Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
France Part 2, Beaune cont'd
After our weekend of relaxation and exploring in Beaune it was time for our heavy lifting, ground and pound, tasting at the wineries.
Bright and early on Monday we departed for our first stop of the day, Domaine Dainel Rion located in Premeaux, one of the first wine villages in the Cote de Nuits, north of Beaune. Pulling into the parking lot at around 9.20am, Mike looks at me and says something like, are you serious its 9 f'in am in the morning, I hope my tongue is awake cause I'm not (I am really interjecting here as I don't remember exactly what he said but it was something funny). This tasting was really the start of a hospitality trend I had no idea I was to be treated to. Upon arriving I start in on my terrible French, Bonjour Madam, nous sommes ici pour rendez-vous, she responds something back in French, and I immediately switch to Parlez-vous anglais, to which she responds yes, a little. In fact, a little was a lot, she spoke great English. The lady speaking to us was in fact the daughter of the man who started the winery, and a long with her two brothers, run the vineyards and winery now.
We were treated to barrel samples of I think all of their 2010 vintage which included village, premiere cru, and grand cru wines including Echezeaux and Clos Vougeot. They were all extremely complex and superb. I think the most interesting thing for me was being able to clearly see the difference in the villages, meaning one grand cru vineyard to the next, they all had their own unique terroir. This only built to an obsession as we visited each producer.
After Rion we headed north from Premeaux to Gevery-Chambertin for our next appointment with Domaine Henri Rebourseau.
We pulled up to what looked like someones house, which it was, an old open gate greeted us followed by the vineyard dog carrying and gnawing on an old vine!
After petting the dog, we finally found the owner running from what looked like the office (a little old hut) back to his house (an old old house). He ran up to us, and I started in on my awful French, and he said he had to finish something and ran back in the house. Once he came back, he greeted us, and took us over to another building on the property where we just talked about Burgundy, the different vineyards, his philosophies, shared stories and the like. Mr. de Surrel spent a good part of an hour teaching us about Burgundy to which I am grateful. One thing he mentioned is that, in general, the best grand crus come from the sort of "middle bench" of the slope, a good piece of information to have. After our information session, he pulled out one of those old giant keys, to which he had about fifteen of them on his key right for various places on the property, and ushered us over to this littler door, and into the dark, dank, cellar we went. Unfortunately, I don't have picture of inside the cellar, but it was something out of Tales from the Crypt. This is where I really started to enjoy and understand what Burgundy was all about. We tasted his four grand crus, Chambertin, Mazy-Chambertin, Charmes-Chambertin, and Clos de Vougeot with Chambertin stealing the show. Looking at my tasting notes, which were scribbled on the back of google directions I noted that Chambertin was big and manly and that the finish went on and on while Clos de Vougeot was more mineral. Mr. de Surrel says, "you see, the wine comes from the ground." At the end of our tasting Mr. de Surrel said this, "there are two things that I look for in a great wine, that it is all encompassing, no one component sticks out, and that the finish is long."
I am not sure if I mentioned this but I brought over eight bottles of wine from American to share with the best visits that I had. I brought a bunch of Rochioli and Ridge wine. I felt this was an opportunity to share, so I pulled out a Rochioli Pinot and we sat and tasted. Mr. de Surrel, simply said, I can smell the sun in this wine, but it also has acidity. He seemed to like the wine. This visit was one of my most memorable experiences in France and Burgundy.
We were then off to our third and final appointment of the day at Domaine Michel Gros. But first a quick picture break.
After lunch and driving around a bit we arrived at Domaine Michel Gros in Vosne-Romanee. We were greeted by Michel and were given a tour of his facilities by his assistant wine maker. We then went down into the cellars to taste.
We tasted three wines, all were very good.
Next posting, more Burgundy!
Bright and early on Monday we departed for our first stop of the day, Domaine Dainel Rion located in Premeaux, one of the first wine villages in the Cote de Nuits, north of Beaune. Pulling into the parking lot at around 9.20am, Mike looks at me and says something like, are you serious its 9 f'in am in the morning, I hope my tongue is awake cause I'm not (I am really interjecting here as I don't remember exactly what he said but it was something funny). This tasting was really the start of a hospitality trend I had no idea I was to be treated to. Upon arriving I start in on my terrible French, Bonjour Madam, nous sommes ici pour rendez-vous, she responds something back in French, and I immediately switch to Parlez-vous anglais, to which she responds yes, a little. In fact, a little was a lot, she spoke great English. The lady speaking to us was in fact the daughter of the man who started the winery, and a long with her two brothers, run the vineyards and winery now.
We were treated to barrel samples of I think all of their 2010 vintage which included village, premiere cru, and grand cru wines including Echezeaux and Clos Vougeot. They were all extremely complex and superb. I think the most interesting thing for me was being able to clearly see the difference in the villages, meaning one grand cru vineyard to the next, they all had their own unique terroir. This only built to an obsession as we visited each producer.
