Before heading down south to the Cote D'Azur, a stop at Paul Jaboulet Aine in the Rhone Valley to visit with fifth generation winemaker Gerard Jaboulet brings to life the history and tradition of France's oldest vineyards.

The presence of Paul Jaboulet Aine is pervasive in Tain L'Hermitage, a sleepy town in the northern Rhone Valley. From the window of the charmingly eccentric hotel in Tournon, the only slightly larger centre just across the bridge, even through the morning mists that sweep the river in the chill October morning, the sign is omnipresent.

It is a Rhone Valley icon: curiously incongruous against the dangerously steep terraced hills of the ancient Hermitage vineyard slopes nearby and having much the same affect as a neon light might in the Paris of Voltaire. Of massive dimensions - 200ft long, 50ft high - the sign exalts the name of company in worn black and white lettering but not for the motives one might expect. As a communal effort, Louis Jaboulet, organised the building of the sign during World War II to raise local morale in the face of the German occupation.

Inextricably bound with the wine-making history of the Rhone, the Paul Jaboulet Aine sign represented a triumph of will and age-old skill over the impudence of modern warring. And was ultimately successful. Despite the ravages of time - with some of the oldest vineyards in France, and the curve balls thrown by historical difficulty, Paul Jaboulet Aine today produces a line of twenty-two Rhone wines noted the world over for their remarkable character, longevity and consistency.

From the Northern Rhone, these include seven red wines and three whites; from the southern Rhone; seven reds, three whites and a rose of Travel in addition to a red wine from the Cotes de Ventoux, a newer appellation in the south, as well as an intensely Rhone vin de table, La Table du Roy. The flagship of the region and Jaboulet's most revered wine is however, the famous Hermitage, universally considered to be one of France's foremost wines and the favoured wine of both the Tsar's court in Russia and the English nobility, before the great phylloxera disaster of the last century all but wiped out the nectar-producing vineyards.

It took considerable effort and persistence since that time to re-establish the vineyards - most of which had been transformed into fruit orchards following the disease outbreak, but through the efforts and vinicultural practices of company's such as Paul Jaboulet Aine, wines like their Hermitage La Chapelle once again commanded an abiding respect with the superior vintages to this day, becoming sought after classics.

Paul Jaboulet Aine wines are produced from the firm's own 178 acres of vineyards and from 150 growers - one third supplying grapes and two thirds wine which is blended and aged by Jaboulet. Annual production amounts to a total of 200,000 cases - not an enormous amount - but wines that are well-known for their ageing qualities, epitomised in the Hermitage la Chapelle.

A visit to picturesque Tain L'Hermitage, still the home of the Jaboulet operations is made doubly as enchanting by our host, Gerard Jaboulet the current president directeur general of his family's business. A passionate devotee of all things finest and cultural in life, Gerard is as enthusiastic about summertime open-air operas, fly fishing in Ireland, board hunting in Alsace or a particularly enjoyable chamber music recital as he is about his prized '88 Hermitage vintage, still in cask but a beauty by all accounts.

Charming and hospitable with an infectious laugh and joie de vivre that puts the pretensions premeditatively associated with his position and reputation far at bay, it has been said of Gerard, that he has drunk as widely as anyone in the world and he has an astounding, well-documented knowledge to prove it. An expansive comprehension not simply of the wines of the Rhone and France, in general, but his passionate following of and serious commitment to the nascent wine industries in far flung parts of the world has earned him a reputation as an active champion of the 'New World'.

Gerard is pleased and not a little admiring that we have travelled across the globe to visit his vineyards and winery. Well-acquainted with the torturous flight length from Australia to France, frequent international travel is an integral part of Gerard's agenda and the source of much of his knowledge of the New World wine producing regions.

Presumably, the annual dinner party given by Beppin Desai for sixty people flown in from all around the world, where Gerard will mix business with pleasure will be not nearly as taxing - only trans-atlantic travel is required. The world's finest chefs are secured for the event and this year, Gerard has been elected to select the wine. He must secure 37 vintages of Hermitage which will be sourced from private collectors and cellars from over the world as well as his own store. It is one of the 'trials' of his profession, and he loves it.

Gerard Jaboulet's family have been making wine in the Rhone Valley for countless generations although the recorded history of the family an be traced only as far back as 1834, a fire having wiped out precious documentation during the French Revolution. Antoine Jaboulet (1807-1864) was born in Tain L'Hermitage. His twin sons Henri and Paul (1846-1892) expanded the business both in Tain and in Burgundy, the latter exercise presenting a demographic problem in the administration of the company. Practicality demanded an amicable split in the business.

