day in burgundy photos

that would be baptiste with his grand cru corton charlemagne... wonderful and i would love a couple of cases.

lynne and david, www.burgundydiscovery.com. these folks have a wonderful program and i would strongly recommend them.

these are small producers and they make a wonderful range of wines. my tasting notes are previously published. there will be some additional photos from my phone, once i can get itunes to move them.

french wine society 2010 video!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24_J1zCQvhs

as part of the ongoing gradual posting of the conference here are the out-takes. great video julian, i agree that it should be annual.

written during a glass of 2008 Domaine LaFond Roc-Epine Lirac.

i am 3 months behind on posts...

a wonderful rainy day in burgundy

I am going to go out of chronologic order for today’s posting, and I am going to hope that some of the photos will load, but given that i have lost internet twice during this post it is unlikely. It has rained here in Nuits St Georges since yesterday afternoon so there are not many photos, but the few are quite nice. I realize I may run out of adjectives in this post, because everything was perfect.


Today was Burgundy Discovery Tours day with David and Lynne Hammond (www.burgundydiscovery.com). We “found” them last year and had a great trip through les Hauts Cotes and this year we arranged to do their “Hidden Secrets” tour. The general format is 2 or 3 producers before lunch and then a single visit afterwards. They have an excellent sense for smaller producers who define the terroir of their grapes and who make wine with what nature has provided. Last year they provided us with the beginnings of an understanding of this complex patchwork of a region and they expanded upon that this year. They are a marvelous couple who can provide access to producers one never could find alone. I highly recommend them.

Lunch both years has been at a spectacular restaurant in Savigny-les- Beaune, Le Morgan; this is an excellent restaurant which is a true one person show, the chef does everything and does it well. We had planned to visit Le Morgan for dinner if we did not have lunch there. This is a great restaurant with exceptional food. It is officially on our list for the next time we visit les Cotes de Nuits.

First producer, Domaine Jean-Pierre Bony operated by Fabienne Bony (www.domainejpbony.com). Seven wines were tasted beginning with a barrel tasting of the 2009 Nuits St Georges village wine. This was followed from the barrel by her 2009 1er Cru “Les Pruliers.” I enjoy barrel tasting such as this because it gives the opportunity to learn about the wines in their youth. Both were ruby and clear, with red cherries; the 1er cru was more rounded an balanced even at this young age. Following this we had the 2008 Bourgogne, 2008 Nuits St Georges, 2008 Nuits St Georges “les Damodes,” and the 2008 1er Cru Nuits St Georges “les Pruliers.” This was a wonderful flight of wines showing the progression of complexity of the wines, going from red cherries and fruits in the Bourgogne to delicate dark cherries with a hint of spice in the 1er Cru. My favorite was the single parcel village wine “les Damodes.” This is adjacent to a ranked vineyard of the same name, and has all the complexity of a 1er Cru. We finished with a flowery 2009 Aligote; I enjoyed this as a conclusion to the tasting. Her USA importer is ill-defined, which is a shame. The wines are excellent and would show the American consumer the true nature of the region.

Second producer, Baptiste Gay. This was a predominantly white wine tasting ending with a red offering. The initial wine was 2009 Bourgogne Aligote. This was less floral on the nose and had a touch of oak. It was an excellent example of the grape’s range of flavors. This was followed by 2008 Pernand-Bergelesses “les Belles Filles” single plot village wine. This displayed the apples and citrus of chardonnay with a nicely balanced minerality and acidity. The third wine was 2007 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru “Sous-Fretilles.” This was had greater minerality, but the malolactic fermentation had balanced the mineral with the acids and fruit into a very nice wine. Very nice wine, that was written because of the wine which followed it: Corton-Charlemangene Grand Cru 2007. This was an extraordinary wine with a wonderful minerality and nose of green apples. If there was a way, I would take a substantial amount of this back to cellar. The mineral and acid were balanced, unlike the sometimes “electrical shock” of chardonnay from Chablis. This was an exceptional wine. The final wine was 2008 Pernand-Vergelesses “les Boutiers,” a red wine. This showed strawberry, red raspberry, and some spice with soft and well balanced tannins. This producer does not have a web site or e mail address but can be contacted through the Hammonds. His wines are stunning. I am unable to locate a US importer, and by the way the grand cru wine is 45 euro and the others all are under 15 euro just to keep things in perspective.

