La Vie en Vin

After Paris, we left by train and headed down to Nimes to visit our new friends, Georgina and Antoine Dufoix. We had only met through email, so we were anxious to finally meet in person! We were pleasantly surprised to learn that they lived on a vineyard right outside of Nimes, and as we pulled off the road to their home, we were greeted by a long stretch of dirt road guarded by tall, canopied trees on both sides of the road. We had arrived at Chateau Montroche.





During our stay at the Dufoixs, we throughly enjoyed our time experiencing a “true” French, rural lifestyle. Our days consisted of eating large, hardy lunches around their cozy round table in the kitchen, touring the vineyard, tasting a selection of French liquors as an aperitif before dinner, and then long conversations over a light dinner.



Antoine treated us to a tour of the vineyard including the wine cellar where we were able to taste the wine right out of the spicket. He also explained how to properly “taste” wine – it's with the eye, then the nose, and then the mouth. You then spit it out!





We also learned a bit of the Dufoix history as both Antoine and Georgina had roots in Nimes dating back 700 years! The property itself had buildings that were from the medieval period. Antoine shared with us the history of the area by taking us into Nimes and showing us the Roman colosseum and to see the famous Pont du Gard, an ancient Roman aqueduct. Nearby the aqueducts there were massive gnarled olive trees that were about 1100 years old!





Our time with the Dufoixs was rich in conversation and company. We enjoyed sharing our lives with each other and establishing a new friendship that will continue even when we head home across the pond.

PS. You can purchase Chateau Montroche wine in DC at Pearson's Wine on Wisconsin Ave.

Love,
Kathryn and Ron