"The present company name was established in 1834 by the two brothers who also bought a vineyard together in Burgundy. At this time it was quite difficult to travel, of course, so they decided to separate - one would run the Tain L'Hermitage vineyards and the other, the Burgundy concern. Henri named his vineyard Paul Jaboulet Verche, 'Verche' being his wife's maiden name and Paul who remained here, called the vineyard Paul Jaboulet Aine, which simply means - the eldest of the two brothers", explains Gerard sitting behind the large oak desk in his office as the company's namesake looks down from his daguerreotype portrait.

Today, with Gerard at the helm accompanied by his younger brother Jacques as Chief Oenologist and cellar director; cousin Phillipe, in charge of the winery and the 178 acres of vineyards, and cousin Michel heading the French division of sales, Paul Jaboulet Aine is in its fifth recorded generation of wine-makers.

Gerard, born in 1942 just over the bridge in Tournon, served as an officer in the French army stationed in Germany and earned his degree in business and viti-viniculture from the University of Montpellier in 1967 before taking over from his father, Louis, in the family business in 1969. His proficiency in English has served Gerard well. Besides imparting his extensive knowledge of both local and international wines with humour and flair, his fluency in the language has deemed him a frequent spokesman for the Comite Interprofessional des Vins du Rhone all around the world.

The firm's original cellars were built in Tain L'Hermitage in 1834 and once held much revered examples from the full inventory of the finest Hermitage La Chapelle vintages, amongst other Jaboulet wines that were layed down to mature long, long ago. It is both a crushingly sad, but oddly flattering testament to the renowned excellence of Hermitage La Chapelle that with the Second World War and consequent uninvited influx of German visitors, upon their departure, the prized Jaboulet vintages went too.

"It is not commonly known but well before the war, Hermitage La Chapelle was the most expensive wine in the world, much more than Lafite", says Gerard. "Unfortunately, in our own cellars, we do not have many of the oldest vintages left because during the last war, we had some German tourists, as you could call them, here in Tain and I am sorry to say that we have nothing left from before that time. They took all the stock that we had. We have some '47, a little of the '48 but that is, of course, just after the war. When I drink the '37, '29 I drink it in Paris or New York, Los Angeles or in London".

It is naturally a source of some tristesse for him to have to buy back the family heritage for his own cellars and then only when the rare opportunity presents itself, for several of the finest vintages are hopelessly lost in time. It is not therefore surprising that in a particularly excellent vintage today, Gerard attempts to withhold a considerable amount of the total production from the market to lay down in the cellars in a continuing effort to restock them for future generations of both family and secular connoisseurs.

"Yes", he says gravely shaking his head, "in my own private cellar, I have actually had to buy back some of the very old bottles, mainly in London. With the newer vintages now, I sell about 75%-80% of our production and I try to keep around 20%. Since the '82 vintage, I have tried to rebuild our cellars for the future. This is for myself but also, in ten or twelve years time, some restaurants will be very happy to have an '82 vintage. It becomes very difficult because people know that we keep some back and if they want a particular vintage they pressure us into selling it to them and they are always asking why we keep it: 'Can't I have just ten cases more?" he mimics laughingly in a mock whine. "It is always a fight over the best vintages. Of course, in the years that it is not as good, there is no problem!"

In 1984, Paul Jaboulet Aine built a new winery in La Roche de Glun, a quaint, largely time-unaffected town nearby. The old cellars are still maintained exclusively for the purpose of ageing wines where presently one million bottles are housed in dusty silence. Only when deemed properly aged, will they be released for the ultimate enjoyment of the discerning drinker. Although typifying the robustness that characterises the syrah grape, the Jaboulet red wines display an abiding elegance by virtue of the long ageing that has prompted comment such as that of George Sainsbury, a leading 19th century wine authority who described the Hermitage as "the manliest French wine I ever drank".

As with much of the Rhone and its landmarks, there is a story associated with the Hermitage La Chapelle.

"You can see the Hermitage slopes from the window here and you will be able too from your hotel", says Gerard pointing to the dangerously steep terraces in the distance and once again affirming the Jaboulet presence in the area. "It is a big, granite slope, east-west facing the south. This slope has been planted in syrah grapes [the 'noble' grape of the Rhone] by Phoenician people in 5BC roughly. It is the oldest vineyard in France with Saint Joseph and Cote Rotie. In the early times the wine was called 'Vin de Tain' after the town then, in the thirteenth century the name 'Hermitage' was born".

