All the best for 2021 - Please stay stafe and healthy !

An impression of some JoliSoleil wine tours.

Planning Grand Cru group tours for 2021 and 2022 - Planning Grand Cru groep tours voor 2021 and 2022

We will start touring again after June 15, complying with all the rules and necessary precautions of course.

But : especially because of the uncertainties about when our American guests are able to fly into Europe again, our Grand Cru Group tours for 2020 have been cancelled 

So our one and more day private tours are possible to book for the coming months. But only the more day GC group tours will not be held in 2020 but will resume in 2021. Please check out our planning.

Na 15 juni starten wij weer met touren. Natuurlijk in lijn met de regels en voorzorgsmaatregelen in Frankrijk. Het is naast eendaagse tours ook weer mogelijk om meerdaagse prive tours te boeken in 2020.

De geplande meerdaagse Grand Cru groeps tours voor 2020 zijn echter gecancelled. De nieuwe data voor deze luxe meerdaagse groepstours staan in het plaatje en onze planningskalender. 

What a private tour does not mean !

The advantage of a private tour is that you/we can adjust and tune many things beforehand. 

For wine tours we can pick a theme (just Rieslings for example) and/or specific area in Alsace, Burgundy or Tuscany.

At village tours we can skip a village or change a village I normally go to for another one.

But (future) customers please understand that booking a private tour does NOT mean tthat you can change everything on the tour day itself.

For wine tastings at the better wineries,  I must make appointments some time before. We can NOT just drop in everywhere as we please.  

On a  “Wine & Villages tour” we normally do one extensive wine tasting. Now I can change things and add one more tasting on such a tour, but I cannot do 3 or 4. And the other way around : “If” tasting appointments are made by me , we reserved time at those wineries. We cannot just not show up then. They are waiting for us and cancelled other visitors.

The same goes for lunch restaurants. 

I make reservations before based on quality and price. I often reserve a table at a Michelin starred restaurant. We cannot just not show up then, because “the weather is so nice” and people want to sit outside. The restaurant is waiting for us and cancelled other customers because of our reservation.

Cheers to some great tours coming up!

Site Members get all kinds of information for free - register today !

Become a JoliSoleil Site Member and get all kinds of information for free.

The information (often in PDF format) will grow in 2018!
So drop by now and then!

For information on Alsace (grand cru's, food pairings, etc.) register and follow this link
Example:

Complete list plus surface from Alsace Grand Cru's by JoliSoleil

And how about our information on the Aoc's of Burgundy and the "Cuisine" of Tuscany?

You can download and read our documents (in PDF) for free, just register as a site member !

Cheers
    et
a bientôt!

Gourmet getaways

Which wineries to visit
On our private wine tours we first of all offer our clients a general overview of what the region has to offer. That means they will get to know and taste all official grapes that are allowed in the area.
And then of course we compare many wines: grand cru's of Alsace, premier and grand cru's from Burgundy and docg's from Tuscany.

We always end a tour in the afternoon at one of the top wineries in the area. The customer having tasted and learned a lot during the tour day(s), often knows which wines would be most worthwhile to finish with.
I, as a wine guide spending the time with my clients getting to know them, can often predict which wines would be most interesting for them to try and buy at the end.
These are some great advantages of a private tour with a knowledgeable wine guide (...)

Maybe I should stress the fact that I do not do the same tour every day. I select the wineries to visit in a more or less logical order for driving but I also will build up a variety. If communicated before, my selection of wineries for the visits is also based on the clients preferences and suggestions.

Lunch and dinner

For lunch I always select at least a good restaurant. I want to present my customers the great (local) food that the region has to offer.  And quality goes over quantity! Too much food for lunch can ruin the following afternoon tastings. And people need to save some space for dinner in the evening too of course.

Michelin stars

A lot of my clients ask me for the possibility to include lunch and/or dinner in a Michelin starred restaurant. After all they are on vacation and doing an exclusive wine tasting, so often they are in the mood to give their taste buds a food treat too.
In some cases they just want to experience the having been in a famous Michelin starred restaurant. In other cases they have read about a special menu, the chef, a dish etc..
Last but not least: in such a restaurant a wine and food pairing will be perfect!

I often discuss possibilities with the restaurants sommelier beforehand and also sur place we can discuss wine pairing details with the very knowledgable sommeliers.

Budget
Here is another advantage of a private tour. In a mixed group I cannot force people to spend more money then they might have expected for let us say "just a pizza" or a "tarte flambee".
Normally we spend 25-30 Euro p.p. without drinks.

In a private group we can discuss things beforehand and reserve an exclusive table..
By the way: many Michelin starred restaurants offer lunch menu's for about 45-55 Euro p.p. during the week. Sure, a little more expensive, but a pleasant surprise for lots of people.