The final producer was Domaine Michel Martin (www.domainemartin.fr), who was the smallest volume producer of the three making approximately 16000 bottles a year. This tasting consisted of six wines, and a seventh which I purchased and am drinking as I write. Again, this began with the red wines and finished with 2009 Savigny les Beaune Blanc from the barrel; this was a wonderful floral wine with citrus notes, the acid is mild and well balanced. The wine is 100% pinot beurot, which I have now learned is also pinot gris. The 2008 is slightly softer and more round than the young 2009; this wine was the perfect finish to the sturdy flight of red wines tasted. This began with 2006 Chorey les Beaune, which was aromatic with red cherries and tannin; it spent 18 months in oak. The next wine was 2007 Savigny les Beaune, which again showed red fruits and pepper. The third red was 2006 1er Cru “Teurons,” which had red cherry and spice and was better balanced. The fourth red was 2007 Beaune 1er Cru “Clos du Roi,” which added more spice and an earthy notes. As a closing comparison we had the 2005 Chorey les Beaune, which had jammy red fruit and was less tannic. All of these reds had prominent tannin at this point, but the 2005 showed they round out nicely with time. These were excellent wines all under 20 euro.

This is NOT the Burgundy I may have complained about at times, this is a exciting charming place with wines which express the terroir. The producers are small and linked to their wines. These are not the wines one reads about in the "major wine publications" of which only 50 cases have been imported at $500/bottle. Unfortunately, I cannot find importers for any of these extraordinary wines, but maybe someone will read this and take a look at these options rather than the large volume bland negociant wines we see on the shelves in Pennsylvania.


This was an outstanding day of tasting, I did not even mention the wines from les Hautes Cotes which we had with lunch. These are three excellent producers who make extraordinary wines. It is unfortunate that it seems none of their wines can make it into the US market; maybe importers need to look for these “hidden secret” type producers whose wines reflect the grape, the terroir, the climat, and the hands of the vigneron. All excellent wines. Kudos to Lynne and David for a wonderful day.

more st laurent des arbres

these were from the same walk.

now, what we really want instead of a rant about destruction of vineyards is a wine update.

Domaine Pelaquie 2007 Laudun Cotes du Rhone Rouge. This is a great wine at an exceptional price. We tried to visit the producer in St Victor la Coste, but they were closed and they do not seem to answer their telephone. It is a dark wine with red fruit and spice, nice balance, and a polished finish. The producers have been in business for a long time. I will try to get the details of the USA market, but I recall seeing this wine available in the States. Their white offerings also are wonderful, and express their origin well. I strongly recommend this producer.

old vines in st laurent des arbres

we have arrived in burgundy; it is gray and raining just in time for harvest, the internet connection stinks, and i have been working on just getting this post to load for an hour. the posts will be somewhat disorderly if this problem persists. there are a couple of southern rhone items still to put up and of course our next days here.

the previously posted photos, without caption or text, are from a stroll along the vineyard roads in st laurent des arbres. three years ago we noticed neglect of some of the vineyard parcels, two years ago some vines were dead, and last year there was a sign announcing that parcels were to be developed for housing. this had to have been politically approved. inquiries at the mairie give no timeline for construction.

it is sad to see wonderful old vines destroyed. this is land which produced aoc lirac, but it is more valuable to convert for construction. some of the parcels are just barren, others have been planted to sunflowers. can those be made into wine like dandelions? it seems we just cannot co-exist with our environment. maybe i am wrong and the wine from these plots was poor.

