Day 3-Burgundy-Amiot

Our next stop was Guy and Thierry Amiot's where we were crowded around a big table in a small room (a scene to be repeated several times throughout the trip) where we were visited by Laurent Martelet from Domaine Cometesse Bernard de Cherisey. This was the biggest tasting of the day, I think we tasted 24 wines in a row. My tongue started to hurt after this tasting....no, really.

Cherisey bottles Premier Cru Chardonnay's and Pinot Noir's only. He believes, as do all the producers we visited today, that extended fermentation equals unbelievable clarity. That is why we were trying barrel sample's of 2008 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and not 2009. They allow fermentation to shut down in the winter and happen naturally, rather than raising the temperature in their cellar and speeding up fermentation, thus making a cloudy wine which requires filtration. Martelet told us that 2008 was not a classic year in Burgundy because of an early flowering and a lot of rain in summer. This allows for one to see different styles produced from vigneron to vigneron and from vineyard to vineyard.

Tasting order:
2008 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Chalumeaux-Malolactic fermentation did not finish until the '09 harvest (this is normally unheard of) This wine was exquisity..bananas, perfect minerality. The oak, fruit and malo were all in perfect harmony.
2008 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru 'Hameau de Blagny'-Orange Blossom, kiwi and lime with a creamy lush finish-again, perfect balance
2008 Meursault-Blagny 1er Cru 'La Genelotte'-a 'Genelotte' is the hen that the peasants used to offer the land owners. Toasty with apricots and mangos, very lush
2007 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Chalumeaux-lighter on pallette than the '08
2007 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru 'Hameau de Blagny'-I am noticing the '07s have a similar flavor profile to the '08's, but are more refined and elegant. I am not sure if this has to do with a year of bottle age or if it is because of vintage.
2007 Meursault-Blagny 1er Cru 'La Genelotte'-higher acidity than '08
2008 Blagny 1er Cru 'La Genelotte' Rouge-35 cases to US-75 year old vines-strawberry, rhubarb, cola
2007 Blagny 1er Cru 'La Genelotte' Rouge-unfined and unfiltered...much more earthy...didn't show the fruit that the '08 showed.
All Blagny, whether on Meursault or Puligny is called Blagny. All the deposits from the hillside vineyards settle to the bottom where the Blagny vineyards are. His vineyard is on the Meursault side.


Laurent Martelet


Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils

Thierry Amiot has been making wine for the Domaine since 1990. We tried a lot of wines from this producer. He has been know for his awesome B.G.O., but his premier Cru's ended up all running together and tasting the same, a fact that could either be from tasting too many at once, or the fact that they indeed did all taste the same. Others had similar comments in the group.

Tasting order:

2008 Bourgogne Aligote-undergoes malolactic, creamy, good, long finish, classic vintage
2008 B.G.O. Chardonnay-stainless elevage, really good for the money, still
2008 Bourgogne Blanc-1/3 in barrel;2/3 in tank...more minerality than B.G.O. nice balance between fruit and acid
2008 Chassagne-Montrachet Vielles Vignes-Really clean and beautiful, great fruit, good minerality
2008 Saint-Aubin 'Remilly' 1er Cru-only 5 barrels made-didn't care for this one
2008 Chassagne-Montrachet 'Macherelles' 1er Cru-35 year old vines, tons of green apples, only 12 barrels made.
2008 Chassagne-Montrachet 'Champgains' 1er Cru-10 barrels-more tropical fruits than the last
2008 Chassagne-Montrachet 'Les Bodine' 1er Cru-vineyard is on a hill, old vine blended in
2008 Chassagne-Montrachet 'La Maltroie' 1er Cru-much more lively on nose than the last three, more wood, more acidity
2008 Chassagne-Montrachet 'Clos. St. Jean' 1er Cru-fuller bodied, more lush fruit
2008 Chassagne-Montrachet 'Vergers' 1er Cru-Really good, subtle fruit up front-very seductive, little butterscotch
2008 Chassagne-Montrachet 'Les Chaumes' 1er Cru-real high on the hill, more minerality than last, buys grapes from Philippe Colin
2008 Chassagne-Montrachet 'Caillerets' 1er Cru-tender, young, supple wine, fresh young fruit, not much finish
2008 Puligny-Montrachet 'Les Demoiselles' 1er Cru-Lush with loads of lavender
2008 Le Montrachet Grand Cru-Really incredible with strong minerality!!! To put this in perspective...this bottle would cost anywhere from $7-800 in a retail store...over $1000.00 in a restaurant! WOW!!!


Thierry Amiot

Day 3-Burgundy-First 2 stops

Day 3 was when jet lag set in. We were out the door at 8:30AM. Our first stop was the winery of Christophe Buisson. Christopher makes biodynamic wines and is in the process of organic conversion. He showed us the lunar calendar telling us when to bottle. Very small quantities made, low yields, very few cases sent to the United States. Great news is, the reds were fantastic for the money and we got some of them.

