JC is back in France! Day 4
Finally the forecasted rain has arrived – it’s still quite warm here so we’re also getting thunder and plenty of lightening.
Early this morning we headed up to the village of Chambolle-Musigny to visit Domaine Comte Georges de Vogue. We met again Jean-Luc Pepin and we were excited to meet the new winemaker, Jean Lupatelli. Jean has started to implement his own touch to both the winery and the wines – we tried his very first vintage here – the 2021’s from the barrel. The wines were towards the end of their malolactic fermentation, and although pretty hard to taste at this stage – they are still showing their pedigree and the hallmark of 2021 – lightish colour, purity in the Pinots, medium weight and lovely minerality on the finish.
The sun has come out again, as we head in to Beaune for lunch with Etienne de Montille. We spent an entertaining and hilarious hour or so with him at ‘Boucherie‘ – a butcher turned bistro focussed on great quality slabs of protein! I eaten a good ‘steak tartare, while Di enjoyed a classic boeuf Bourguignon.
Early pm – we hit the road north to Domaine Amboise. (Premeaux – just south of Nuits St Georges). Ludivine Amboise offered us a barrel tasting of her 2021’s. Like everywhere else, the cellars are looking depleted due to the small harvest of this vintage. Again the wines show classic characters - a lot less warm and rich than the last three vintages – good to see we are back to a normal year. The wines were good and consistent. We were lucky to see Bertrand, the father who I’ve not seem for many years.
Back to the south in the Cote de Beaune where we were expected at Domaine Girardin. Vincent showed us around before tasting some of their 2020 range out of the bottles.Their wines always offer amazing value. We talked a lot about allocation which seems to be a key factor for this time in Burgundy.
Our last meeting was with one of the nicest men in Burgundy – Thierry Pillot of Domaine Paul Pillot in Chassagne-Montrachet. His wines are simply some of the most refined in the village. We do love that style of whites, showing the essence of each terroir with a purity and transparency that is hard to find. Thierry has very kindly offered us some new Appellations that we will see in NZ sometime next year.
Another big day for both of us but we were looking forward to the dinner with Chantal and Frederic Lafarge at their home in Volnay. Chantal, originally from my hometown of St Etienne is an excellent cook and extremely particular about where she sources her products. She did produce an amazing, and to date, the best meal we’ve had in Burgundy. As we arrived we could not help to see an enormous Cote de Veau (veal cutlet), seasoned only with salt and pepper cooking on their outdoor plancha sourced from a farmer in the Auvergne (where this is only available Feb-June of each year). We had our aperitif on the large terrace overlooking the vineyards of Volnay, with a glass of their Aligoté ’Raisins Dores’ 2018 and some local charcuterie, of course including the famous Jambon Persille. Followed by white asparagus grown locally by a member of the Lafarge family, hollandaise sauce and matched with their Beaune 1er Cru ‘les Aigrots’ blanc 2008. The veal with a touch of gremolata, was eaten with Lafarge Volnay 1er Cru ‘Les Mitans’ 2007. A board of local cheeses (that Chantal gets from the best Fromagerie in Beaune – Alain Hess) followed by delicious local strawberries were both matched with their Volnay 1er Cru ‘Clos du Chateau des ducs’ 2000 - What a dinner, what an evening!!!
1. In the middle, the new winemaker at Domaine Georges de Vogué and on the right, MD Jean- Luc Pépin 2.Lunch with Etienne de Montille
3.Le classique Bœuf Bourguignon 4.The cellars at Domaine Ambroise looking empty after a small harvest in 2021
5.A quick visit at Domaine Girardin. 6.The last stop of the day at Domaine Paul Pillot 7.One of the nicest man in Burgundy - Thierry Pillot. The wines are sooo good too!
8.The nicest meal since we arrived in Burgundy- We were at Domaine Lafarge, Volnay 9.Dinner at Lafarge with Chantal and Frederic washed down with their Aligoté ’Raisins Dores’ 2018 (apéro) Beaune 1er Cru ‘les Aigrots’ blanc 2008 (white asparagus), Volnay 1er Cru ‘Les Mitans’ 2007 (grilled cote de veau) and Volnay 1er Cru ‘Clos du Chateau des ducs’ 2000 ( Burgundian cheeses and then local strawberries ). What a dinner!!!!