Another scorching hot day but we were mainly inside in the cool. 

There was a wine tasting coach ride to a chateau in Burgundy. Well the wine tasting was at the chateau and the coach ride was through lovely French countryside leaving from Macon. It’s a smallish service city that has some significant industry, including the headquarters for one of the biggest juice producers (formerly Fruitcors). 

Our guide was excellent and pointed out numerous local features including 2 large sandstone outcrops that survived the centuries since the valley was part of the sea. 

There were many small vineyards all along the way. 

This was an included excursion, rather than an optional extra that we could pay to do and most people agreed it was by far the best of the wine tastings. 

The groups were divided into 3 and all had their tastings in different parts of the chateau. We were in the old kitchen area and it was cool and vey atmospheric.

We tasted 4 whites, a red and 2 liqueurs, a peach and a blackcurrant. All of the wine was excellent, including the Pinot noir, which was very light and perfect for these hot temperatures. Apparently 60% of the wine produced in Burgundy is white wine, predominantly Chardonnay, and 40% red, being mostly Gamay or Pinot noir. The liqueurs were divine!

In the afternoon there was a cheese tasting on board. This lady told us all about the cheese production, which is controlled in much the same way as wine production.  The selection included some delicious goats cheeses, some cow cheeses and some delicious mustards. 

For some people (including Mike and Steve) there was a whisky tasting at 3.30 which included about 4 scotches, 2 bourbons and a Japanese whisky. Not surprisingly Mike required a short nanna nap before happy hour and stuck to cola for the rest of the evening. They served some hors d’oeuvres with happy hour which were gratefully consumed. 

This was our last night on the boat so it was getting packed up and organised for a 9am departure the following morning.