Season’s greetings

 

On the road again in Alsace

Touring with 4 people from North Carolina.

As France opens up for Europe and the rest of the world, it is great to be able to tour again.

Covid - the situation in France - timetable for May and June

Timetable May 19 - June 30 - 2021:

May 19 - Terrasses (bars and restaurants) will reopen with a maximum of 6 persons per table. Evening clock from 21.00

June 9 - With a "pass sanitaire" people will be able to travel from and into France. Evening clock from 23.00

June 15 - Night clubs will re-open. 

June 30 - Evening clock will disappear​

Hope to meet you soon! In the meantime stay safe and healthy!

Tijdlijn Mei 19 - Juni 30 - 2021:

Mei 19 - Terrassen (bars en restaurants) heropenen met een maximum van 6 personen per tafel. Avondklok tot 21.00 uur.

Juni 9 - Met een "pass sanitaire" kunnen mensen "vrij" van en naar Frankrijk reizen.. Avondklok tot 23.00 uur.

Juni 15 - Nachtclubs weer open 

Juni 30 - Avondklok verdwijnt.

​Blijf gezond en graag tot ziens !

Organizing your wine tour - what can you expect?

• We normally do smaller groups between 2-8 people, but on request we can also service bigger groups
• For the transport we use a car or minibus. This gives you a lot of flexibility.
• In the villages we will do walking tours. You have to be able to walk about 30-40 minutes per village.
• On the wine tastings you will taste different kinds of grapes from the area but also compare the same grapes from different wineries
• We know the winemakers and many chefs personally
• We do NOT do the same wine tour every day, but make appointments and reservations especially for you !
• That is why we sometimes cannot confirm a tour immediately. But we do respond in < 24 hours. 

• You will taste and compare many grand cru's and premier cru's and in Italy: Super Tuscan, doc's and docg's
• We will taste and discuss with you
• For lunch or dinner  we go to the best local restaurants, Michelin starred if wished so
• We can assist you in shipping your wines

A giftcard for a JoliSoleil wine tour in 2021 : an original present!

 With several Covid vaccines becoming available at the end of 2020 or early 2021, travel bans will finally be lifted and visiting France and Italy will be possible again, also for people from outside of Europe.

We at JoliSoleil are looking forward to showing you around again and "wine & dine" with you at all those special places!

At the end of this strange year we propose a Giftcard as a present for your family and friends and/or for the businesses you work with.

A Giftcard can be in any amount of $'s or Euro's and will NEVER expire.

On JoliSoleil Wine tours Europe (Euro's) go here.

And on JoliSoleil Wine tours USA ($'s) go here.

For now stay safe and let us meet (again) in 2021 !

Alsatian wine tasting in an American wine club

On one of my last trips of 2018 I was touring with some American wine lovers that are members of an enthusiastic local wine club.

We visited Karcher, J.B. Adam, Schoffit and Domaine Weinbach.

At each stop they bought wines and had them all shipped by the USA Wine Club (me ) to the USA.

On a recent wine club evening in the USA, my contactperson Melinda had prepared a great "Alsatian" dinner and presented all her Alsatian wines to the club members.

The written information about these Alsatian wines presented to the club by Melinda, was amazing. I asked her if I could show her work to all of my JoliSoleil website members and luckily she agreed. Here is the first page:

The whole document (pdf) is under "HOME" Members: Wine Club USA on the Jolisoleil website 

Great job, Melinda. Thanks for sharing !

P.S. If you are living in the USA and want to ship wines directly from Alsace to your home and taste them in your club, then have a look at our Web / Wine shop or mail me.

Join us on a tour or tasting

JoliSoleil organizes wine tours and wine tastings in or near Gerardmer, in the Netherlands and in California.

How about a boat tour ... in Colmar and do a wine tasting?

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!

Possibility to join luxury Alsace tour in May 2018

Although JoliSoleil offers mostly private tours, some of our customers ask us for the possibility to share a tour or join an existing tour group.

On a Notice Board page on our Website we post possibilities to join an existing group.

We have for May in Alsace:​

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An English speaking (American) couple plans a 4 day Luxury Wine and Food tour in Alsace.

​

Period (options):

​

1) May 16-19

2) May  9 -12

3) May 23-26

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Language spoken on this tour will be English

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The tour consists of:

• tastings at  7 wineries,
• 3 lunches (normal),
• 3 dinners (1 Michelin starred including wines)
• All transport except for the morning of day 3.

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A more detailed program description is available on request.

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Price:

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Euro 810,= per person

​

Interested ? Then please mail to combinetour@jolisoleil.com

​

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.

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!

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!

Colmar celebrates Spring! (Fête le Printemps).

From 7th to 23th April 2017, Colmar holds their fifth annual Spring festival : Colmar celebrates Spring (Fête le Printemps).

For us at JoliSoleil - JSwinetours it would be logical to offer you some wine tastings

and a walk around Colmar to see all this. So why not combine the best of both worlds?

A wonderful occasion to catch the first rays of sunshine in the enchanting atmosphere of old Colmar! This is a longstanding event in Colmar life. For two weeks, hens and chicks, ducks and sheep, and trout and carp come to town in a lovely bucolic setting. Colorful flowerbeds decorate the town squares. See little houses decorated by Colmar school children.

Two seasonal markets await you in Colmar’s emblematic squares, Place des Dominicains and Place de l’Ancienne Douane. 70 exhibitors sell traditional Easter objects and specialties. A whole range of Springtime products can be found.

Between the two markets, take a nice walk around, and discover the architectural richness of the town. Stroll down little cobblestone streets, admire timber frame homes, charming streams, quaint squares, and historical monuments. Colmar is full of well-kept treasures that are sure to win your heart.

As you stroll along, you’ll enjoy all sorts of fun and musical events to celebrate the return of Springtime: mini-farm, eagle show, egg hunt, barefoot path, boat rides, horse-drawn carriage rides, little train, outdoor concerts, and more!

Three major arts & crafts sales exhibitions at the Koïfhus
Coquilles d’art , Déclinaisons Textiles and Eclats de terre: three sets of creators selected for their excellence, their originality and their astounding craftsmanship present their works.

The Music & Cultur Festival
From swing jazz to classical, 14 concerts will be held at Colmar’s heritage sites (Saint-Matthieu’s Church, and the Catherinettes Hall).

Discover the programm (in french - in german)or mail us if you want more information in English..

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

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