We asked our wine consultants to guest blog with their favorite highlights from the trips to France and Italy this spring--what they remembered most, their favorite winery experience. Phil Hayes, wine consultant at the Orange and Michigan store in Orlando, sent us this highlight reel.

My trip to France was nothing short of spectacular! Laurent and Henry were the perfect hosts. They were both gracious, entertaining, cordial, and bent over backwards to show us the best time ever.

Sightseeing at the impressive cathedrals was breathtaking. To think that some of these magnificent buildings were built in the year 1100 is amazing.

Then there was the food. Our lunch and dinner each day was at a superb restaurant. These restaurants were chosen by our hosts as some of their favorites. From the supreme quality of the food, I can understand why. We were encouraged to order whatever we wanted. I had the best ever duck, rabbit, oysters, foie gras, crème brulee, chocolate cake and my favorite desert of all time: vanilla ice cream in the middle of a hot cake, dripping with chocolate and caramel sauce. Yummy, I assure you.

We were treated like royalty at all of the wineries that we toured. Drinking Oliver Reserve Chateaunuef du Pape in the vineyard with the 30-40 mph Mistral winds blasting around us was an experience I’ll never forget! The wine is even more delicious when you're drinking it with the winemaker in the vineyard.

The winery that impressed me the most was the Cave de Saumur in the Loire. The winery was gigantic. I was stunned at how much volume that they can handle. After touring the huge ground level winery, we were asked, “Are you ready to go down below now?” 'Down below' consisted of touring the vast, huge caves underneath the property. Their bottling operation was down there. He also explained that the Nazis occupied the caves during WWII. When the Allies were coming, they tried to blow up the caves and failed. The walls are still black from the smoke from the bombs. It took six months for the smoke to dissipate. This piece of history and the sheer size of the facility made Cave de Saumur a most memorable experience for me.