8 days in Beaujolais, impressive temperature differences going from 25°C to 5°C and all the shade of blue you can imagine in a very grumpy sky. If the preparation of Fête des Crus was with the sunshine, whool sweaters, rain boots and umbrellas were out for the week-end.

It had been a year that crus Brouilly & Côtes de Brouilly had started an ant work to welcome the thousands of visitors announced. A good way to gather the vineyards of Beaujolais and to discover its crus. Landscapes was the official theme, the village of Odenas was decorated with beautiful pictures of the hilly Beaujolais. Clowns, fanfares and friends of Brouilly added to the fun. A home at Château des Moriers, from Bordeaux going through Brussels, Champagne, Paris, London and Burgundy, 40 visitors were ready for the adventure : we didn’t give up.

On the main theme of Landscapes, the village of Odenas was decorated with beautiful pictures of the hilly Beaujolais. Each cru its house and its winemakers in a different corner of the village, for a promenade amongst landscapes. Clowns, tambours, trumpets and friends of Brouilly added up to the swagger after a opening well watered with wine. At home, château des Moriers, from Bordeaux going through Bruxelles, Paris, London and Burgundy, 40 visitors were ready for the adventure : we didn’t faltered.

I was the mummy of the wet guests and the godmother of the fête des crus. I implored the sky more than once but nothing changed, I had to explain that it won’t shine. So we did as if it would do so, and the gamay started to shine at the deep down of our glasses. Wines were a bit cold but still, we found some gold. The old vintages tasting achieved to warm us up, a good insight of what was announced at night.

In between Fleurie and other Beaujolais, Champagne, Meursault and Bordeaux, what had some material to discuss deep down our glass. Sunday, after a tour on the hills, each of us went back on their road of life and air balloon enjoyed the rain break to fly away just like my friends’ planes. A really good week-end !

The day when “friends of Brouilly” asked me to become the godmother of the “fête des crus”, I wonder whom of the two was going to cry. A great emotional moment.

Because if I travel in cities and vineyards of the world, beaujolais is my house, my identity. I am proud to sell its wines and proud of its winemakers. Each time I come back, for work or holiday, and my heart jumps. I stay glued to the landscapes and indefinitely take the same pictures.

What I prefer is road tripping in the vineyard to hear stories for the ancient, and to discover new winemakers, my age, with eyes filled in with dreams and passion. In a cellar, pipette in the cask or in a palace hotel, Beaujolais wines express their men and their best souvenirs, young or old, feminine or masculine, simply with friends, in front of a sunny landscape, or in the great official moment.

from Moulin-à-Vent to the Terres Dorées, I am in love with Beaujolais

Thank you for these great times and see you soon at the corner of a landscape or a glass of Beaujolais.

See you next year for the Fête de Crus 2014 in Moulin-à-Vent ! 

Rendez-vous à la fête des crus 2014 au Moulin-à-vent,
Merci pour ces bons moments et à bientôt au détour d’un paysage ou d’un verre de Beaujolais, au soleil !

Les instagrams de Vicky et des amis