I know that you know that I lift wires at this time of year. But you know what else I do? Answer a lot of questions from tourists. It seems like I get at least four or five emails each week about travel plans around Carcassonne and in the Languedoc Roussillon in general.
My emails tend to be very personalized based on what languages you speak, where you’re flying into, whether you have a car or not, etc. It’s fun setting people up with really good trips, but it takes a lot of time. And sometimes, people don’t really need super-personalized advice. If you want a few wine travel ideas around Carcassonne, you might just want to check out Wink Lorch’s Wine Travel Guide – Ideal One-Day Itinerary.
Wink tends to pick places that are equipped to greet you in English. And for these short one or two day trips, the estates often have restaurants or rooms to stay in so you don’t need to spend half of your wine holiday in a car looking for a poorly marked country road.
The One-Day and Two-Day trips around Carcassonne have really good ideas. Like a short run down to Limoux where you can visit small indie estates and then go to Gayda for a nice meal and a place to stay. That trip’s especially nice if you have a spouse or travel partner that only drinks white wine. Or you could do a quick jump north and visit Pennautier who also have a restaurant, rooms, etc. I would naturally add that while you’re already in Pennautier, you should hop over to O’Vineyards . . . OF COURSE. 🙂 I’m just a few kilometers away and I’d really love to see you.
Also, if you’re planning your trip on a Sunday, good luck. You’re best off emailing me. ryan@ovineyards.com
Anyway, I like Wink’s guide and appreciate the work of her head Languedoc researcher Richard James.
And I’m going to steal this idea of an ideal one-day itinerary if you’re looking to spend a day around Carcassonne or if you are flying in with RyanAir and have a day to spare before driving to your next destination.
Ideal One-Day Itinerary
MORNING
Leave Carcassonne, going northwest on the N113 that sort of follows the Canal du Midi. Check out O’Vineyards in Villemoustaussou. 33 (0)6 30 18 99 10
Winery visits include young wine tasting from tanks as well as barrel tastings. Call ahead and we can do a table d’hote where you eat with the winemaker and family. It’s a lot of fun.
AFTERNOON
Then you have two options. You either lounge around the vineyard all day drinking delicious wine and soaking in the countryside vistas, or you can get back in the car and head to another destination.
Possible destinations include:
- Chateau Pennautier – Big, fancy winemakers in Pennautier
- Chateau Brau – Organic winemakers in Villemoustaussou (call ahead)
- La Cité de Carcassonne – visit ramparts, have a coffee, just chill out. Whatever you choose to do, you’re doing it in a medieval castle!! How cool is that?
