The most enjoyable event for me on this trip was hiking to the top in Northern Rhone. The view was not only breathtakingly beautiful, but really helped me to understand how just a small amount of land in strategic spots can produce wonderful, natural win

Tammy Heizelman

rhone Study Trip with Andrew Jefford, October 2022

❮ ❯

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Estates visited on previous Rhône Wine Tours

The list below is a sample of estates we visited in the past. We would like to thank the following estates and individuals for having welcomed us and our students on past Rhône wine tours:

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The Magic of the Rhône Valley

Traveling to the Rhône Valley is rather like touring two regions for the price of one! The narrow, cooler slopes of the Northern Rhone with its famous Hermitage and Côte Rôtie appellations produce some of the most sublime Syrah wines in the world, while the vaster and warmer Southern Rhone offers up the great Grenache blends of Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine and other rich wine appellations.

The Rhône is France’s second largest producer of AOC wines (after Bordeaux). Its viticultural history dates back to the Romans who sculpted its terraced topography and introduced the vine.

The river itself links to the Rhine, Seine and Loire through a network of canals and waterways effectively connecting the Mediterranean with the rest of northern Europe. As a principal trade route, this region has long been the cultural nexus between Burgundy and the colder climes to the north and Provence and the warmer regions to the south. Come feel the wind and sun!

In the Rhône, a continental climate meets up with a Mediterranean one and this collision of north and south finds manifest expression in the local food culture. Lyon is the culinary heart of France. Here the cuisine au beurre (butter) mixes with the cuisine à l’huile (olive oil). There are more Michelin-starred restaurants in this French city than in any other (outside of Paris)! Taste what people are talking about!

It is in the Rhône where east also meets west. The granite and schist of the Massif Central (west) collide with the sedimentary soils of the Alps and its foothills (east). Touch it!

The wines of this region are as powerful as the geology, topography and cultural history that has shaped it. The wines themselves are living legacies. There is no place like Rhône.

CHECK OUT ALL UPCOMING WINE TOURS:

Our exceptional wine tours offer intensive, professional-level, educational programming within the wines regions of France, Italy and Spain. Lead by top wine industry professionals, our itineraries take you into some of the best cellars and vineyards for hands-on learning and unparalleled tasting opportunities. What better way to connect theory with practice!