Getting Back in the Saddle 

BY NEAL MARTIN | JULY 29, 2020

Since my trip to Bordeaux in late February, the question on my mind has been when and how I could restart visits abroad. Five months later I ventured back into a new landscape when I drove to Chablis and found aspects that are reassuringly exactly the same and others that are different. 

Everything looks the same. It’s a balmy July afternoon in Chablis, wisps of cloud painted across a clear blue canvas, sun beating down upon vines laden with bunches, and diners enjoying lunches along the picturesque River Serein. The atmosphere is tranquil and unhurried. But of course it is deceptive. Everything has changed. Nothing is the same.

My first post-pandemic trip is to Chablis, primarily to fill important gaps in my forthcoming report. Not every producer is willing to send samples, and exclusion of some of them cannot be countenanced. Back in June, a trip to France was impractical due to 14-day quarantine rules. Once those restrictions were inevitably lifted, I weighed the pros and cons of a last-minute visit before the country shut down for summer vacation. I don’t need to spell out the con: I don’t want to catch the virus. The pros? I could not only address those winery omissions, but also compose a more complete article with one-on-one insights direct from winemakers’ mouths. Chablis is the closest wine region to my home. It is also remote and sparsely populated, and consequently has seen fewer COVID-19 cases than other parts of France (and certainly fewer than the UK). Travel nowadays is about calculating the risk between home and destination, a ratio that will determine whether to dig out the dust-covered suitcase. That is the way it’s going to be for the foreseeable future. Then again, that’s been part of life since we learned to cross the road on our own. 

The sign at Domaine Raveneau.

Another reason why I am going to Chablis is to test the modus operandi. Henceforth, wine writers are going to have to approach things differently and overcome new obstacles. My greatest concern is traveling from A to B. I just don’t fancy being locked inside a metal tube for two hours breathing other passengers’ recycled air, even if they are all wearing masks. Why not obviate the risk by driving? It’s only around a five-hour drive from Calais. Put on some decent music, set the cruise control and soak in the undulating nothingness of northern France as you navigate its blessedly empty autoroutes. Forget calling a taxi at the crack of dawn, loitering in busy airport terminals, stressing over delayed flights, arguing about the hire car and, in my case, driving from Lyon to Beaune at the other end. My car will be my mode of transport for the foreseeable future, though a transcontinental expedition through Africa to visit the Cape might be a bit too much for my Nissan Qashquai.