After Rion we headed north from Premeaux to Gevery-Chambertin for our next appointment with Domaine Henri Rebourseau.
We pulled up to what looked like someones house, which it was, an old open gate greeted us followed by the vineyard dog carrying and gnawing on an old vine!
After petting the dog, we finally found the owner running from what looked like the office (a little old hut) back to his house (an old old house). He ran up to us, and I started in on my awful French, and he said he had to finish something and ran back in the house. Once he came back, he greeted us, and took us over to another building on the property where we just talked about Burgundy, the different vineyards, his philosophies, shared stories and the like. Mr. de Surrel spent a good part of an hour teaching us about Burgundy to which I am grateful. One thing he mentioned is that, in general, the best grand crus come from the sort of "middle bench" of the slope, a good piece of information to have. After our information session, he pulled out one of those old giant keys, to which he had about fifteen of them on his key right for various places on the property, and ushered us over to this littler door, and into the dark, dank, cellar we went. Unfortunately, I don't have picture of inside the cellar, but it was something out of Tales from the Crypt. This is where I really started to enjoy and understand what Burgundy was all about. We tasted his four grand crus, Chambertin, Mazy-Chambertin, Charmes-Chambertin, and Clos de Vougeot with Chambertin stealing the show. Looking at my tasting notes, which were scribbled on the back of google directions I noted that Chambertin was big and manly and that the finish went on and on while Clos de Vougeot was more mineral. Mr. de Surrel says, "you see, the wine comes from the ground." At the end of our tasting Mr. de Surrel said this, "there are two things that I look for in a great wine, that it is all encompassing, no one component sticks out, and that the finish is long."
I am not sure if I mentioned this but I brought over eight bottles of wine from American to share with the best visits that I had. I brought a bunch of Rochioli and Ridge wine. I felt this was an opportunity to share, so I pulled out a Rochioli Pinot and we sat and tasted. Mr. de Surrel, simply said, I can smell the sun in this wine, but it also has acidity. He seemed to like the wine. This visit was one of my most memorable experiences in France and Burgundy.
We were then off to our third and final appointment of the day at Domaine Michel Gros. But first a quick picture break.
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| Lunch |
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| Tractor in the distance |
After lunch and driving around a bit we arrived at Domaine Michel Gros in Vosne-Romanee. We were greeted by Michel and were given a tour of his facilities by his assistant wine maker. We then went down into the cellars to taste.
Next posting, more Burgundy!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
France, Part 2 Beaune
I'd like to start off by saying part 2 was seriously delayed due to travels throughout the United States, for that I apologize, there are now even more things to write about, I first have to finish the France trip.
We arrived in Beaune after a short but awesome tour of Chablis. We drove into the city center of Beaune, which is still surrounded by the old fortress walls. The streets inside the old city center can barely fit cars let alone pedestrians. After waiting for some friends to arrive from Switzerland, we headed to our first Beaune brasserie. Good, but not great. I had a seafood pizza with escargot and other goodies, but the crust was more like pie crust than pizza crust.
Our first wine tasting event took place at the Marche aux Vins in Beaune near the Hospices de Beaune. The cost is 10 Euro per person, depending on the day, you taste about 15 wines and you also get a sommelier tasting cup for the tour that you get to keep. The tasting is in the caves underneath Beaune that were once part of the church which still exists across the street. You taste trough the major areas of Burgundy finishing with a grand cru, and various premiere crus. Overall a great experience, a must when visiting Beaune.
We arrived in Beaune after a short but awesome tour of Chablis. We drove into the city center of Beaune, which is still surrounded by the old fortress walls. The streets inside the old city center can barely fit cars let alone pedestrians. After waiting for some friends to arrive from Switzerland, we headed to our first Beaune brasserie. Good, but not great. I had a seafood pizza with escargot and other goodies, but the crust was more like pie crust than pizza crust.
Our first wine tasting event took place at the Marche aux Vins in Beaune near the Hospices de Beaune. The cost is 10 Euro per person, depending on the day, you taste about 15 wines and you also get a sommelier tasting cup for the tour that you get to keep. The tasting is in the caves underneath Beaune that were once part of the church which still exists across the street. You taste trough the major areas of Burgundy finishing with a grand cru, and various premiere crus. Overall a great experience, a must when visiting Beaune.
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| An awesome cellar, I tried to get behind the bar! |
After Marche aux Vins we headed to the Musee du Vin de Bourgogne which is in the former Palace of the Dukes of Bourgogne. The place was quite impressive and another must while in Beaune. The palace houses the history of wine in the Burgundy region.