CdP picts

The Mistral has stopped, for now

The posts are a couple of days behind, it is Thursday and today's topic is Tuesday... The Mistral stopped blowing and today has been still, so that is my excuse. The topics coming are for this post a trip through the other side of Chateauneuf du Pape and a post which will follow on a very nice provencal rose from our trip to St Remy yesterday.

There are not words enough for Chateauneuf du Pape. We have vacationed here now for 5 consecutive years and the region enchants us. I have come to measure much of what I tasted based upon this region, and specifically upon Chateauneuf. These are wines which are good young, but given age they can become spectacular with their nuances. As we all know, there are 13 grape varieties allowed in red CdP. These red wines tend to be dark in color, have a nose of black cherries and red fruits, licorice, and leather- I find some of them peppery or smoky as well, the acids and tannins are well balanced. As they age I sense more dried fruit and leather or tobacco in many of the wines.

I am going to focus on two parts of our day: first, our visit to Clos St. Michel (which is an annual event for us) and our dinner. Sadly, as I mentioned in a prior post, La Mere Germaine has been sold and is not yet reopened. I have always viewed that as the village's center-piece restaurant. With it gone, my only reason to go into the village is to get photos or to visit; otherwise, I can entirely stay out of the old village except to pass through. That said, we had a wonderful dinner at Chateau les Fines Roches and we would highly recommend it. The ambiance is excellent, the food was well prepared, and the service was impeccible. We could not eat outdoors- which we previously had done- because of the Mistral.

Every year we visit Clos St Michel, speak with the "madame," and taste the wines. She has done a vast amount to educate us about CdP. Our cellar reflects this fact with a reasonable vertical of their wines. This year we began with the 2008 CdP Blanc (straw colored, a nose of honey, fruits, and flowers, well balanced acids and minerality, and a fine finish with a reminder of the fruit and honey). After that we tasted the 2006 CdP (dark, red fruits and black cherries, tobacco, and a bit of tannin- still young and needs to rest of a bit in the cellar). We finished with Reserve 2000 CdP which is just beginning to hit its peak. The fruits are taking on a different character with more dried fruit aromas, there is a more pronounced smokiness, and the tannins are softening; we have this in the cellar and are going to hold it for a bit longer. Madame reminded us, that for her taste, it is best to age Chateauneuf for at least 12 years. She previously had made this point to us, but unfortunately we have been drinking these wines while they are young- very good but not at their prime. We finished the tasting with their Cotes du Rhone which is designed to drink now- Camille 2009.

Clos St Michel is a reliable producer and the wines are good. We have aged them and they are predictable in how they will evolve. I strongly recommend them. They can be obtained at most "Total Wine" stores in the states. Although it is fun to drink them young, save the majority for what they become with aging.

Chateau les Fines Roches. We have had pleasant meals there previously; and when the opportunity to dine on their terrace has been present the ambiance has been impressive. Our meals were outstanding- they clearly have elevated themselves to a high level of quality. Atypically, we ordered the same meal. Amuse bouche was a miniture croc monsieur with a cheese puff. There was a wonderful gazpacho. The salad was simple but perfect. The entree was pork tenderloin wrapped in a very lean ham with polenta. Dessert was roasted figs with vanilla creme. For the wine I went with the 2005 Fines Roches. Although young, this paired with the meal perfectly. I had wanted to have the 1993 Henri Bonneau, but this was not a financial reality.

The wines from CdP are consistently excellent, and I think they improve every year. There are some producers who follow a more traditional style while others adopt a more modern taste; I absolutely see a place for each and appreciate the nuances they bring with them. Our drive-by of Beaucastel was predictably unsuccessful; they previously had told me that they would be unable to accommodate us because of the harvest. I met others who had tried to visit earlier this summer and were turned away because of inability to accommodate everyone requesting a reservation. They are on the other side of CdP which I previously had never visited.