We woke up to very thick fog just like we have in CA this time of the year. Felt like home :) And it was freezing! The fog blew off late afternoon and we were finally able to see everything- hills, vineyards etc and it was just like we had imagined. Mark loved it!
Our first tasting was at Dujac in the village of Nuits St. Georges (I've learned that all the little towns are called villages). We tasted with Diana who is an American, which that in itself was so refreshing :) She is actually from Napa. Her family owns a winery there, Snowden, which is very famous. She met and married a frenchman and is now living over here full time and is making wine with his family. She has 2 small boys close to the same ages as ours. We tasted about 8 different wines all from a barrel and they were all fabulous. Diana recommended a great little restaurant, La Cabbott and it was the best meal we have had yet in France. French food is (obviously) so different. Lots of meat and potatoes, lots of heavy cream. I don't know how they eat it so much. Sometimes you just want a little salad or a turkey sandwich but not here... :) Anyways, this lunch was delicious!
After lunch, we just went on a drive. Drove through vineyards just soaking up the area. We then met up with Max, who works at Francois Freres. We visited 2 other wineries, Anne Gros and Arlaud. Here again we tasted in the cellar out of the barrels. There are no tasting rooms here like you would see in California. You can't just walk up to a winery and go inside. You have to have appointments and even then you have to have some kind of "connection" within the industry. Since Mark is in the industry and worked for a wine distributor in Dallas he knew some contacts who could get us into these places and in this instance, Max (who sells all these people barrels) got us these appointments. Here is the wild thing, we tasted I bet, 13-15 samples at each place- all pinot noirs but all from different vineyards in the area. I got real good at "spitting" as if you actually drank all that you wouldn't be able to put one foot in front of the other. Mark loved the whole experience! Me, after about the 4th taste they all started to taste the same :) And if we are being honest, hanging out in a freezing cold cellar for 1-2 hours starts to get well, a little cold. But you know what, the best part of my day was doing just that because I was able to watch Mark and the joy that being in this area and the wines that he tasted brought him. We left the last place around 5 and was able to go home and rest for about an hour before we met Max at dinner in Beaune.
We had a wonderful dinner (5 courses) with Max at Le-Jardin des Remparts. I think we finally walked out the door around midnight. Good grief it was a loooonnnng dinner but delicious!
When Mark and I finally and literally fell into bed and he looked at me and said, "this was the best day of my life!" After I shot him a look he said, "after our wedding and the birth of our sons of course." Glad we got that cleared up sweetheart! :)
I LOVED these red doors on this church.
*Interesting fact, depending on what color the door of the church is in the village depends on what color you can paint your own personal doors and shutters. You are not allowed to have the same color as the church door. So, in this particular village, you are not allowed to have a red door or red shutters.
Mark in front of probably the most famous vineyard ever- Romanee Conti.
Tasting at Anne Gros. After we tasted these 5 wines we tasted about 12 directly from the barrel!
Wine from 1992. Tastings are done in the cellar which is hundreds of years old. Bottles are NOT dusted or kept clean so there are cobwebs and dust everywhere!
Oh my! This is a terrible picture. It was taken about 12:15 am after dinner and I was so tired. But I wanted to remember this place- Le Jardin des Remparts :)
The restaurant was in this house which is right next door to the Hospices de Beaune - old hospital turned museum which holds one of the greatest wine auctions of all time.
No comments:
Post a Comment