Beaujolais is one of the most attractive of the French wine regions. Rolling countryside, hills high enough to be known locally as monts, thick woods, streams running into the Saône or Loire valleys and a profusion of sandstonemake it easy on the eye.
Village after village have a similar design, gathered around a small square – often marked with a worn stone cross dating from the 16th century – and most have that air of having more houses than inhabitants. Often, as you drive through, an old man will stand motionless, watching you pass – a sentinel or possibly a scarecrow placed by the last person to leave, with the aim of convincing strangers that the place is inhabited year round. Then there's that peculiar French habit of placing their cemeteries some distance away from the town, with a vineyard or two separating it from the outskirts, as though a good view from a prominent ridge was compensation for being banished.
It might all seem a little odd, if it wasn't so beautiful. Beaujolais lies west of Villefranche-sur-Saône and runs north to Macon in Burgundy. Chateau Bagnols is in the southern part of Beaujolais – the "Bas" as opposed to the northern "Haut". Sunrise and sunset are the best times, when the world turns golden (Pierre Dorées they call it here – "golden stones"). And there's no mistaking the golden stones of the chateau. Built in 1217, it has survived 900 years of French history and has its share of scars (revolutionaries smashed the royal fleur de lys above the fireplace in the Grand Salon), but has now been reborn as a luxury hotel.
The fortifications are suitably impressive, but what makes the chateau a special place to stay is the attention to detail. On arrival you can see, over the gatehouse, bunches of lavender drying from the eaves, the scent acting as an olfactory welcome to the south. To one side is the Residence, nine rooms converted from the former stables and set around a Renaissance square with mature horse chestnuts shading a large stone pond filled with goldfish. To the right is the entrance to the chateau – more of a castle to English eyes, with its moat and entrance converted from a draw bridge. Walk inside and you find yourself in a cobbled courtyard of extraordinary beauty. At the far end, a glass wall reveals the modern kitchens and to the left is the Grand Salon where dinner is served. Running around the first and second storeys is a balustrade enclosed in glass, and the rest of the rooms, many of which have views of the valley and across to the far hills of Beaujolais.
The chateau is perfectly situated, just north of Lyon, and since Roman times has been a stopping-off point for those passing north and south along the Rhone Valley. Today, many regular guests use the chateau in just this way, going to and from their homes in the south of France. Parked under the wooden roof of the open-sided barn, with their front bumpers resting against piles of wood ready for the winter, were a Bentley Continental and an Aston Martin Vantage (both with Swiss plates), as well as the usual smattering of BMWs, Mercedes and Land Rovers. In the morning I noticed that the fine gravel had been raked – it looked more like combed – and a member of staff was cleaning the windows of each car (even my Hertz hire car, and it really didn't need it).
The irony of the chateau's rejuvenation is that it is the work of an English owner, Lady Hamlyn. A four-year project with 400 builders and craftsmen, antiques from all around Europe and countless millions, resulted in a luxury chateau with 21 rooms and suites as well as a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres for Lady Hamlyn. The rooms, split between the main chateau and the Residence, are large and are all different, one having a bath in a 13th-century tower, another made from part of the old chapel, and two having resident ghosts – some guests claim they're friendly, others haven't waited to find out.
The food in the restaurant is excellent. The wine list runs to 45 pages; only the last two contain wines from anywhere other than France. In summer, lunch can be taken on La Terrasse under ancient lime trees with a view over Beaujolais. A simple menu includes light appetisers and mains from local markets ("fish of the day, 'escabeche' style, with amber yellow wine from the Jura region", E30). In winter, roaring fires in the giant hearths provide a suitable venue.
The evening menu is more ambitious. I had Brittany lobster served with a crispy biscuit flavoured with coriander and wild nori followed by a fillet of Charolais beef: a thick tournedos steak roasted with sea salt, served with beetroot juice and potato cooked in a variety of ways. The service was faultless – my only grumble was that the choice of wines by the glass was small, but I suppose most people don't come to a wine region to be abstemious.
My room – Jules de Chevelard, above the former stables – was huge, with exposed beams, a giant bath set in a marble surround and a window with a triangular pediment dating from the 17th century with a view onto the Renaissance courtyard.
The hotel arranges wine tastings, horse riding and other activities. It also sells beautiful guidebooks to the local area and to the chateau. The latter, by Nathalie Mathian, is easily the most detailed history of a building I have ever read, but then, there's a lot to tell. Charles VIII stayed in 1490, and the famous Madame Sévigné wrote of a stay at the chateau in her correspondence, though she seems to have had a miserable night of it: "I hear two o'clock strike, and instead of going back to sleep I put the pot on the fire with some bitter chicory, which boils until daybreak when it is time to get back in the carriage." To pass the time she writes a letter to her daughter about "a miserable little village six leagues from Lyon." Looking through the visitor's book at reception, I could see that guests are a lot more grateful these days.
The local guidebook is similarly elegantly illustrated (by Tom Wilson) and is useful for exploring the immediate villages. Even a nondescript little village (Cercié) nearby inspires the following: "Cercié was on the border between two Gaulish tribes, the Edweni and the Segusiani.... the 10th-century chapel of Saint Ennemond had a miraculous stone which cured colic and toothache.")
Between exploring, you can always drink some wine, of course. Beaujolais isn't a wine to eulogise, but it's great for drinking, as an aperitif or with food in winter or in summer slightly chilled, "... it lures you in with its sappy smell and a combination of soft juiciness and a slight nip – the perfect combination for quenching thirst". (Hugh Johnson, The Wine Companion).
As with all French wines, its secret comes with that mix of the terroir – the soil, the climate, the indefinable locality of a wine – and the grape, Gamay, "a thin-skinned, prolific, early-ripening grape of fundamental inconsequentiality," as Andrew Jefford puts it in his excellent book The New France. He also points out that: "The region has neither the indiscriminate local demand that acts as a disincentive to quality in Savoie..., nor are most of its wines made in giant negociant or co-operative cellars, as in Champagne, meaning that volume and regional origin are all." Instead, it is local producers, and at every road junction there are signs pointing to domaines, many of which offer tastings. Bottles are unlikely to cost more than a few euros. At Domaine Riviere, close to the chateau, I bought two for less than E10, and that was after a tour of the vineyard behind the house, an explanation in simplified French of the harvest process ("Pas des machines," I was assured by M Riviere and his son), and the news that the hot summer of 2003 brought the harvest forward over three weeks to August 17 and resulted in a wine more like a Rhone than a Beaujolais.
It is the 10 Beaujolais crus that are the height of wine-making in the area, and it's easy to drive around Fleurie, Brouilly, St Amour and the rest in an afternoon. Even here, the wines run counter to the prevailing winds of fashion in not being a high-alcohol, high-power, highly blackcurrant wines of the New World, and that's enough for many wine drinkers to make them firm favourites for day-to-day drinking.
The best thing, though, is their value for money. Unlike the ridiculously priced first growths of Bordeaux, you can buy the best examples of Beaujolais crus for less than E20. Which leaves some money to splash out on a lovely place to stay...
DETAILS
Chateau de Bagnols has rooms from E425 per night; call +33 4 74 71 40 00; roccofortehotels.co.uk. Hertz has "World on Wheels" all-inclusive leisure rates starting at £130.89 for a seven-day rental or £71.11 for twodays in Lyon. Call 08708 484848; www.hertz.co.uk or call a travel agent.
