Alsace, Burgundy and Tuscany playlists on JoliSoleil YouTube

Did you kbow that, besides my own movies on my YouTube channel, I keep  a number of YouTube video playlists on the wine regions of Alsace, Burgundy and  Tuscany.  I update them regularly.

Enjoy !!!

Visit Cortona and see the real "Bramasole" the house in "Under the Tuscan sun"

Read the book by Frances Mayes and/or watch the movie or even better: Let us take you there on a tour.




Cortona is beautiful. Checkout this little street:

Book a tour in 2017!

Looking back to 2016 en forward to 2017 !

Looking back to 2016: We did three exclusive more day tours in Tuscany

and numerous one and more day tours in Alsace and Burgundy.
We met so many interesting and sweet people again this year. Thank you all !

For the first time we shipped local wines in cooperation with IZIwine and Burgundy Online to mainly the USA but also to countries like Australia. More to come in 2017 with our WineClub.

Last but not least we did some great genealogy research (thanks to Terry Smits) and tours. Ancestry research brought us to Verdun, St Avold, numerous locations in Alsace and also to Germany.

"A bientot en 2017"

Our weekly newspaper about food, wine and life in Alsace, Burgundy & Tuscany.

Articles about Champagne, winter recipes and more!

Winestein @ JSwinetours

Our weekly newspaper about food, wine and life in Alsace, Burgundy & Tuscany.

Articles about B&B's in Alsace, Pinot Noir and more!

Winestein @ JSwinetours

Our weekly newspaper about food, wine and life in Alsace, Burgundy & Tuscany. Stories via @drinkAlsace @AboutTuscany @AlsaceWines

Articles about the ancient history of pooring, scallops, Dopff & Irion and more!

Winestein @ JSwinetours

Newsletter Christmas 2014

Almost Christmas  
With still some visits to Strasbourg and Colmar and some tours to the Christmas markets in Kaysersberg, Equisheim and Riquewihr ahead, we are slowly moving to the end of the year.

Touring in 2014
We have done a lot of great tours in Alsace and Tuscany this year.
For some Alsace tours we have picked up people all the way in Basel in Switzerland and at Basel airport. Logically we stayed south on those tour days, as there are many interesting wineries to be found in the south “Haut Rhin” area, like Schlumberger and Agathe Bursin for example and we do not want to lose too much time just driving.

Bachelor parties
A couple of bachelor parties this year were great fun. On one of them we also did a boat ride on a canal near Colmar. This gave the people time to let us talk to the future groom while tasting wine and to be honest some beer too.

On another bachelor tour we visited the “Confrérie Saint Etienne” and tasted 5 Grand Cru wines of the year 2004. This was the year the groom met his bride to be.

Sadly we missed the celebration festivities of the 400th year in continuous production of our friends the family of Jean Baptiste Adam in May, as we were touring in Tuscany.

Tuscany
It was great doing two tours (in spring and early summer) in Tuscany. We cherish the private tastings at Laura Gray from Il Palazzone and with Paola from Siro Pacenti.

We were privileged to get to know the owner of Ristorante Guidoriccio in Siena (this man knows his Italian wines ….) and Gianfranco at “Il Leccio” in Saint Angelo in Colle. So many great Brunello’s came by that afternoon.

Nice guests, nice local people, great cooks, wonderful times.

It was very special to see Princess Coralia Pignatelli again in Castell in Villa, after 11 years.
In those days, 11 years ago, yours truly had just moved to France and visited the area with a Dutch Wine club. This time we did a private tasting invited in her house which was quite special as Madame understandably wants to keep her privacy.

We organized a group dinner on the premises later in the year.
We also think back on our visits at for example Gagliole and the great Chianti tasting plus lunch we enjoyed at their sister house and vineyards in Panzano.

The wine year 2014
The year 2014 saw an early spring with lots of sunshine in France and Italy. The winter had been wet with little snow. This led to landslides and problems in Tuscany.

Sadly, in July and especially August the temperatures were under normal and we had lots of rain, even in Tuscany. September and October were sunny and dry again. The weather stayed great until deep in November.

A couple of hail storms in Alsace and especially Burgundy brought lots of damage. The quality of the grapes and harvest from for example Riesling in Alsace was still good. But a big problem this year was the arrival of the Japanese Suzuki fly. It attacked the reddish skinned grapes like Pinot Noir but also Gewurztraminer, making the grapes go bad in only a few hours. Changes in harvest planning, stress, and low yields resulted.

For Sangiovese in Italy producing the great Brunello’s, it will not be a great year we heard. For Olive oil the production this year will be even worse. Because of the strange weather patterns yields are very low to practically zero. Let us hope 2015 will be more normal.