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| Old grape press |
After a long day of tasting wine and bumming around Beaune we turned in for the evening, napped, and then headed out to the streets of Beaune which included a dinner, and various watering holes (I just don't recall this evening and there are no pictures to remind me!) The next day was great, the epitome of France, the weekend market! Sprawling blocks and blocks and blocks of Beaune was the Saturday market full of vendors, vegetables, fresh fish, meats, truffles, foie gras, the works!! Pictures do this more justice than we trying to write.
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| yours truly enjoying a jambon and gruyere crepe |
Up next, the heavy tasting and back roads driving through Burgundy.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
France, Part 1 Chablis (the Wine)
As many of you know, I am finally back in the good 'ol United States after a month long adventure traveling through France. As you can imagine I had zero time to update this blog even though there were so many times that I wanted to. I can think of no other way than to start with the wines of France, the people I met, the wines we tasted, and the regions we went too. I will follow up with the cities we visited and focus on each of them. This will be a great way for me to document in writing everything I can remember from the trip. You see I began to write everything down, I had the urge too, I always do. However, after a week or so in France I decided to stop, sort of coming to a conclusion that writing everything down was distracting from the immersion of France. After all, I never go back and read my entries anyway. On to our first stop, this was after about five days in Paris (which I will talk about later).
After a nightmarish pack up of our place in Paris and pick up of our rental car that included a broken sandal and Mike getting pinned in the Metro with one bag in front him and one on his back, in the turnstile, then shaking frantically to get out of it, not funny at the time, funny now. After about a four hour drive, our first stop was Chablis where the grape variety is all chardonnay.
If you are used to American chardonnays with their fat oakey roundness, you would be certainly surprised with Chablis. The same grape is expressed in a tight, laser focus, austerity that would zap the oldest tasted buds and a mineral punch, primarily due to it's kimmeridgian soil (a combination of sea shell fossils, and limestone). With age is wine Chablis wines become fun. I was introduced to this with a 2007 Louis Michel et Fils, Vaudesir (Grand Cru), which I happily purchased, the wine began to show this forest floor, pine needley, almost mushroom bouquet. I have never found this in a white wine and it absolutely fascinated me. Our visit with Louis Michel et Fils was certainly my favorite visit. Guillaume, the vigneron at Louis Michel, really took the time to explain Chablis and his story about how he made it back to the family business which was a common story throughout our trip. To keep it short, Guillaume was working in Paris, had a nice job etc.. then one day while on a severely crammed metro, hugging a pole, and feeling like a sardine, that is when he decided that the hustle was enough, phoned is Unkle, and said "I'm coming back!" I also shared a Rochioli chardonnay with him, which, while different than Chablis, he appreciated the bright acidity in such a warm wine (referring to ripeness), and said he would share it with his family and friends.
I sort of started in reverse order, our first meeting of the day was with William Fevre, a fairly large producer in Chablis. I was shocked to find out that most (large) houses are using oak and a lot of it. Not necessarily new oak but it was quite evident to me with the Fevre wines. I don't know how I don't have pictures if this, I swear I took them, but a sign of things to come was our visit with Fevre. Walking into the little tasting room, our host, said, welcome, lets hop into the van and go to the vineyard..... a little stunned, not used to this compared to tasting in America. I was excited! We spent about an hour walking the grand cru vineyards of Chablis, rubbing my hands in the soil, and talking about the vines and what makes Chablis, Chablis. Overall, a great warm up to things to come on our trip.
After a nightmarish pack up of our place in Paris and pick up of our rental car that included a broken sandal and Mike getting pinned in the Metro with one bag in front him and one on his back, in the turnstile, then shaking frantically to get out of it, not funny at the time, funny now. After about a four hour drive, our first stop was Chablis where the grape variety is all chardonnay.
If you are used to American chardonnays with their fat oakey roundness, you would be certainly surprised with Chablis. The same grape is expressed in a tight, laser focus, austerity that would zap the oldest tasted buds and a mineral punch, primarily due to it's kimmeridgian soil (a combination of sea shell fossils, and limestone). With age is wine Chablis wines become fun. I was introduced to this with a 2007 Louis Michel et Fils, Vaudesir (Grand Cru), which I happily purchased, the wine began to show this forest floor, pine needley, almost mushroom bouquet. I have never found this in a white wine and it absolutely fascinated me. Our visit with Louis Michel et Fils was certainly my favorite visit. Guillaume, the vigneron at Louis Michel, really took the time to explain Chablis and his story about how he made it back to the family business which was a common story throughout our trip. To keep it short, Guillaume was working in Paris, had a nice job etc.. then one day while on a severely crammed metro, hugging a pole, and feeling like a sardine, that is when he decided that the hustle was enough, phoned is Unkle, and said "I'm coming back!" I also shared a Rochioli chardonnay with him, which, while different than Chablis, he appreciated the bright acidity in such a warm wine (referring to ripeness), and said he would share it with his family and friends.