Tasting order:
2008 Saint-Romain Bourgogne Blanc-very balanced acidity, a little oaky for my taste
2008 Bourgogne Pinot Noir-50% come from Cotes de Nuits, 50% from Saint-Romain-only 100 cases of this are coming to US, we got 10.
2008 Saint-Romain Rouge-I did not like this as much as the Bourgogne
2008 Auxey-Duresses-This was a new Burgundy appellation I had not had before and everytime I tried this appellation, I loved it. Only 60 cases are coming into the US and we got 10. 50 year old Pinot vines, this was simply unbelievable for the money.
2005 Auxey-Duresses-really rich and deep, intense wine.


Nice, modern labels


Christophe


The tanks


Some nice snow covered Burgundy vineyards

Domaine Vincent

Jean-Marc Vincent makes artisinal, personalized, organic wine. He has three Premier Cru Santenay vineyards. He utilizes two seperate cellars, one for Chardonnay and one for Pinot Noir because they need different temperatures to ferment. Natural yeast, hand-picked grapes and he ensures their is no noble rot in the Chardonnay which can lead to early oxidization in the wine. He utilizes grass covered rows to keep excess nitrogen out of the soil, which can cause exploding grapes after a heavy rain.

Tasting Order:
2008 Bourgogne Blanc-aged on the lees with really balanced oak, vanilla, little butterscotch and caramel.
2008 Santenay Blanc-2 plots of 10 year old vines-more fruit, white peach, citrus and stone fruits
2008 Auxey-Duresses Blanc-3 tons/acre yield, rich in iron...really good chard
2008 Puligny-Montrachet Corvee des Vignes-I didn't think this was good for the money
2008 Santenay 1er Cru le Beaurepaire Blanc-very stony, minerally, very balanced, very aromatic...really good for the money, limestone soil
2008 Santenay 1er Cru Les Gravieres Rouge-light like a Santenay, good wine, but not worth the money
2008 Santenay 1er Cru le Beaurepaire Rouge-spicy black raspberry, good color, this one was worth the money
2008 Santenay 1er Cru Les Passetemps Rouge-this was very closed off, very elegant, with an earthy, berry taste.
2008 Auxey-Duresses Les Bretterins-I am sold on Auxey-Duresses, love the soil, great extraction, nice structure, spicy

Completely different style than Buisson, but both remarkably well made!



2008 Puligny-Montrachet we tasted out of barrel


2008 Les Gravieres we tasted out of barrel


Jean-Marc Vincent in his home

Day 2 Overview

After being in a different hotel the last two nights, it was nice to land in our hotel in Beaune because we would be there the next three nights. The hotel was called Hotel de Remparts and was unique and that's all I'll say. We tasted about forty wines today. I haven't had much sleep at this point and am starting to feel the effects of jet lag, but nothing would prepare me for the next two days, the most intense days of the entire trip. Beaune was a beautiful city that was a complete circle in town square and all streets connected to it like spokes on a wheel. We talked about going out, but everyone just went back to their rooms and collapsed.

Day 2-Aubert de Villaine

After lunch, we drove about an hour and a half to Aubert and Pamela de Villaine's Chateau and home in Bouzeron. Who is Aubert de Villaine, you ask? Aubert is the director of Domaine de la Romanee Conti, one of the most sought after Burgundies in the world. Also, do you remember the movie Bottle Shock? He was one of the gentlemen on the tasting panel in the famous blind tasting in which California upset France. Upon arrival we descended into what Kermit refers to in his book as the coldest cellar in France, and he wasn't kidding. The cold in that cellar chilled me to the bone, literally. It took an hour and a half for my body temperature to come back up after being in that cellar. Pierre de Benoist, Aubert's nephew and wine-maker at the Domaine tasted us through twelve wines in the icy cold cellar. After tasting, we went inside and met Pamels, Aubert's cute wife and shared dinner, traditional beef bourgogne with some of the older vintages of their delicious wines. Unfortunately, Aubert had just had emergency eye surgery that day and was unable to join us.