In 1224 one of the returning crusaders, a German man named Chevalier Gaspard de Sterimberg, who had been wounded by Albigensian heretics in the second crusade, requested permission from Queen Blanche of Castille - the mother of the French King St. Louis to settle there. In 1225, Gaspard built a tiny chapel there in which he would live as a hermit for the rest of his life. Today it still stands - resilient and defiant in silent protection of the Jaboulet holdings.

We drive up the winding, heart-stoppingly narrow, dirt tracks through the steep Hermitage terraces to the tiny chapel sitting solitarily at the peak of the vast slopes. Gerard, having made this trip countless times before, attacks it with consummate ease, driving perilously close to the narrow edges and certain doom hundreds of metres far below. The view is breathtaking once we have re-opened our eyes. The entire Hermitage appellation of 300 acres, is named for the hermit and Jaboulet further honours his memory in the naming of its white Hermitage Chevalier de Sterimberg (16.8 acres).

Being some of France's oldest vineyards, many natural difficulties arise. The worn topsoil must be painstakingly carried back up the slope after each vintage a task that would prove extremely daunting when faced with the rocky edifice that looms up ahead. The present vines themselves are very mature - the average age being 35: the La Chapelle vines in fact, appear much older than the 70 year maximum.

"The soil is very deep, granitic and is difficult to work", says Gerard, "We have to build all the vineyards on terrace and work them by hand". Indeed 35-40 vine-yardists work the narrowly terraced, rocky slopes of Hermitage and Crozes Hermitage where fifty percent of the vineyard work is done by hand using sledges as transportation along the narrow paths. In actual fact, one worker tends three and a half acres compared to as many as twenty-two workers in some other areas. The roots of the vines go into rock to about 7-8 metres and spraying and other general viticultural practices are executed by helicopter.

"But", adds Gerard, "due to the Mistral blowing from the north, we only have to spray 3-4 times a year. The Mistral clears the soil and the insects whereas in Brodeaux and Burgundy for example, spraying is necessary about 20-30 times a year. The vines at Hermitage La Chapelle are of course, very firmly attached or else the force of the Mistral would simply clear the whole lot away!"

"By virtue of the old soil we of course have a very small crop, but that means that we make a wine of excellent concentration, colour and tannin and a lot of elegance and this wine is known as one of the best in France for laying down. Hermitage La Chapelle should never be drunk immediately although many people do: says Gerard with considerable chagrin. "Funnily enough, after 20 years, this wine looks much like Bordeaux wine, mainly Pauillac. Some vintages like the '61 for example are equal to Chateau Latour on a blind tasting. We had a blind tasting a few months ago with the '66 which came equal with the la Chapelle. Of course it is not the same soil, climate or grapes but it is all in the maturation".

Indeed, Hermitage la Chappelle 1961, has been widely acclaimed as perhaps the greatest Rhone made since the last war. The Hermitage from La Chapelle is without surprise, Jaboulet's most esteemed wine and in an average year, they are responsible for nearly a third of the 4,500 hectoliters of Hermitage produced in the region. At gault Millau's Wine Olympics in 1979, Hermitage la Chapelle walked away with first, second and third prizes.

A very vocal and committed adherent of cellaring for a decade at the very least, to achieve the best possible drinking, the vineyard practices still employed by Gerard and his team are meticulously geared toward fostering the ageing qualities in his wines. The yields are indeed relatively low - 35 hectolitres per hectare - skin contact for between 18-24 days depending on the vintage, lengthy aging in small cooperage, for which the firm employs their own cooper, and the specially made trademark Jaboulet bottle, of dark heavy glass and deeply punted, are all integral elements of the winemaking technique to this end at Jaboulet.

In over 150 years, they have not substantially changed their winemaking methodology. Yeasts are never added during the fermentation processes, rather, sixty to eighty gallons of a fermenting wine will be added to start the fermentation only when necessary. Most red wines at Jaboulet, with particular reference to the Hermitage la Chapelle will spend eighteen months in cask. The Hermitage casks are three years old which Gerard feels is integral in developing the flavour of the wine. With the concentrated, powerful tannic character of the syrah grape, Gerard declares that the Hermitage la Chapelle requires one full year after bottling (without filtering) to settle. In line with his philosophy, and to enhance the characteristics of the wine to the maximum, he then strongly advises leaving the wine be for a minimum of ten years, preferably twenty or longer, depending on the vintage. A case literally of the best is yet to come.

"It is extremely difficult to get people to lay down the wines. There are two different types of customers - the restaurants and the private people, "he says by way of explanation. "A standard classic restaurant does not have enough money to keep the wine - he buys and then he sells. The best restaurants like Pic, Troisgros, Bocuse - they sell like this too because they have to, but they also keep a certain amount for cellaring. On their wine lists you will find some very old vintages. The private market is a special matter again.

