Day 2: Finding La Maison Cerebere

Degustation

The Wine Menu

We are Here

The View from our Balcony in Cerbere

The patio

In the Vinyard

Nicole and the Rosada

Technical Difficulties…

Banyules and Cerbere

With our eyes we trace the Pyrrenes peaks that bulge up before us in angular triumphs. After many misguided revolutions around the roundabouts of Giron, we have found the end of Spain and the beginning of France. We are headed to Cerbere on hope and hunch that we might convince a stranger to hand over the keys to Grandpa Dale’s apartment property. When traveling with a sommalier, your stops are purposeful- they are hidden vinyards and winerys- yet it is not without uncanny luck that we find our way along France’s coastal roads curving steeply like grapevines.

In Cerbere we order the Banyules Appertif and become immediately entranced. The sweet wine is redolent with depth, plummy and spicy, and though it is medium-bodied it is light on our tongues. To follow, we order a rosado from Collioure, and to accompany a lunch of arroz negro, calamares de la planxa and pan con tomataquet.

Full and droswy, and with the keys to Dale’s apartement, we ascend the hills knowing only the number on the door and the shape of the building.