Mas de Bayle · Mediterranean · Mosson

We hope to attend a football (soccer) game tomorrow night in Montpellier, so today's main task was to check out the route to Montpellier and see if we could get tickets ahead of time. But, we detoured along the way and visited Mas de Bayle, a small winery just east of Villeveyrac (and, only seven or eight km from the Mediterranean Sea). The vigneron eleveur (winemaker - grower) at Mas de Bayle is Céline Michelon, the fourth generation of her family to make wine there (since 1907). We had an extended conversation with Céline, who is most passionate about her wine (and her wine was lovely - we bought a couple of bottles of her Cuvée Odon 2003, to which Hachette has given one star). We have visited a number of wineries in France this year and it has been most heartening to see quite a few young people involved and in charge. It bodes well for the future.

By the time we finished talking to Mme Michelon, it was time for lunch. As has become our habit, we looked for a nearby church and found a suitable candidate in nearby Loupian, where we sat in the sunshine and enjoyed our repast in sight of the Mediterranean Sea and a vineyard nestled by the church.

On to Montpellier, where we checked out the Stade de la Mosson, where the local Ligue 2 club plays. Access was straightforward, but there were no ticket offices open today. We then scouted the return route to Lodève, which takes about 40 minutes on the main roads (which we seldom travel on, preferring secondary and tertiary routes).

Dinner tonight at Le Petit Sommelier, where we had a nice menú: cuisse lapin for Steve; agneau grillé for Susan. The wine was La Clape 2003 from Château de Marmorières, a pleasant Coteaux du Languedoc.

And, the nice weather continued (2.5 on the Knowmark Weather Scale).


Entrance to Mas de Bayle


Pile of stems and pits at Mas de Bayle


Cuvée Odon 2003 from Mas de Bayle


The stade in Montpellier


Tonight's dinner wine