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Fête des Vins de La Londe © LKL |
Aux Vignades à Hyères en juillet dernier, les verres officiels (prix : 2 euros) étaient assez petits et ordinaires. Chaque vigneron avait sa propre table, et la « route des vins » se faufilait parmi la vieille ville. En trouvant un bon vin, on pouvait en acheter des bouteilles - voire des cartons - sur-le-champ à chaque stand.
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Verres londais et hyérois © LKL |
Une chose consistante entre les dégustations de vins dans ces deux villes, c'était l'heure : le festival a commencé à 9h00 (du matin !) et a duré 4 ou 5 heures. Moi, je ne suis pas convaincue que le matin soit le meilleur moment de déguster le vin, mais bon - il faut profiter au maximum des occasions qui se présentent.
*Sur le coup j'étais énervée, mais je viens de penser à un truc : peut-être que c'était une idée de génie pour encourager la vente du vrai rosé provençal au lieu du « faux » rosé mélangé.
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| © LKL |
English translation
La Londe Wine Festival
I really like regional festivals, and I really like wine, so you can imagine how I feel about wine festivals. (If not, I'll tell you: I really like them! :-)) Of course, it's enjoyable to taste lots of wines from the region and to be able to get to know them without buying dozens of bottles, but it's also interesting to see the differences from one festival to the next.
At the Hyères Vignades last July, the official glasses (cost: 2 euros) were rather small and plain. Each wine grower had his or her own table, and the "wine route" meandered through the old part of town. When you found a good wine, you could buy bottles - or even cases - on the spot at each stand.
In contrast, the La Londe wine festival sold (for 3 euros) larger and much more elegant glasses. (In fact, despite having brought our glasses from Hyères, we decided to buy the La Londe ones and leave the others in our backpack.) The wine growers were right next to each other at long tables and didn't sell their wine directly. You had to go the sales stand, which had only the rosé wines of each wine grower.* If you liked a certain white or red, you were out of luck in La Londe - you had to go visit the vineyard.
One thing that didn't change at the wine tastings in the two towns was the time: the festival started at 9 (in the morning!) and lasted 4 or 5 hours. I'm not convinced that morning is the best time to taste wine, but, well, you have to make the best of opportunities that come along.
*At the time I was annoyed, but I just thought of something: maybe it was a brilliant idea to encourage the sale of true Provençal rosé instead of "fake" blended rosé.
Please scroll down for the side-by-side translation.
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Side-by-side translation
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Fête des Vins de La Londe J'aime bien les festivals du terroir, et
j'aime bien le vin, donc vous pouvez imaginer ce que je pense des festivals de vin.
(Sinon, je vous le dis : je les aime Aux Vignades à Hyères en juillet dernier, les verres officiels (prix : 2 euros) étaient assez petits et ordinaires. Chaque vigneron avait sa propre table, et la « route des vins » se faufilait parmi la vieille ville. En trouvant un bon vin, on pouvait en acheter des bouteilles - voire des cartons - sur-le-champ à chaque stand. |
La Londe Wine Festival I really like regional festivals, and I really like wine, so you can imagine how I feel about wine festivals. (If not, I'll tell you: I really like them! :-)) Of course, it's enjoyable to taste lots of wines from the region and to be able to get to know them without buying dozens of bottles, but it's also interesting to see the differences from one festival to the next. At the Hyères Vignades last July, the official glasses (cost: 2 euros) were rather small and plain. Each wine grower had his or her own table, and the "wine route" meandered through the old part of town. When you found a good wine, you could buy bottles - or even cases - on the spot at each stand. |
| En comparaison, la Fête des Vins à La Londe vendait (à 3 euros) des verres plus grands et beaucoup plus élégants. (En effet, en dépit d'avoir amené nos verres hyérois, nous avons décidé d'acheter les londais et de laisser les autres dans le sac à dos.) Les vignerons étaient accolés l'un à côté de l'autre à de longues tables et ne vendaient pas directement leurs vins. Il a fallu aller au stand de vente, où il n'y avait que les vins rosés de chaque vigneron.* Si on aimait un certain blanc ou rouge, pas de chance à La Londe - on était obligé à visiter le vignoble. | In contrast, the La Londe wine festival sold (for 3 euros) larger and much more elegant glasses. (In fact, despite having brought our glasses from Hyères, we decided to buy the La Londe ones and leave the others in our backpack.) The wine growers were right next to each other at long tables and didn't sell their wine directly. You had to go the sales stand, which had only the rosé wines of each wine grower.* If you liked a certain white or red, you were out of luck in La Londe - you had to go visit the vineyard. |
