CAU > Seminars and Study Tours > France: The Wine and Cuisines of Champagne and Alsace

France: The Wine and Cuisines of Champagne and Alsace

October 6-14, 2009

The registration period for this program has passed.
Please contact us if you have any questions.

Overview

Champagne! How would we dedicate new buildings and ships, celebrate anniversaries and weddings, and open shows at museums and theaters without it? CAU's third annual wine expedition begins in the legendary Champagne region, only ninety miles from Paris. Our journey will be led by perennial favorite Abby Nash, former restaurateur, past faculty member of Cornell's Hotel School, and teacher of very popular CAU summer wine and food courses. Abby has designed our study tour to include all the top regional wine styles.

Itinerary

We'll start our tour in Epernay, Champagne's most important wine village. Champagne has 125 miles of cellars quarried into its limestone subsoil. We'll spend two days visiting some of those cellars at classic Champagne houses whose names are known worldwide as well as at smaller grower-producers. Lunches and dinners will showcase the refined cuisine for which the region is known.

Moving on to Alsace, one of the world's most beautiful wine regions, we'll explore the well-preserved medieval towns nestled among the steep foothills of the Vosges Mountains. Alsace's temperate climate, the driest French region after the south, is the source of world-class white wines, four of which are benchmarks of their type. The wine, cuisine, lovely terrain, harvest season, and sophisticated charms of Strasbourg--all will offer a veritable feast for the senses. We'll visit vineyards and wineries and attend a cooking class featuring regional classics and wines to match.

We'll spend our last day in the city of Strasbourg with its famous cathedral, markets, museums, elegant architecture, and fine restaurants.

Program Cost and Travel Arrangements

The program fee of $6,565 (per person, double occupancy) includes all accommodations, breakfasts, receptions, wine tastings, site visits, admission fees, ground transportation, taxes, gratuities, emergency medical-evacuation insurance, many meals, and the full educational program. The supplement for single occupancy is $1,065. You are free to make your own international air arrangements.

Program Notes

This is not a physically demanding trip, but we will be walking over uneven ground, climbing steps, and standing for extended periods. The wine cellars are cold and damp, so a fleece jacket is recommended. Temperatures this time of year should be very comfortable, although a rain shower is always a possibility.

Map

How to use the map:

Click one of the map markers to see details of the location.
Click the "+" and "–" buttons to zoom in and out.
Click the arrow buttons, or click and drag the map to move different markers to the center.