New in 2014: JoliSoleil city and genealogy tours
Although we started focusing on wine tours a couple of years ago, more and more times people asked us to do something different, helping them explore their family roots in Alsace. This was especially the case on day tours. This made us decide to add for example “City Tours” to the program with visits to Strasbourg and Colmar but also to smaller villages like Equisheim, Kaysersberg, Riquewihr and Turckheim.

Another question came two times from two different families living in the United States but with ancestors in Alsace. On one occasion we traced back a Jewish family history and visited some places that were mentioned in a family reunion some years ago. In another case we traced back two families that have lived near Reinhardsmunster and Epfig for hundreds of years. We found their names in old books and cemetery’s. But we can also find people with the name still living here today!

As Genealogy is a hobby of Terry Smits and she has access to several genealogy databases on the Internet, we will of course continue offering these special services for people that look for their roots and ancestors.

New in 2015: Burgundy tours
As wine lovers we visited Burgundy now and then over the years already of course. As driving to Beaune or Nuits St George is only a bit further then driving to Strasbourg from our farm near Gérardmer, we will take guests to Burgundy in 2015 also.

Like in Alsace and Tuscany we know our way. We took the time to visit and taste at smaller and relatively unknown wineries.

Very important is that we tried out lots of little restaurants. We think it is always a sport to find that spot that offers great quality for a good price. This means that like in Alsace we can add a great lunch and or dinner on a “one day tour” and offer the whole package still for a reasonable price.

We can also be of service now to wine & food lovers that would like to get to know Alsace and Burgundy in for example two or three days in one tour package with us.

And we will also go to Tuscany of course a couple of times in 2015. Those will only be more day tours for people that really want to wine and dine on an exquisite and connoisseur level.

Christmas 2014
At home we are working on some great Christmas dinners for family and friends. Each time we will pair two wines per course, making a selection from our favorite areas and private wine cellar.

We hope that all our guests and everybody that follows us will have a wonderful Christmas too.

We would love to meet you in 2015. And of course it would be great to see some of our relations back in another tour area in the coming year. Don't wait too long with your bookings.
We are only two people and with everything we do now, we are quite busy.

     

We wish everybody a prosperous and happy 2015 !

Cheers from Terry & Pieter Smits 

Impressions of a lovely May tour in Tuscany

On our May tour in Tuscany we visited some great wineries in the Chianti region like. Gagliole, Castellare and Ricasoli. 

We had some wonderful lunches and dinners in Siena and near Montalcino.

Around Montalcino we visited Altesino and Banfi, among others.

In a tasting sesssion we compared these 3 Brunello's:

• Pian delle Quercy 2006
• La Poderina 2007
• La Togata 2007

Life can be good. We cannot wait to go back :).
Join us next time?

Ciao from Terry & Pieter

Our "castello stays and tours"

A rich history awaits you in Tuscany. Centuries of preserved architecture and art are hallmarks of this region in Italy. If you want to be part of that then you might want to stay in one of the castello's or villas offered by our partner "Kasteelwijnen".


On the picture are the apartments and pool of our local partner "Castel Brunello" near Montalcino. You can choose from apartments with 2,3 or 4 bedrooms. The breakfasts can be included.
The apartments are ideally located for touring the Brunello and Montepulciano region.

We can organize a wine tasting in your apartment or the central space of the premises. And of course we can pick you up in the morning for one or more tour days in the area (on the photo below the Castello Banfi). In the evening we will take you back after your dinner.


We offer a great "4-day Castel Brunello arrangement" with 2 dinners and 2 full wine tasting days, including lunches. For more information? Mail us!

Looking forward to touring in Tuscany in April.

Looking forward to touring Tuscany in April. Join us and also book a private tour!

Facebook: Brunello - JoliSoleil Italian Wine Tours ‪

#‎jolisoleil‬ ‪#‎chianticlassico‬

The best Tuscan wines for 2014 according to Gambero Rosso Magazine

Gambero Rosso is a gastronomic magazine that selects every year the best wines of Italy that are classified with ” 3 Bicchieri (glasses) ” 
from each region of Italy.

