HERMITAGE

As we sailed down (or up) the Rhone the Napoleon berthed at an idyllic spot between the townships of Hermitage and Tournon. Built in 1849 the bridge connecting the two towns is the 'oldest existing' suspension bridge in the world, we were told. Let us not worry about the definition of oldest vs existing but instead marvel at what the Hermitage name has achieved. This regional grape has built such a pedigree and following that unless a wine is made from grapes picked from within the 130 hectare it cannot carry the Heritage label. Like champagne this is how tightly the French manages via the famous AOC - Appellation d'Origine Controllee - or Controlled Designation of Origin. We know China wants to be in this market, perhaps this is where she needs to start instead of producing fake Lafits!

Since we are in the neighborhood we visited Ferraton and Paul Jaboulet Aine (PJA) owner of the award winning La Chapelle and were impressed by the low key, no nonsense presentations of their product lines.

Wines or rather wine drinking has become a trendy hype these days, another instrument in the one-upsmanship game that city folks love to play. Picture this around a dinner table when wines are served ... deliberate sniffing and the obligatory 'great nose' comment, twirling of Riedels to watch the wines set, holding the glasses against the light to test for 'color' and, of course, moving the wines around the mouth like Listerine before bed ... all fanfare and table side drama but the real question is, how many of these self proclaimed wine aficionados really know what they are talking about?