Michelin in Alsace, Burgundy and Tuscany
The Michelin restaurant guides are well known all over the world. In countries like France and Italy they are very important.
I sometimes go to dine there in private, but thanks to you: "the JoliSoleil wine tour customers" I have visited a lot of them in my area's quite a few times now.
Over the years I got to know a lot of chefs and sommeliers personally, which absolutely adds to my job satisfaction.

Gourmet Getaways
As a logical answer to the demands of a group of customers JoliSoleil now also offers: "Gourmet Getaways".
This is something special  for a special occasions like a romantic weekend, a wedding, a special business achivement, etc.
They are always private events

In a 3 -, 4- or 5- day Gourmet Getaway  you will enjoy:

- lunches at Michelin "Bib Gourmand" or "Star restaurants"
- an introduction and wine tasting and at your hotel
- visits and tastings of the top wineries of the area (4 per tasting day, so for example 8 visits on a 3- day Getaway
- at least one 5-course dinner with matching wines in a top Michelin * restaurant.
- you will meet many wine makers and chefs personally

We can assist you in booking a room in a 5-star hotel either in a city like:

• Colmar or Strasbourg in Alsace
• Beaune or Dijon in Burgundy
• Siena or Florence in Tuscany

In all areas are also beautiful resorts in the country site.

To give you an idea: prices for a 3 day Getaway start at Euro 1.250,= p.p., but better mail us to get a personal proposal for your private tailor made Gourmet Getaway.

2018 - another year has begun.

All the special wine glasses are washed and put away for the next special occasion. The year 2018 has really begun. That does not mean that there are no more wine glasses at hand of course.
They are our more our standard day to day glasses that can be used for lots of different wines and last but not least are not to vulnerable.

Being in the wine touring business for some years now means lots of contacts with winemakers. We follow their activities and we talk with them about the weather often.
It is interesting to be "around" so to speak, when there are hail storms in spring in Burgundy or Alsace or like in the beginning of 2017 to witness the frost periods after some mild weeks in March which already woke up nature.
Fascinating and scary to see how winemakers in for example the freezing Volnay area in Burgundy made hay fires at night trying to save the buds. In other parts they use fuel stoves.
Still damages in Chablis for example and here and there even in Alsace.

Another thing I remember very vividly were the hot summers of 2003, 2009 and for example the summer of 2015. I remember touring at 40+ C and more in 2015 with the airco at full blast in my car. I remember nature gasping for water. The grape vines still looked healthy but their maturing grapes were  sometimes still a bit small.  I remember talking to wine makers being happy and a bit worried at the same time. As they are not allowed to irrigate, the root system of their vines had adapted to all of that dryness. They went deep even in granite soil. But ...it has to rain at some time....

Most wine makers left the leaves growing on the branches, sticking out, so they would protect the grapes  from too much sun, like a parasol. In other years they might have pruned them to get sun on the grapes. These are decisions you can only make once per season. You cannot glue the protecting leaves back on.
Some biodynamic wine makers even sprayed camomile tea over the plants to relax them. Yes, it works for humans and it also works for plants.

Finally, at the end of August it did rain....Not too much...; and then after a couple of days some more. Ideal !!! Just what the grapes needed to survive, grow a bit more and further mature. Big smiles on all the wine makers faces. In Alsace this became a great year for Pinot Noir but also for other grape variaties. The results in Burgundy and Tuscany were also great.

What will 2018 bring? We already had some snow at the end of 2017. And then lots of rain and floodings in the first week of the new year. Temperatures are still mild.
We will follow the weather forecasts on TV every day again. We will also be looking outside on our 2018 tours and "feel the weather" and of course discuss the weather lots of times, sipping a glass.
Fun !!!

Seasons Greetings

Checking out some (older) wine tour photos - memory lane

Created with flickr slideshow.

Returning customers and new friendships, what more do you want?

For many of our foreign customers visiting France and then for example Alsace or Burgundy, is a trip they do not make every year. And if people from far away like: Asia, Australia, Canada or the United States visit Europe more often, they mostly want to see other areas. So although we do over 120 tours per year, we almost always see new faces.
By the way, customers living in the USA can now re-order the wines they have tasted, bought and shipped the first time via our JS-USA-Wine Club. Not paying the french sales tax of 20% subsidizes the shipping costs.

Still people DO come back to us. To visit another region in France or to go to Tuscany for example. Luckily we also see people again that want to tour with us in the same area. Probably because of the area itself, the landscape and often the food and last but not least the wines. And ... we are proud to say that sometimes even "we" are the reason. We have made some great friends over the years!

