Wine tour 2012 - day 8

Today we started with a guided tour of this town, Colmar. Located near Germany and Switzerland, this place provided a good glimpse of history, with beautiful architectural heritage everywhere. Our guide brought us to a small canal, with some gandolas on the river and we wondered whether we were in Venice!

Along the way we also admired the pretty houses of the local residents, asking the guide why the houses were painted in different colours. In fact, the colours used to mean which occupation of the resident, whether a butcher, baker, farmer and so on, but of course now it is more the personal touch of the owner that matters.

We went to a local market to look at the fresh vegetable, meat, cheese and other produce. All the fruit, all the cheese, all the different local delicacies attracted us so much that we could not stop wandering in the market for quite a while, and it was only with the guide urging us on that we left the place.

Next we arrived at the old manor house, used to be the building also to host the council and receive important visitors. I could not believe when the guide told me the building was more than 400 years old! Spending some time taking pictures, we moved on and saw a small market. With a few of shopoholics in the group, of course we spent some time. But it was good that we could buy some souvenirs.

Since the time did not allow us to visit both the museum and the church, both historic centres in Colmar, we decided to go to the museum to look at the famous painting recommended by the guide. The entry fee was a bit high at EUR 8 per person, but the different paintings and sculptures were all captivating.

With the ladies finishing some shopping, we walked to La Wistub Brenner, another Michelin restaurant, for lunch. On the wall there were a lot of wine labels showing old vintages (and I dreamed if I could taste some of those...) and we had some good local cuisines, thanks to David for the translation.

Of course we could not have a day without wine tasting, so we proceeded to Domaine Bruno Sorg in Eguisheim. A transquil place, the domaine was founded in 1965. The owner Mr. Sorg explained to us his philosophy in winemaking, and we tasted together a wide range of his wines, with Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and Cremant d'Alsace. I particularly liked the Pinot Gris SGN and bought a 2007, really a bargain at only EUR 47. My friend Carmen, who did not drink much wine, also was so fascinated by the Gewurztraminer and bought two bottles.

We then drove to another village Ammerschwihr, to visit another vineyard Domaine Pierre Adam. Really a nice countryside cottage, they had a small vineyard just outside the cottage planted with all the different varieties. We sneaked in and ate some berries, and then tasted again a wide range of wines. It was not too exceptional so I did not buy any, but the friendliness of the people made us feel so comfortable that we wanted to spend more time there...

Returning to Colmar, we had dinner at L'atelier du Peintre, a Michelin restaurant serving nice and award-winning cuisines. The chef had put together a nice course which was so meticulously put together that it was really a piece of art. With David joining us as well, we had a wonderful night (though a bit hot in the restaurant).

(to be continued...)