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| Chablis is a beautiful place! |
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| Grand Cru vineyards in back ground |
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| Had the freshest sausages here, hand stuffed for sure. |
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
France for a MONTH
I can't believe the trip to France is almost here (flying this Saturday, praying that the volcanic ash cloud does not affect my flight). It seems like yesterday that my friend Mike and I first dreamed of this trip (well over a year ago). A month in France: Paris, Burgundy, Rhone, Provence, Bordeaux and possibly a trip to Normandy to visit a friend's family for the night. There are a lot of things running through my head. I have read extensively about french culture and it all sounds so interesting and enticing. From the five week vacations, the love of food and wine, to the love for life in general! I have been to France before but I was just a young punk! I know that after this experience I will not be the same person, I wonder if, when I get back, that I yearn to be back in France. It just seems the complete opposite to American culture which is driving me nuts lately, where is our country? It seems possessed by drones and zombies. I just feel annoyed with this country, the culture, and especially the politics. It seems the country is completely on the wrong track, more government intervention, more rules, more idiots in D.C., more bureaucracy, more big, giant, incompetent big brother. I cannot wait to get out of this country for some air, before I drown. You hear all sorts of interesting things in our media or from people about what they think of France, all of it, I don't believe. I basically have given up on believing anything the media or "officials" say. Okay, before I go off on a tangent let's get back to the trip.
Thirty wineries in three weeks, our stop in Paris is more about Paris than tasting wine, you could say its a primer for the rest of the trip. Here are the wineries we are visiting.
First stop, Burgundy
William Fevre, Michel Laroche L'Obediencerie, Louis Michel et Fils, Domaine Daniel Etienne Defaix, Domaine Daniel Rion, Domaine Henri Rebourseau, Domaine Michel Gros, Domaine Trapet Pere and Fils, Maison Joseph Drouhin, Louis Latour, Louis Jadot.
Rhone/Provence
Jean-Luc Colombo, Alain Graillot, M. Chapoutier, Domaine Tempier, Chateau la Nerthe, Domaine Rouge Bleu, Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe, Clos des Papes, Domaine du Cayron, Chateau de Saint Cosme, Domaine la Garrigue, Domaine de Durban.
Bordeaux
Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte, Chateau Haut-Goujon, Chateau Figeac, Chateau Lynch-Bages, Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion, Château La Louvière, Chateau Certan.
Wooooooo!
A lot of things are happening and have happened, I have this constant feeling of sheer happiness, borderline euphoria about the prospects for the future. First looking back, from my first harvest with Rochioli, to the amazing people I met at the Culinary Institute of America, people I will be be in touch with for the rest of my life. To the future, the trip to France of course, harvest again, and the launching of my company (more details on this as the details become details haha). After trying last year and coming up short, my friend Mike, who started this whole thing with a simple question, "if I get into the wine industry will you join me?" I said "but of course," has finally gotten a harvest internship, and thus the journey begins with the ultimate goal of starting and launching a winery like no other. To think this all started with being laid off, the best thing that ever happened to me! It certainly didn't feel that way when it happened!
Off to France!
Thirty wineries in three weeks, our stop in Paris is more about Paris than tasting wine, you could say its a primer for the rest of the trip. Here are the wineries we are visiting.
First stop, Burgundy
William Fevre, Michel Laroche L'Obediencerie, Louis Michel et Fils, Domaine Daniel Etienne Defaix, Domaine Daniel Rion, Domaine Henri Rebourseau, Domaine Michel Gros, Domaine Trapet Pere and Fils, Maison Joseph Drouhin, Louis Latour, Louis Jadot.
Rhone/Provence
Jean-Luc Colombo, Alain Graillot, M. Chapoutier, Domaine Tempier, Chateau la Nerthe, Domaine Rouge Bleu, Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe, Clos des Papes, Domaine du Cayron, Chateau de Saint Cosme, Domaine la Garrigue, Domaine de Durban.
Bordeaux
Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte, Chateau Haut-Goujon, Chateau Figeac, Chateau Lynch-Bages, Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion, Château La Louvière, Chateau Certan.
Wooooooo!
A lot of things are happening and have happened, I have this constant feeling of sheer happiness, borderline euphoria about the prospects for the future. First looking back, from my first harvest with Rochioli, to the amazing people I met at the Culinary Institute of America, people I will be be in touch with for the rest of my life. To the future, the trip to France of course, harvest again, and the launching of my company (more details on this as the details become details haha). After trying last year and coming up short, my friend Mike, who started this whole thing with a simple question, "if I get into the wine industry will you join me?" I said "but of course," has finally gotten a harvest internship, and thus the journey begins with the ultimate goal of starting and launching a winery like no other. To think this all started with being laid off, the best thing that ever happened to me! It certainly didn't feel that way when it happened!
Off to France!
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