Our JoliSoleil USA Wine Club is open

On Facebook the shop is here : https://www.facebook.com/jswineclub/shop/?rt=19

JoliSoleil USA Wine Club

Shipping wines bought on a tour
People touring with us often have the problem that they cannot take many wines home when they have to fly. That is why JoliSoleil Winetours started to provide a wine shipping service for tour clients. We can ship the wines people have bought on a tour to many countries in the world.

Shipping wines to the USA
In 2016 we went one step further for our American customers. We started the JoliSoleil USA Wine Club.You can now (re-)order wines from Alsace, Burgundy and Tuscany from your home, to your home. We take care of all duties and custom papers. The wines will be delivered by UPS on your doorstep. For some wines this is the ONLY way to get them as they might not be imported in your country.

Of course there are shipping costs but as the wines are not consumed in France or Italy, you do NOT pay the 20% French (VAT) or Italian taxes on the bottle. All and all shipping wines has become easy and affordable now!

ONLINE SHOP

To start with in our Wine Club we made:

1. a selection of 8 Alsace wines from two wineries: Jean Paul Schmitt and Louis Sipp.
2. a selection by JoliSoleil of Burgundy wines in a subscription for 1 year. You will receive 4 times 2 boxes or 12 bottles, so 48 bottles per year.
3. a selection by JoliSoleil of Tuscany wines in a subscription for 1 year. You will receive 4 times 2 boxes or 12 bottles, so 48 bottles per year

• You can order these wines ONLINE in boxes of 6 via our Website or direct.

• The quoted prices in this webshop are including all shipping costs and insurances. Our shipping partner is Mbe. The wines will be delivered by UPS.
• Registering in our Club means that you will receive our Newsletter and special offers. There is no obligation for a Club member to buy, but we are sure you will find something. 

Remember for some of our wines this is the ONLY way to get them in the USA. So ..... apply for our Newsletter or better:

Become a member and start shopping today !

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"

Great wines from smaller French and Italian wineries now available in the USA. Join the JoliSoleil USA Wine Club

People touring with us often have the problem that they cannot take many wines home when they have to fly.
Wine in your cabin or carry-on luggage is generally not allowed. An exception might be wines that you have bought in a tax free shop at the airport.
Wines in your checked baggage is accepted. As wine normally contains less than 24% alcohol there are no restrictions on the quantity. BUT individual airlines often have weight limits to your luggage. Typically this is 23 kg. for international passengers and as you have also your clothes etc., and other souvenirs this can be a problem.
For each country there are different import laws ( duty, tariffs and quantity limits)

In the USA: for personal use; there are very low per bottle duties and taxes varying from
$ 1,= to $ 2,= per bottle. So for travelers from the USA it is interesting and absolutely possible to bring some wines. We offer Lazenne products to make transport more convenient. The weight problem remains though.

For a lot of (smaller) French and Italian wineries exporting their wines to the USA is very difficult. Rules and laws vary from state to state. Sometimes wine labels must be altered. This means that a lot of high quality wines that are offered in Europe for a reasonable price are simply not available in the States. It is frustrating for the people that have toured with us and learned to appreciate the local wines often cannot continue their experience. That is why we have founded the JoliSoleil Wine Club. Four times per year we will send you 12 bottles of French or Italian wine strictly for your personal use. We arrived at "12" bottles per time because the shipping price for for example 6 bottles is relatively high per bottle.

We select wines that are not available on the USA market because there is no official importer. We collect the wines personally at the wineries in Alsace, Burgundy and Tuscany. For Alsace they normally will be lieu-dits and grand cru's. For Burgundy premier or grand cru's; For Italy DOC, DOCG and also IGT wines.
Per 12 bottles each time you will find 2 wines of 6 different wineries. Sometimes they will be 2 bottles of the same wine, sometimes they will be 2 different wines from that specific winery.

Although the shipping costs of course add to the price, our goal is to offer you wines on a quality level that you cannot get for our prices on your local markets.
Each shipment will be accompanied with a newsletter describing the wineries and the wines. Each time you will also get food pairing suggestions.

A subscription is per year or 4 shipments with a total of 48 bottles per subscription. You can start any time in any quarter.
Please register here!

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

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

Articles about "cheese and wine pairings" and much more!

Winestein @ JSwinetours

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

Articles about "top pairings for dry and off-dry Alsace whites" and much more!

Winestein @ JSwinetours

Register on our website and get more information on the wine areas and on possibilities to take wines home

Travel agents register on JSwinetours site and get information on special rates for our tours in Alsace, Burgundy and Tuscany. Also find information on flying with wines and shipping wines.

We can temporarily store the wines before shipping them to the country of your customers.

Are you an interested traveler or (future) customer, register on our website and get more information on the tour areas and find information on flying home with wines (using a Lazenne wine suitcase) and/or shipping your wines from France.

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

Articles about "Etiquette in wine" and much more!

Winestein @ JSwinetours