Three words in the holiday brochure did the trick. "Swimming in wine!" it crowed about a house on the fringe of Beaumes de Venise, famous for its dessert wine but even better as a base for sly disappearances to the great wine villages of the southern Rhone. The family groaned with suspicion. Sunny Provence might turn sour with two solid weeks of winespeak. I had to promise to behave, slipping occasional visits to producers in among swimming pool tomfoolery, cycle rides along lavender-fringed paths and indecently proportioned lunches. But in no time, the sceptics were begging to tag along.
If you want to explore good wine in ravishing surroundings, I can't think of a better place to start than this swathe of verdant countryside stretching from just north of Avignon in a broad band to the east. Names from labels turn out to be pretty villages of butter-coloured stone clinging to outcrops of rock in the foothills of the Dentelles de Montmirail - mountains that stand out like origami against a cloudless sky. There are committed winemakers everywhere, happy to sweep interested visitors into an impassioned dialogue that may go on until long after the setting sun has drowned the vineyards in apricot light. And part of the fun is, of course, to taste and buy some special bottles to bring home.
Our first excursion was to Chateauneuf-du-Pape, home of the best-known wine of the southern Rhone since the 14th century when the popes, in court in Avignon, established their summer residence here with a few vineyards to quench their thirst. The Avril family, producers for more than 300 years, makes its superb Clos des Papes in the traditional way. Yields are kept low, a proportion of old vines is retained, all the grapes are hand-picked at the last possible moment and huge old oak foudres - brewery casks - are used to mature the wines. "I don't like new oak - it all tastes the same, and anyway we have enough tannins in the grapes," says the winemaker, Vincent Avril.
Irish visitors can expect a warm welcome from this highly regarded but completely unpretentious company, since Vincent's sister Isabelle is married to Bill Kelly of Kelly's Resort Hotel in Rosslare (where, naturally, there are plenty of Avril temptations on the winelist). Incidentally, the white Clos des Papes - not listed below only because white wines are such a minor part of the area's overall production - is absolutely stunning, citrussy-fresh when young but well worth keeping for the spicy, nutty, lemon and honey flavours that develop when it's seven or eight years old.
Also within the boundaries of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, I was lucky to be invited to Chateau de Beaucastel, source of the celebrated wines produced by the Perrin family for four generations. I'll remember the vineyards carpeted with stones the size of big potatoes - storage heaters, helping to generate those powerfully warming, generously flavoured wines - almost as vividly as the exciting line-up of bottles tasted.
The energetic Perrin brothers, Francois and JeanPierre, produce a portfolio of wines on organic lines from a clutch of properties, starting with the modest La Vieille Ferme and leading on, through Chateau du Grand Prebois and Coudoulet de Beaucastel to the deeply impressive Chateau de Beaucastel itself. Good news for those of us who like the style but can't afford the cost of most of these is that the delicious new Perrin Reserve wines, well priced at £8.49£8.99, are just about to make their way on to the Irish market.
Un vin logique, not biologique, is Francois Perrin's assessment of his down-to-earth approach, which requires minimal intervention in the vineyard, apart from generous feeding with a compost of grape pressings and sheep manure.
Logic applied with Swiss precision and, it must be said, almighty courage, is what you find on a visit to Domaine de Cabasse below Seguret, one of the most photogenic villages of the Cotes du Rhone. "People say courageous. I say maybe just crazy," shrugs Alfred Haeni, who leapt from his post as an agricultural research scientist in Berne into buying a vineyard (with hotel and restaurant attached) and making wine. Just seven years on, the results of his rigorous viticultural methods are startlingly good, especially in his flagship wine Casa Bassa, listed below.
Down the road, between Seguret and Gigondas, Jean-Pierre Cartier unfolds a very different kind of story. Born of generations of local olive farmers and low-key vignerons, he and his wife Mireille have won international recognition for wines from the 50 little parcels of land that make up Domaine les Goubert. In 1985, to celebrate the birth of a daughter, Florence, Jean-Pierre decided to make a special wine - different from anything he had produced before.
"I loved the taste of wood in Burgundy, so I told a friend there I wanted to buy a barrel for my Cuvee Florence. He sent me to a cooper who had four left over from an order. That's how it started. Now I have a hundred." Winemaker friends in Gigondas, sceptical at first, began to follow his lead. The oak presence in his wines is surprisingly subtle, both in the Cuvee Florence and in the dazzling barrel-matured Viognier which arrives in Terroirs in September.