Tasting:

2009 Bouzeron Aligote-pineapple, fleshy, nice balance between acidity and minerality
2008 Les Clous Vineyard - Not as much acidity as the '07, blended with some Aligote
2008 Rully Les Saint-Jacques Blanc - lots of lime and citrus, incredibly low yields
2008 La Fortune-35yr old Pinot vines, low yield because of an early frost
2008 La Digoine-Gamey with cherry and raspberry and a little hint of cola-gravely with a good balance of fruit and acidity
2008 Mercurey Les Montots-they are in the process of replacing old plants from 1955 with plants from Nuits-Saints-George
2009 Bouzeron Aligote-Really leaps out of glass, delicious minerality on nose, reminds me of a muscat
2009 Les Clous-absolutely perfect nose on this chardonnay
2009 Rully Saint-Jacques-great mushroomey, slatey notes
2009 La Fortune-Botrytis was actually setting in on this Pinot
2009 La Digoine-great body and nose, the star of the bunch
2009 Mercurey-possibly lighter than the '08, it could just be closed off


Pierre de Benoist









The spread

Day 2-Chablis

After Minet helped us get our cars down his steep, icy hill and zoomed around us in his little French car we drove about 45 minutes to Vezelay which is a town that is part of Burgundy proper, but not technically part of the Chablis appellation. However, because the soil is the same Kimmeridgian clay found in Burgundy and now has its own Bourgogne AOC designation called Bourgogne Vezelay. We stopped at Domaine de la Cadette and were greeted by several vintners, including wine rock star, Bernard Ravenau. To start off, we tasted the wines of Jean Montanet of Domaine de la Cadette.



2008 la Cadette Bourgogne Chardonnay - really good minerality and acidity
2008 Bourgogne Vezelay - Steely minerality, just the way I like it.
2007 Bourgogne Rouge - good easy drinking Pinot Noir






Jean Montantet of la Cadette there on the left and Olivier Savary on the right.

Next we tried the wines of Roland Lavantureux. He makes a Petit Chablis which is an AOC that lists areas around the outskirts of Chablis. Most of his vines border premier cru vineyards in Chablis proper. Petit Chablis is typically from younger vines.

2008 Petit Chablis - This wine is unoaked and was very lush and great for the money!!
2008 Chablis 'Vielles Vignes' - Old vine Chablis is always a good thing.

2008 Domaine Costal- A Chablis project between Kermit and Ravenau..it was really good, but a little creamy for my taste. Appley, minerally, tropical fruit.


Roland Lavantureux


Yes, that is a 1997 Chablis from Roland Lavantureux that was drinking beautifully.


The next winer we tried was Domaine Savary (you see Olivier Savary in the pictures above). I have always enjoyed his Chablis and it was fun to get to taste the new vintage and meet him.

2008 Chablis (Really mushroomey with that hint of banana that I love)
2008 Chablis 'Selection Vielles Vignes' - from 35-40 yr old vines
2008 Fourchame Vineyard Chablis - Premier Cru

Finally we ended with the rock star of Chablis, Bernard Ravenau. Considered by many (and now myself) to be the leader in winemaking in Chablis, his yields and production are so ridiculously low that huge companies in the states are fighting over splitting 4 and 5 bottles of his wine. This may be something we never see in Oklahoma, but if you are traveling abroad and see a Bernard Ravenau Chablis on the list, do yourself a favor and get it. It is worth it. Our tasting of his wine consisted of Premier Cru and Grand Cru vineyards and I felt very fortunate to try these wines. Bernard and his daughter helped prepare lunch for us, but the food was brought in by Mark Menaut, a 3 star chef. The highlight was getting to drink a 1993 Ravenau Clos and eat these oysters with watercress, seawater gel and some kind of shallot cream cheese underneath. You talk about heavenly food and wine combinations, this was unbelievable, simply unbelievable.

Tasting:
2007 Raveneau Foret-1er Cru-last area harvested, low yields, high maturity levels...notes of honey
2007 Raveneau Butteaux-1er Cru-citrus, pears, apples, minerals, incredibly long finish
2007 Raveneau Montes de Tommerre-1er Cru-much more earthy than the last with green apple and flint-shorter finish and more acidity
2007 Raveneau Blanchot-Grand Cru-very, very subtle wine, really soft in the mouth, heaven in a glass
2007 Raveneau Valmur-Grand Cru-Really tight and beautiful
2007 Raveneau Clos-Grand Cru-best Chablis vineyard I've ever tasted


Isabelle Raveneau



The Master-Bernard Raveneau


Pre-spread



1997 Raveneau Clos


More of the spread


Bernard and Isabella preparing our lunch



The oysters


1993 Raveneau Clos



Marc Meneau

Day 2-Back at Minet's

Today we started the day at Regis Minet's and having to deal with the snow covered hilly drives. Little did we know that they had parked a car at the entrance to deter us from driving down the icy hill, but did that stop us stupid Americans, hell no! Our first winery of the day was with Emmanuel Delaille of Domaine du Salvard. Salvard or Salvert means salvation and the modern day chateau rests on what used to be an ancient Roman chateau that once served as a place of justice. The appellation Cheverny is just south of Sancerre on the Loire river and in their white wines, they are allowed to blend some Chardonnay to help cut the acidity. Reds can be Pinot Noir and Gamay.

