Wine Wandering in Burgundy
After nearly three years of not travelling outside South America, we tried to jam as much into our French trip as possible without sacrificing quality time in places we were really interested in. We learnt a lot more about the wine regions we visited, met some extremely passionate people and drank some great wine. Writing a little about some of the things we did gives me an excuse to enjoy some of our photos again.
As we were also visiting northern Italy and parts of Spain on this trip we worked out that we had 23 days for France, so we tried to set ourselves priorities which in the end worked out to be Burgundy (from Chablis to Beaujolais), plus the northern Rhone and Champagne. Of course, there is so much more to see, but you have to draw the line somewhere to avoid being bankrupt and having a failed liver.
Setting off from Paris we headed to a sleepy village near Chablis and our lovely little cottage. For 90% of the trip we rented Airbnb properties and we often had small houses to ourselves. With wine regions generally being in relatively remote rural areas, with little demand from non-wine people, you can get some great bargains.
After our two days in Chablis Malka pronounced that “all other white wine has been ruined for me”! Obviously, she was exaggerating but it is easy to understand why someone could say that when you taste the precise acidity, complex aromas/flavours and intense minerality (that is a debatable descriptor I know) that these Chardonnays offer. Tasting the whites of the Cote de Beaune and Macon later in the trip moderated this view a little as you might imagine, but there is no doubt that Chablis produces stunning wines at good prices.
Leaving Chablis behind we then drove further south to Beaune. Driving into the Cote de Nuit over the limestone escarpment that literally forms the bedrock for this world-famous “terroir” and seeing the signature patchwork of small plots, we became almost delirious. The grand and premier cru vineyards in and around Romanee Conti (DRC) were at the top of our wish list, along with the Clos de Vougeot, so we visited those places on the first day.
We knew that there is no way we would ever get into the DRC winery, and as it is the most expensive wine in the world, we will probably never taste it either. But what we could do was walk around the famous vineyards, taking a limestone rock or two for our home collection (they have more than enough). We snapped lots of photos with the iconic stone crosses and enjoyed a picnic overlooking the grand cru vineyards. Memories to cherish.
The next famous winemaking village visited was Gevrey-Chambertin and we stumbled upon Domaine Quivy where we were lucky enough to meet the winemaker Johan, who you can see in the photo above. Burgundy has such prestigious wines that you would be forgiven for thinking the wineries might be snobby, stuffy or aloof. Plus the French don’t have the greatest reputation for customer service (especially when your French is poor) so, to be honest, we didn’t know what to expect. Our tasting with Johan, and in fact with every owner, winemaker or sommelier we met, shattered any preconceived ideas we might have had. To a man (and woman) they were all great company and very welcoming.
Among the things we grew to love about French wine regions was how easy it was to wander around the vines. In some places in the world, Chile (where we live) is a good example, vineyards are generally fenced off, and you can only access them through the winery grounds or by taking a tour. By contrast in France, to our huge delight in even the most prestigious regions such as the Cote de Nuit or the Hermitage hill, we could wander freely.
During the week we spent in our rented house in Beaune we visited several more of the renowned winemaking villages; Chambolle-Musigny, Nuit Saint George, Aloxe-Corton, Pommard, Volnay, Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet to name a few. We tried lots of wines, most of which we will never be able to taste in South America – and if we can it will be a serious investment, so we really took advantage. This was our first time properly tasting white Burgundy, so our palates were in heaven. At the smaller wineries, we often had a tasting with the owners, or perhaps the winemakers, sometimes it’s one and the same person. A case in point was at Virely Rougeot in Pommard where the owner and winemaker Patrick talked to us for ages about the finer points of growing vines in Pommard. Truly excellent company, informative and funny – lovely wine too.
Before we headed off to the Rhone we also jammed in a couple of days in the Chalonnaise and Maconnais, so yet more Chardonnay and Pinot Noir….you would think we were getting sick of it? Not a chance!
To non-wine geeks, it might seem ridiculous for people to get so much of a buzz from just walking through the vines but the experience of the terroir was even more special than tasting the wine for me, and I think for Malka too. Don’t get me wrong we tasted some great wine, but you can find superb wine in Argentina and Chile, where we spend most of our time. But walking the hillsides of Vosne-Romanee or the Aloxe-Corton hill cannot be replicated, and don’t even get me started on the hill of Hermitage that came next. France really is a wine enthusiast’s holy grail.