For Tuscany they were:

       Biserno ’10 Tenuta di Biserno

       Bolgheri Rosso Sup. Grattamacco ’10 Podere Grattamacco
       Bolgheri Sassicaia ’10 Tenuta San Guido       
       Bolgheri Sup. Argentiera ’10 Tenuta Argentiera       
       Bolgheri Sup. Campo al Fico ’10 I Luoghi       
       Bolgheri Sup. Castello di Bolgheri ’10 Castello di Bolgheri       
       Bolgheri Sup. Ornellaia ’10 Tenuta dell’ Ornellaia       
       Bolgheri Sup. Sapaio ’10 Podere Sapaio

       olgheri Sup. Sondraia ’10 Poggio al Tesoro
 
       Brunello di Montalcino ’08 Tenuta Le Potazzine
       Brunello di Montalcino ’08 Uccelliera
       Brunello di Montalcino Bramante Ris. ’07 Podere San Lorenzo
       Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto ’07 Casanova di Neri
       Brunello di Montalcino Fornace ’08 Le Ragnaie

Baffo Nero ’11 Rocca di Frassinello       Brunello di Montalcino Madonna delle Grazie ’08 Il Marroneto
       Brunello di Montalcino Phenomena Ris. ’07 Sesti – Castello di Argiano
       Brunello di Montalcino Poggio al Vento Ris. ’06 Tenuta Col d’Orcia
       Brunello di Montalcino PS Ris. ’07 Siro Pacenti
       Brunello di Montalcino Ris. ’07 Biondi Santi – Tenuta Il Greppo
       Brunello di Montalcino Ris. ’07 Canalicchio di Sopra
       Brunello di Montalcino Ris. ’07 Le Chiuse
       Brunello di Montalcino Ris. ’07 Poggio di Sotto
       Brunello di Montalcino Schiena d’Asino ’08 Mastrojanni
       Brunello di Montalcino V. delle Raunate ’08 Mocali
 
       Caberlot ’10 Podere Il Carnasciale
 
       Chianti Cl. ’11 Borgo Salcetino
       Chianti Cl. ’09 Castell’in Villa
       Chianti Cl. ’11 Castello di Monsanto
       Chianti Cl. ’10 Fontodi
       Chianti Cl. ’10 Val delle Corti
       Chianti Cl. Baron’Ugo Ris. ’09 Monteraponi
       Chianti Cl. Bugialla Ris. ’09 Poggerino
       Chianti Cl. Colledilà ’10 Barone Ricasoli
       Chianti Cl. Fizzano Ris. ’10 Rocca delle Macìe
       Chianti Cl. Fontalpino ’11 Fattoria Carpineta Fontalpino
       Chianti Cl. Le Corti ’10 Fattoria Le Corti
       Chianti Cl. Ris. ’09 Badia a Coltibuono
       Chianti Cl. Ris. ’10 Brancaia
       Chianti Cl. Ris.’09 Castello d’Albola
       Chianti Cl. Ris. ’10 Castello di Volpaia
       Chianti Cl. Ris. ’10 Le Miccine
       Chianti Cl. Vign. di Campolungo Ris. ’09 Lamole di Lamole
 
       Coevo ’10 Famiglia Cecchi
 
       Colline Lucchesi Tenuta di Valgiano ’10 Tenuta di Valgiano
 
       Cortona Syrah ’10 Stefano Amerighi
       Cortona Syrah Il Castagno ’10 Dionisio
 
       Dofana ’10 Carpineta Fontalpino
 
       Fontalloro ’10 Fattoria di Felsina
 
       I Sodi di S. Niccolò ’09 Castellare di Castellina
 
       Le Pergole Torte ’10 Montevertine
 
       Montecucco Sangiovese Lombrone Ris. ’09 Colle Massari
       Montecucco Sangiovese ’10 Montesalario
 
       Morellino di Scansano Calestaia Ris. ’09 Roccapesta
       Morellino di Scansano Madrechiesa Ris. ’10 Terenzi
 
       Nobile di Montepulciano ’10 Conventino
       Nobile di Montepulciano ’10 Fattoria del Cerro
       Nobile di Montepulciano ’10 Salcheto
       Nobile di Montepulciano Nocio dei Boscarelli ’09 Boscarelli
 
       Oreno ’10 Tenuta Sette Ponti
 
       Orma ’10 Podere Orma
 
       Paleo Rosso ’10 Le Macchiole
 
       Poggio dei Colli ’11 Piaggia
       Poggiassai ’10 Poggio Bonelli
       Poggio ai Chiari ’06 Colle Santa Mustiola
 
       Rocca di Frassinello ’11 Rocca di Frassinello
 
       Siepi ’10 Castello di Fonterutoli
 
       Suisassi ’10 Due Mani
 
       Torrione ’11 Fattoria Petrolo
 
       Veneroso ’10 Tenuta di Ghizzano
 
       Vernaccia di S. Gimignano Campo della Pieve ’11 Il Col di Santa Chiara
       Vernaccia di S. Gimignano Ris. ’10 Fontaleoni
 
       Vigorello ’10 San Felic

Of course we visit many of these wineries and taste many of these wines during our wine tours.
#jolisoleil