Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
gracious daughters, Catherine and Lau-
rence, are often in attendance to show you
around. Set in the foothills of the Schloss-
berg mountains, the winery has a small
stream running through the vineyards
(
weinbach
means wine brook). Originally an
old Capuchin monastery confiscated dur-
ing the revolution, it was parceled out to
the locals, but the lovely French farmhouse
you'll find at the end of the long country
laneway shows no hint of its monkish past.
The surrounding vineyards are all biody-
namic, producing pure and vibrant whites
that are stored in old casks in an atmo-
spheric cellar. The tasting room has a
delightful old-world theme with antique
furniture and old photographs. Here you
can try the winery's bewildering selection
of wines, including a Tokay Pinot Gris.
Eventually the Gewürztraminer is put before
you. Pronounced Guh-
verts
-tra-mee-ner,
the word means “spicy grape”—and don't
worry, it gets easier to say after a couple
of delicious glasses.
Domaine Weinbach,
25 route du Vin,
Kaysersberg (
&
33/3/89 47 13 21;
www.
domaineweinbach.com).
(
Strasbourg (66km/41 miles).
L
$$
Le Chambard Kaysersberg,
9-13 rue du Général de Gaulle, Kaysersberg
(
&
33/3/89 47 10 17;
www. le-chambard-
kaysersberg.federal-hotel.com). $$
Hotel
les Remparts,
4 rue de la Flieh, Kaysersberg
(
&
33/3/89 47 12 12;
www.lesremparts.
com).
France
316
Château de Chassagne-Montrachet
Holy Terroir
Burgundy, France
Terroir
is the new buzzword in wine mar-
keting. It gets printed on wine labels,
extolled by winemakers, and repeated by
winery guides all around the world. The
concept, however—a sense of place—is
an old one that originated in the gentle
hills of Burgundy—in particular, the area
known as Chassagne-Montrachet. It was
here that medieval monks distinguished
the different tastes in wine, noting how it
differed from field to field, hedgerow to
hedgerow, and how certain grapes suited
a certain slope or meadow. They scoured
the land, marking out every corner and
hillock with stone walls that can still be
seen to this day. They even went as far as
to taste the clay.
Nowadays nobody requires you to eat
dirt while touring Burgundy. Yet if you are
looking for a sense of place, you could do
no better than visiting Château de Chassa-
gne-Montrachet. Equal parts classical
château, medieval wine cellar, and
designer hotel, the winery is an enlighten-
ing stop if you're touring the area. The
building itself is solid, wide, and impres-
sive, yet strikingly simple compared to the
more baroque châteaux in this region. But
once you get inside, things get wacky. The
interior design is a mixture of classical and
modern chic. The most convoluted book-
shelf you have ever seen is built in the
shape of a giant purple scribble; a beauti-
ful curved staircase matches a spindle-
shaped lampshade; minimalist chrome
coffee tables sit beside overstuffed red
armchairs; elegant white wall paneling
holds up abstract art, while polished par-
quet floors lead to illuminated display
cases. The dining room has a fireplace hid-
den behind a sliding door mounted with a
large bronze butterfly. The designer bed-
rooms feature altarlike bathrooms and
see-through Perspex furniture. It all makes