With these expeditions into red wine country, we were in danger of forgetting to investigate, back in our village, Muscat de Beaumes de Venise, the dessert wine which was voguish through the 1980s and has since been half forgotten - maybe because some of the examples on sale here were so sickly sweet. It took a stiff climb up to Domaine de Durban, with its vertiginous views, to see how subtle and elegant really good Beaumes de Venise can be. "It's wonderful with chocolate mousse, or any desserts with apricots or peaches, but try it also with melon and parma ham, or goat's cheese, or roquefort," urged Mrs Leydier, chatelaine of an estate dating back to the era of the Avignon popes, who enjoyed fine, sweet white wine as well as exemplary red. Back in Dublin, I'm still savouring the southern Rhone. I hope you can do the same.
For anybody who may be interested in a similar wine-flavoured holiday, current French ex-cellars prices are mentioned. Don't rail about the corresponding Irish prices without stopping to reflect that these have to cover transport, hefty duty and high VAT as well as trade margins.
Red:
La Vieille Ferme Cotes du Ventoux 1996 (ex-cellars 22.70FF; Superquinn and many other outlets, usually £6.99). Originally produced in the Cotes du Rhone until grape prices shot up, the Perrins' biggest seller is now based on fruit from the nearby Cotes du Ventoux, grown according to their organic principles. The result? A vibrant mouthful of cherries and spice that offers excellent value. Domaine de Cabasse Cuvee de la Casa Bassa Seguret 1995 (ex-cellars 60FF; Verlings, Redmonds, McCabes, Fine Wines Limerick, Vineyard Galway and other outlets, £13£14). Rich, peppery, dates and coffee, lush and lovely, are a few of the words I've jotted down for Alfred Haeni's smashing creation, a near 50:50 blend of Syrah and Grenache matured in newish oak. A welcome newcomer to Ireland: seek it out.
Clos des Papes Chateauneuf-du- Pape 1995 (ex-cellars 90FF; Superquinn, Mitchells, Mortons Ranelagh, McCabes, Deveneys, Greenacres Wexford, Country Choice Nenagh and other outlets, usually about £15.95). My absolute favourite - a fine Chateauneuf-du-Pape made in the old-fashioned way. Prunes, black cherries, vanilla, chocolate - they're all in there until your attention shifts to the terrific black pepper finish. See Bottle of the Week. Chateau de Beaucastel 1992 (excellars 1,320FF per case of 12; Vintry Rathgar, Redmonds, Shiels Malahide, Galvins Cork and other outlets, about £19.50; also available from James Nicholson). The truth will out. I tasted the rather austere 1994, the blockbuster 1995 and the supple, exciting 1996 Beaucastel - vintages we won't see in the shops for quite a while. I've yet to sample the 1992, a difficult year in the Rhone, but by all accounts it has the leathery aromas, the ripe, dark fruit and spice and the massive staying power that make this wine so special. Beaucastel is made from all 13 of the grape varieties permitted in Chateauneuf-du-Pape - a factor no doubt in its huge complexity. Formidable! Domaine les Goubert Cuvee Florence Gigondas 1991 (ex-cellars 74FF; 1989 from Terroirs, £24.90; younger vintages arriving in September). Jean-Pierre Cartier's new-style Gigondas, with infinite layers of flavour - from the herbs of the Provencal countryside to Christmas cake fruits and coffee. You can keep it, he promises, for up to 20 years: Monsieur Parker, who dropped in ahead of me, still has the first vintage, 1985, in his cellar.
Dessert: Domaine de Durban Muscat de Beaumes de Venise 1996 (ex-cellar 53FF; Mortons Ranelagh, Deveneys, Redmonds, Verlings, Country Choice Nenagh, Vineyard Galway and other outlets, usually about £14). Give Beaumes de Venise another chance with this light, elegant version, worthy winner of many awards. To drink young or keep for 20 years.
Producers to visit: Paul Avril Clos des Papes, Chateauneufdu-Pape, tel: 0033 490837013
La Vieille Ferme, Route de Jonquieres, Orange, tel: 0033 490111200 Chateau de Beaucastel, Courthezon, tel: 0033 490704100 (visits by invitation only, but the wine can be purchased at the property) Domaine de Cabasse, Seguret, tel: 0033 490469112
Domaine les Goubert, Gigondas, tel: 0033 490658638
Domaine de Durban, Beaumes de Venise, tel: 0033 490629426
Houses to rent: Vacances en Campagne has a wide range of holiday properties in the area: tel: 0044 1798 869411.