"Ten years ago, the private market was constituted mainly of old people - sixty years old and over. They were buying wine for ageing, maybe not for themselves even, but for their children. Now these people drink less and what amazes me now is to see a new market getting stronger and stronger, of young people between 25-35. They are much more sophisticated; they are very knowledgeable in wine, they don't necessarily have a lot of money because most of them have just started their businesses - so they don't buy too much but what they buy is very good wine for ageing.

"To give you some indication, France twelve or fourteen years ago was drinking, I believe, 130 litres of wine per head per year, and on that only 6 litres was appellation controlle so that most of the wine was bad. Now the figures are down in quantity, I think that it is about 79 litres per head but 35 litres of that is appellation controlle. So what that means is that people prefer to drink less but better, if of course, the price is good".

Although never parochial, the wines nonetheless celebrate the colourful history and folklore of the Rhone in their names. Along with the Hermitage la Chapelle, the Crozes Hermitage Mule Blanche is named for the white mules used in cultivating the terraced vineyards of the northern Rhone; La Table du Roy is named for the flat, table-top like formation in the middle of the Rhone River near Tain where St. Louis is said to have picnicked in the thirteenth century. St. Joseph Le Grad Pompee was a favourite general of Charlemagne who fought an army of Arabians at Mauves which is today, the St. Joseph appellation. It might be said that the wines of the Rhone further display indefinable qualities to soothe the savage beast, as this particular battle was inexplicably halted mid-conflict, and Le Grand Pompee and his Arabian counterpart proceeded to toast each other with the fruits of the local grape! Travel l'Espiegle, meaning sassy, or mischievous, reflects the deceptive innocence of this delightful rose, but with an alcohol content of 13%, in its truth, this wine leaves innocence far behind.

We drive down the terraces to the vastly different topography of the Crozes Hermitage vineyards in the middle of the plain. Once vineyards many years ago before the phylloxera plague, the area was then re-planted as fruit trees for many years before reverting once again to its original purpose. The Crozes Hermitage Thalabert vineyards are spread over 90-95 acres the best part being in the centre of the plain. The soil is extremely pebbly down to 20 metres, which is vital for insulation purposes and yields. This area is also becoming extremely popular amongst non-vintner types; European fashion dynamo, Alan Manoukian has just built what can only be described as a modern palace just near here and with the imminent completion of the underground tunnel, the already visible trend towards English settlement in the Rhone is set to increase rapidly. Gerard declares that with the time-conquering combination of the Channel tunnel and France's exceedingly efficient TGV trains, the British will commute to and from the continent daily. A prospect which both slightly unnerves and amuses the locals.

Despite featuring largely in the cross-section of French three-star restaurants, 70% of the production of Jaboulet wines is exported to 80 countries, the principal markets of which read like an extensive atlas embracing the US, Great Britain, the bulk of Europe as well as Australasia, Mexico and Japan.

"England is my second biggest market next to France, and it is still a superb market for good wine", says Gerard. The English are very discerning with a sophisticated palate. There is a big market in wine for laying down in England, and I would say that in this area they are the best connoisseurs in the world. You will find in some English private cellars, some very old vintages of La Chapelle".

Such devotion from across the Channel, explains the presence in the Jaboulet wine tasting rooms, of several well-heeled British executives, who on a day trip to Lyon, took the opportunity to motor down to Tain L'Hermitage to sample the latest delights from the Jaboulet vineyards.

We taste the White Hermitage '88 - made from two grape varieties, the Marsanne and the more unusual, Roussane grape; the very versatile St. Joseph 1986, the lightest wine of the northern Rhone, the Thalabert '86 - the "baby" of Gerard's wines from the Crozes Hermitage vineyards which when fully replanted will be bigger than the entire Burgundy area, the very elegant Cote Rotie '86 to which 5% viognier white grapes are added (20% is allowed by law) compensating for the lack of bouquet and elegance that tends to mark syrah reds from further south, and the Hermitage la Chapelle '86, which although a very good vintage, is one which Gerard feels requires a further ten years to be truly excellent. Gerard varies the samples, preferring comparative vintages - some still in cask, others brought up form the cellars expressly for our tasting pleasure - and supplementing them with surprises "just for fun" like an '88 Muscat.

We taste another vintage of the Hermitage, the 1978 - "One of the best", declares Gerard. "The best class vintage of the Hermitage is the '61; next will be the '88 and equal third, the '66 and '45, then '29 and '85. '89 will be a very good vintage, better than '86, has piqued the interest of the Britons and as they exit, conferring quietly together, they motion for Gerard to join them. Much discussion ensues with some shaking of Gerard's head and hand, and assorted pleading gestures.

