Published on Nov, 2024
It was our first trip to France. We went specifically for wine tasting in the Southern Rhone region. We first booked the Ventourisme Wines from Châteauneuf-du-Pape and surrounding areas 1/2 day tour through Viator. It far exceeded our expectations! We ended up spending three days (3 wine tours) with Arnaud from Ventourisme and were not disappointed. I have to begin by saying, we had no experience booking our own tours abroad. We typically use a travel agent. This time we did it on our own. I always read the reviews, and I am often skeptical of reviews that are too favorable. That notwithstanding, I am providing an outstanding review because our experience with Arnaud deserves the highest marks and praise.
Over the course of the three days we were taken to nine different wineries, all varying in wines, family history, and from several Appalachians. The routes taken to get to each winery provided beautiful views of France. Arnaud provide detailed information on the landscapes, climate, and plants along the way. He also provided thorough information on each of the wineries; owners, family history, wine varietals, and what blends we would be tasting at each winery. We learned that we were not very knowledgeable on French wines. Arnaud passed along a significant amount of information that allowed us to appreciate each of the tasting. Each day a local picnic lunch was provide sourced with local ingredients including; fresh goat cheese from a friend’s farm, fresh hard-boiled eggs from a friend’s chickens, freshly made juices, local tapenades, local sourced products on a charcuterie board, homemade white boar pate, vegetables from Arnaud’s family garden, etc. It was fabulous. My husband has a lot of food allergies, we provide Arnaud a list of items he couldn’t eat, and Arnaud was respectful and made sure each day he could eat the picnic lunch.
All in all we had and incredible time thanks to all the work and effort from Arnaud. We highly recommend his company and tours. Should we find ourselves in the south of France again we will definitely book with Ventourisme and Arnaud.
Thank you for such a unique, fun, and learning experience.
