Summer in France: A Festival in Blanc and Rosé - Milwaukee Only

Summer in France - a festival of White Burgundy, Sancerre, Loire Valley, Provence and so much more. What could be a better way to kick off Wisconsin’s summer than exploring truly some of the most magnificent white and rosé wines in the world?

While we here at Waterford Farwell love all wine, truly our hearts are often motivated to seek out French treasures. We aren’t total Francophiles, but we certainly love sharing in their  joie de vivre, and this festival is aimed at doing just that! 

White Burgundy - “I would die happy with White Burgundy in my mouth.”  — Julia Child

So would we. Lots of wine regions around the world make lots of delicious Chardonnay, but none can match the character, the quality and the variety of Chardonnay from Burgundy.

Most of the best White Burgundy is made in the Côte d’ Or, which translates literally to Golden Slope, a limestone escarpment about 65 kilometers long and two kilometers wide that stretches south from Dijon as far as the river Dheune. The characteristics of Chardonnay from Burgundy vary dramatically from one of the region’s appellations to the next — from the Kimmeridgean clay soils of Chablis in the north, to the exalted vineyards of the Côte de Beaune and the Corton hill, to the honest, simple styles of the Mâconnais in the south. And each of these Chardonnays from each of these Burgundy appellations offer us an ideal opportunity to study, to explore, to taste the spellbinding properties of terroir — the effects of soil, topography, climate and culture on a glass of wine.

Sancerre and the Loire Valley - From west to east, the Loire River Valley is an embarrassment of riches.  On the far west, it starts with the amazing wines of Muscadet – incredibly refreshing and shockingly long-lived (and crazy cheap for the quality of wines).  On the far east end, it finishes with the incredibly powerful Sauvignon Blancs of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume.

Rosé – no longer your grandmother’s blush wine. Dry rose is serious stuff: it drinks like a red wine but you chill it like a white.  Is it the ultimate patio pounder?  Or is it the gateway to delicious hedonism for those of us who usually just drink red?  Whatever your motive, you’ll taste some of the best from France’s Provence, Bandol regions and more!

And these are just some of the French  summer wines we will be exploring. France has so much to offer, we needed a Festival to celebrate! Please join us for Summer in France. Wines are TBA.