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Une chose consistante entre les dégustations de vins dans ces deux villes, c'était l'heure : le festival a commencé à 9h00 (du matin !) et a duré 4 ou 5 heures. Moi, je ne suis pas convaincue que le matin soit le meilleur moment de déguster le vin, mais bon - il faut profiter au maximum des occasions qui se présentent. *Sur le coup j'étais énervée, mais je viens de penser à un truc : peut-être que c'était une idée de génie pour encourager la vente du vrai rosé provençal au lieu du « faux » rosé mélangé. |
One thing that didn't change at the wine tastings in the two towns was the time: the festival started at 9 (in the morning!) and lasted 4 or 5 hours. I'm not convinced that morning is the best time to taste wine, but, well, you have to make the best of opportunities that come along. *At the time I was annoyed, but I just thought of something: maybe it was a brilliant idea to encourage the sale of true Provençal rosé instead of "fake" blended rosé. |
Comments
Hi Laura,
An interesting article. I moved to Bordeaux just over a year ago, so enjoyed my first wine festival here last summer. Obviously, Bordeaux is a big city compared to Hyères so things will be more expensive. Here you buy a glass and a book of tickets for (as far as I can remember) 14 euros. This gives you 10 samples of wine from different regional stands. Did you have a similar system at the wine fairs you went to, or were the wine samples free once you had purchased the glass?
Keep up the good work.
Martin – Yikes, that sounds expensive. All the wine was free at both of these events, and as I implied, you weren’t even obliged to buy the glass.
Laura K. Lawless
Learn French at About
Bounjour Laura,
Super géniale description de la fête. Et j’aime bien la photo au-dessous.
Merci!
Hi Laura
I like your article I`m from Mexico and I don`t speak french I can understand a little bit of English so your web is very important to me because I can practice both. Thank you
Love your work Laura. Thank you. Regarding the sentence “…c’est agréable de déguster beaucoup de vins…”, would the better construction not be “…Il est agréable de déguster beaucoup de vins….” I refer to your rule 3 here (http://french.about.com/library/express/blex-impersonal.htm). Have I missed something?
Leo
Hi Laura,I am confused as to why you have used ‘de’ in the front of ‘pouvoir les connaitre’ in your first paragraph.
I have tried to find out myself but without any success…..
Thank you for your website, I really enjoy using it!
Cheers,
Helen
Hi Laura,
Love your articles, seems like it’s getting longer & longer.. Like it even better, can learn and memorize more words =)
Merci bcp
Leo – Technically yes, but using c’est is very typical in informal French.
Helen – Because what I’m really saying is c’est agréable de déguster … et c’est agréable de pouvoir …. Expressions like c’est agréable have to be followed by de: http://french.about.com/library/express/blex-impersonal.htm
Laura K. Lawless
Learn French at About
Thank you so much Laura!
Helen
Hi Laura. Wonderful article on the wine in your region. We spoke to Monsieur De la Santos, a wine shop owner in Old Lyon last year, and he said one cannot just pop into a winery for a tasting, as we can in Napa, CA. Do you know whether it is necessary to contact a winery in advance in order to taste and purchase wine in the French wine country? We want to do this next month, but are unsure of the rules. Thanks for all your tutilege!
Salut Lennie – I’ve never heard anything like that. We’ve never called ahead, and we’ve been to maybe half a dozen wineries near Hyères, Tours, and Bonnieux (Peter Mayle country). Sure, they have operating hours, but they’re usually open for at least 3 or 4 hours most if not all days of the week.
Laura K. Lawless
Learn French at About
very interesting article as ever – thanks for all your ongoing work Laura
Hi Laura,
Like your article very much! Thanks!
I had a question:
What is “voire des cartons” means?I checked the translation in English it says “even cases” but why you use voire?
Voire means “or even” – it’s a synonym for ou même. For example, Peux-tu me prêter 5 euros, voire 10 ? = Can you loan me 5 euros, or (maybe) even 10?
Laura K. Lawless
Learn French at About
Mon avis est que cet article est entre les plus meilleurs vos oeuvres. J’espere que tu continuera produire et nourrir nous avec ta tonalite et modele d’ecriture optimistique. Je et je voudrais et crois que cetter fourai realiser.
Adieu, mamie de stylo ou correspondante. Je pense que tu est une ecrivaine marveilleuse.