Côtes de Toul, Lorraine
My wine walks are often hit and miss, because I am testing new (for me) destinations. But my day on the Côtes de Toul was a great success.
Toul is an ordinary looking town, with a spectacular cathedral. It is about 25 km from Nancy in the Lorraine cultural and historical region in Northeastern France.
The vineyards of the Côtes de Toul are around the nearby villages of Bruley and Lucey. So my walk today took me across the hill slopes (“côtes”) from Bruley to Lucey, with the vineyards to my left and right, and above the vineyards to my left were forested hilltops.
As I walked along I met a few nice people. First, a man walking his dog, who lives in Bruley (no photo). He lamented that there are no longer any cafes or shops in Bruley, such that there is no sense of community.
Second, I met Isabelle who was working in the vineyards (see photo). She seemed like a complotist (conspiracy theorist) — anti-vaxxer, pro-Putin, etc. There seem to be much more complotists in France than in Australia.
But Isabelle did have a valid concern. Being a 55 year old manuel worker, she suffers from a bad back and arthritis, and is mad about President Macron’s decision to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. She does not know how she will keep working. Also, she does not have a husband to look after her.
Third, Chloé who is studying cinema and aims to write film scenarios (see photo).
When I arrived at Lucey I fortunately came across the Maison LELIEVRE, one of the biggest winemakers on the Côtes de Toul, where I tasted some of the region’s wines.
The principal wine from the Côtes de Toul is le Vin Gris de Toul (grey wine of Toul), which is a very light fresh rose wine. In fact it is a “Blanc de Noirs” (white wine from black grapes), the grapes being Gamay and Pinot Noir.
Just nearby was an excellent restaurant, Auberge du Pressoir, where I had lunch. For dessert, I ordered Pavlova.
I dared not tell the servers that Pavlova originated in Australia (or possibly New Zealand) in the early 20th century, and was named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. The shock of it all would be too much for French pride.
Over lunch, I also tasted a Côtes de Toul white (from Blanc Auxerrois), and red (from Pinot Noir). Very nice wines.
The wines from the Côtes de Toul may not be great French wines, but they certainly are very pleasant drinking wines, with good prices.
I had never seen Côtes de Toul wines in restaurants, and none of my friends knew of them. But the famous Parisian restaurant, Le Grand Véfour, reportedly orders wine from the Maison LELIEVRE.
What’s more, the Élysée Palace, the official residence of the President of the French Republic, apparently orders Côtes de Toul wines from le Domaine Claude Vosgien, another maker of Côtes de Toul wines.
When I return to Lucey, I’ll spend the day galloping up the steep hill slopes above the town.