Loving the entire report, thanks! But you’re killing me with the Rougeard. Insanely good find, and an excellent choice. Glad you enjoyed it.
Ouch, that has to sting! Well, if it is of any consolation it is likely that the restaurant will still be there the next time you are in the area 
I definitely want to also mention about setbacks and boring/skippable things. I think that reading about them can be just as useful as reading about the great things. Also sometimes more entertaining.
Only in France, only in France. I have been thinking of doing at some point a post/list about such treasure troves that can be found in the old world. I know that certain people on this forum like to shush about such places but I believe that overall it would be something useful for many.
Great thread. Thanks for posting.
Agree, great thread. Enjoyable and brings about some places to visit.
Loving your notes, pics and descriptions! Thanks for taking the time to share all the details. I totally agree with you that - taking the time to summarize and sort through the pics helps you relive the trip. Sounds like a wonderful vacation. I can’t wait for our next trip to France so we can try Hotel des Bains - seems like the ideal place to go with a group of 6 people so you could really explore the wine list in more depth.
Taking a group of 4-6 to Hotel des Bains would indeed be the thing to do. The only thing that would top that is going on a tour and visiting that AND the other few restaurants in the French countryside with similarly unreal cellars…
Having enjoyed such Savoie cities/town as Chambéry and Annecy on our previous trips we felt like Grenoble was next in line. Only a 35 minutes drive from Charavines, we got there quite early in the morning. After having not bought a bottle of wine for a couple of days I was feeling the itch so after parking the car in a garage near Halles Sainte-Claire we agreed to split up for an undetermined length of time.
Right behind Halles Sainte-Claire there is the two part operation of La Balade des Terroirs (the shop) and Le ZINC (the bar, short for Ze Independent Natural Cellar). This was another of those occasions where I entered an empty shop and ended up spending close to two hours chatting with the staff while putting together a couple of mixed cases to take home.
The shop is basically one tall room with bottles covering the walls from floor to ceiling. It was very hard to take it all in when the bottles up top were far enough to be unrecognizable save for the most familiar labels. Fortunately the staff was very eager to discuss anything and everything and they also brought the winebar’s list which helped navigating throught the selection a lot.
As the name of their bar suggests there is a lot of natural wine offered here. Unfortunately for a few quite desirable names the allocations are so small that they are sold only at the bar (wine list can be seen on the website if you are interested). Especially the bar’s selection of Ganevat (domaine wines) is nothing short of ridiculous and the prices are funny. This is of course not a unique phenomenon, I think in general it is way easier to score Ganevat in France at restaurants than in retail. Same applied for the wines of L’Anglore, where the scarcity is really making the wines more and more tempting to me despite having never tried one.
As my preferences are most definitely closer to conventional stuff than the blatantly natural I was very happy to find stuff from the likes of Bernard Moreau, Jean-Marc Vincent, Berthaut-Gerbet and de Villaine’s Côte Chalonnaise operation. On the more natural side I picked up bottles from Henri Milan, de Moor and Damien Coquelet at what I thought were very smart prices.
Struggling to choose the final bottles I was offered a taste of the bottle pictured above, a dry wine from a tiny 3-hectare producer named Clos Larrouyat from Jurançon. I could not remember whether I had ever tried anything from the region so I was very intrigued to taste it and liked it more than enough to buy a bottle. A 50-50 blend of Petit Manseng and Gros Manseng, the flavor profile was quite singular yet the wine was thoroughly harmonious with moderate concentration and very nice acidity. Time will tell whether I shall be an a**hole and put it in a blind tasting or just enjoy at home with a meal.
Out of many unusual wines in the shop this one perhaps takes the cake: a blend of Gamay, Syrah and Mondeuse with the grapes coming from Jean-Claude Lapalu, Matthieu Barret and Dominique Belluard. Unfortunately a pour was not offered but I look forward to trying it one day. They only had it in magnums so I passed on buying a bottle.
As seems to be a habit in France after I had decided on my 12 bottles the shopkeeper insisted that he gifts me an extra bottle. He inquired what I would wish it to be but as I was open to anything he reached to an unfamiliar bottle of Chenin, a 2015 Thomas Batardière Vin de France Clos des Cocus. All I can say is what a nice habit! That said even without any extras I could not recommended this shop more highly. Even if natural wines are not your thing you will surely find nice bottles to your taste here.
On the street between the shop and the Halles there was a large, rather sketchy group of local youngsters hanging out and the shopkeeper actually offered to help me carry the wines to the car - not sure whether it was more due to the amount of bottles or not - but I politely refused and walked away with my two cases and one bottle.
After the wine shopping it was lunch time which was followed by casual wandering aroung the city and some very light normal shopping. We rather enjoyed the Jardin de Ville which was just full of life. Having a dog at home you really start to miss the little bugger after a couple weeks on the road so it’s nice to see other people’s dogs then in action. What we saw of Grenoble it seemed like a nice enough city though with definitely a feel of a bigger city compared Chambéry and especially Annecy. Probably not a destination on its own but I would not mind spending a day or two there.
The World Cup had reached its more exciting stages and it was the day of France against Belgium. This meant that very early ALL the bars started to get crowded as seemingly everyone wanted to see the game. There were a lot of police officers around the city to make sure that everyone acts nicely but to me it seemed more like they were there really to watch the game as well. After the game ended (France won) it got crazy loud as the locals drove home honking their horns. Annoying and awesome at once.
What waited us in the evening was of course another dinner at Hotel des Bains. I had had grand plans of ordering a bottle of Arnaud Ente’s Meursault, listed back then on there website for a very friendly price (around 100 € IIRC). However to our disappointment it was not on the winelist anymore and Mr. Perino explained that the last bottle had just been sold and at Ente changes had taken place when it came to distribution. I understood that he was not pleased with the new regime and thus had ended the relationship. I think someone at the forum touched on this matter in a recent white Burgundy thread.
No worries, given the depth of the list I felt certain I would have my Chardonnay itch scratched with some other bottle. After a brief consideration Perino recommended us the 2009 Meursault Perrières from Albert Grivault. I was not familiar with the producer and without much real experience the vintage was not one I would go for blindly. That said I would not dare to question Mr. Perino’s recommendation. A wise decision!
Like usual the wine took its time in the decanter to really get going. Once it did, it was all fireworks. Vanilla, honey, seashells, cream and lemon on the decadent nose. Rich, mouthfilling and powerful on the palate. Still young, full of energy. Concentrated with a downright luxurious mouthfeel. Not heavy or flabby thanks to its insane drive. A true wow wine, bound to develop but delivered for every penny of its 120 € price tag.
Being from Finland cold smoked salmon is damn near our national food and we know something about this. Hotel des Bains’s version was massively delicious, just melting in the mouth.
The main was whitefish called ‘féra’ from Lake Geneva/Lac Léman. Apparently not common outside the lake, which is a shame. Super delicious, tender yet with a way more refined flavor than salmon. Perfectly cooked and the ideal pairing for the Meursault.
After finishing the bottle which some cheeses I needed a digestif. You like Armagnac? They have some here.
Having tasted some vintages from Laubade already I once again turned to Mr. Perino for a rec. He said his personal favorite was the 1978 due to its savoriness and that sounded good enough for me. To no one’s surprise it turned out to be really, really nice. Thoroughly savory, salty and nutty on the nose. Dry and savory on the palate with a distinct tobacco note. Very well balanced all the way.
While it had felt like the previous dinner was difficult to better I think this one just might have done it. In either case I don’t think you can have anything short of an excellent experience here and after writing this post I suddenly crave to return. The summer can’t come soon enough…