Returning to Gerard's office we discuss his ideas on the New World product. Having drunk in Mexico and China - "it will never be very good, or even good, "he says of the wine of the latter. "Sometimes it can be acceptable..." it is the wines of the US and Australia which impress him most. One of his dearest friends in fact, is legendary Australian winemaker, Max Schubert, creator of perhaps the country's greatest red win, Penfolds Grange Hermitage, and he has enormous respect for both the man and his wine. He confides that certain of the original vines for the Grange were actually taken from Hermitage La Chapelle.

"The Americans are winemakers of progress", says Gerard. "I don't think that they make a lot of wonderful wines, but certainly some very good wines. But that is the same in France, no? Here you have maybe 10% of superb wine, 40% of good wine and 50% of rubbish. It is the same maybe in California and Australia.

"The Americans in my opinion make good wine but I think that they also make one crucial mistake. They want to copy France. They have planted a lot of chardonnay, cabernet and varieties such as these but I think that they forget that one of the best grapes you can find in California is Zinfandel and that is experiencing a rediscovery now after many years. When Zinfandel is made very well, and aged properly, it is a superb wine!

"Don't copy others - it is a big mistake. In each terroir the character of your soil and your grapes is the most important thing to consider. You may discuss with other vineyards in other areas or countries - that is how everyone learns from each other; comparison of vinification techniques, barrels used, how the crop is tended...which is interesting and here in France of course you will learn a lot - every year is different. But to copy exactly is not wise".

Likewise in regards to the Australian industry, Gerard is critical of the emphasis on chardonnay plantings, hindering perhaps all-important developments in other areas.

"There is a big, big future in Australia, more than in California I feel, because first of all the price is excellent - far less expensive than its Californian counterpart, secondly, even though the industry is very new, they have immediately made some superb wines. With progress ever increasing, I believe that the wines will become even better. For my part, I believe much more in the future of Australian wine than California.

"The problem, I believe, is that too much chardonnay is also planted in Australia. Chardonnay is the fashionable grape. In white wine, there will always be fashionable grapes, not so with red. Never forget that it is fashion, and fashion passes. If you planted last year or two years ago, you will have the first grapes in three, four years or so. In twenty years from now, it will be the best time to make the best wine and the fashion will have changed!"

For Gerard Jaboulet on French terrain, the formula for future success is infinitely easier - "If we have good vintages - tricky future. It's very easy!" he laughs.

"But seriously, Jaboulet has always been a firm for making wine for ageing that is our tradition and one that I believe is slowly coming to the fore in the Rhone Valley in general. I feel that there is a big market for this, much bigger than what everybody thinks. Even when we visit the best restaurants, they say that the wine is too young and that they will wait ten years before they purchase. You agree with them, because you know that one week later, they will ring and order. They know that in ten years time, we will not have anything left to sell them. In fact overstocking, could well be a problem".

"So", He says dispensing with the business at hand and veritably leaping from his desk. "Just for fun again, we are going to collect from the cask some of La Chapelle '88 which will be bottled in early 1990. You are one of the first to taste it. The '88 vintage was a very big crop. The colour is already incredible! A huge concentration but what I like in the '88 is the strong tannin but with a lot of finesse...superb, superb, superb", he takes a long indulgent sip....

"Now, that is a wine!" he declares with the anticipatory excitement that accompanies a chef d'oeuvre in the making. "And tomorrow, we eat at Pic".

In nearby Valence is Pic, one of Gerard's favourite restaurants, and the least well-known of the 'three stars'. Although scheduled to leave the next day for climes further south, Gerard insists that we are his guests for lunch at this beautiful restaurant where he is heartily greeted as an old friend and indeed, he is the shy Monsieur Pic's most accomplished unofficial roving ambassador. It is the quintessential French dining experience and we are aware that we have been totally, irrevocably spoilt for any future feasting.

Gerard tells me that during the British executives exiting huddle yesterday, they asked if they could order any remaining cases of the La Chapelle '88 that have not yet been allocated. I ask him if he will comply with their request. He takes another bite of Pic's magnificent Cote de Boeuf 'Angus' aux Echalotes and slowly savours the Hermitage La Chapelle '78: "Maybe. I told them that I would see how much I will have left and let them know..." he replies with the characteristic twinkle in his eye

Gerard escorts us to the Autoroute de Soleil entrance through the back streets and avenues of picture-perfect Valence, and once satisfied that we cannot stray from the direct route, he toots his horn, waving madly from the window and still shouting muffled farewells, he speeds off down toward the chilly roads of the Rhone. We point our car toward Nice and contentedly head for the sun.