We tasted the:

2009 Sauvignon Blanc
2009 Cheverny Blanc-85% Sauvignon Blanc and 15% Chardonnay
2009 Cheverny Rose-60% Pinot Noir and 40% Gamay-This is the purest, cleanest rose I tried on the entire trip.
2009 Cheverny Rouge-60% Pinot Noir and 40% Gamay...very clean and pure wines


Emmanuel Delaille



The Lineup


Next we tasted from Denis Jamain from Domaine de Reuilly. Reuilly is a region I've never tried before and they specialize in Sauvignon Blanc. There are only 200 acres of vines in Reuilly and 40 acres belong to Denis. Reuilly is a warmer climate than the rest of the Loire. Their soils, if you remember from yesterday's dinner, is loaded with Kimmeridgian fossils just like Chablis. People often say it is what Sauvignon Blanc would taste like if planted in Chablis. Denis is a very funny man and very outgoing and friendly. He would be great to bring to Oklahoma and a lot of fun. His wines show his personality.

Tasting:

2009 Pinot Gris Rose-Have to admit, never had a Loire Pinot Gris, much less a Rose. Very good, lots of melon flavors, really light pink in color.
2009 Reuilly Blanc 'Pierres Plates'-Must be 100% Sauvignon Blanc by law-Denis' vineyards will be certified organic next year, although he has been organic for a long time. Really minerally, round, full wine. Great balance of acidity and fruit. His yield is about 3 tons/acre and the appellation allows 5.
2008 Reuilly Rouge-100% Pinot Noir required by law. This had a deeper color than Sancerre, but was really thin. Not too excited by this particular wine.




Kimmeridgian fossils


Denis Jamain and our fearless leader, Bruce Neyers



Regis Minet is unfortunately not organic, but his Pouilly-Fume is the best I have ever tasted. It's almost unearthly in its clarity and acidity. Pure, beautiful wine to not only look at, but drink as well. Keep in mind that I'm being tainted by being in France on these wines. It's fucking cold and I'm talking about how much I like a chilled Sauvignon Blanc. Clay and limestone soils, the Minets are hands on with every aspect of the wine making process. They night harvest and use indigenous yeasts. Their yields are about 4 tons/acre, the region allows five.

We tried:

The 2009 Pouilly-Fume
The 2008 Pouilly-Fume




Antoine Minet, son of Regis and taking over the reins as winemaker


The Minet home


The Loire River

Day 1 Overview

We tried 59 wines today according to my count. In addition, we drove for about 2 1/2 hours total. No small task. It was cold and snowy and somehow only sleeping about ten hours in the last three days has not affected me by this stage in the trip. The dinner at Minet's was the perfect end to the trip. The hotel we stayed in was this quaint little country-side inn. This day started my technology troubles, so I only had my iTouch as a time-keeping device and because I hadn't accessed the internet since arriving in France, it was still on Chicago time. So, we were told to be ready to go at 8:45am. If we weren't ready, the vans would leave without us. Unfortunately, I stayed up late the night before and talked on the phone and smoked a cigar. It was the first time to use my alarm on the Touch, so I didn't know how well it worked and when I woke up, I looked at the Touch and saw it was like 11:40 and somehow added up enough hours to think it was 8:40. I promptly jumped out of bed, threw on some clothes, threw everything in the suitcase and bolted down the stairs in four minutes, exactly. Much to my chagrin (and to the fright of the morning desk clerk as I came busting through the door wild-eyed and rather noisily) it was really 6:45. Once my adrenaline died down, I was able to peacefully get ready and enjoy breakfast. And can the French do breakfast or what. Boiled and poached eggs, three different kinds of bread and cheese, fresh squeezed OJ, jams and jellies and the best butter you've ever tasted, three different kinds of yogurt, dried fruits, cured meats, cereal, milk and pastries. Wow. I can get used to this, I think.

Day 1-Dinner with Regis and Natalie Minet

Regis and Natalie and their son Antoine(?) make the best Pouilly-Fume I have ever had the pleasure of tasting. It is Sauvignon Blanc perfection in the glass. Clean, bright acidity with kaffir lime and an ever so slight hint of flint. Absolutely brilliant. Regis is this charismatic guy and has a fire in his eyes. Denis Jamain of Domaine de Reuilly joined us for dinner and then things got lively. Denis brought out some of his fossils from his property and that made Regis get his fossils he retrieved from the Loire river, so the two gentleman had a fossil contest. It was snowing pretty heavily and we had this dirt road going down this long hill as we drove away from the house which caused us to slide into the grass. Little did we know that we were but ten feet away from dropping in the Loire river. This was a fun night.

Dinner:

Thick vegetable soup
Carrot salad
Tabouli
Celery Root Salad (like coleslaw) (this went great with the wine)
Potato Salad
Oysters from the Atlantic
Roast Beef, Fried Chicken, and Pork Tray
Groundcherries
Lots of cheese and chocolate for dessert

Wines we tasted with dinner:
2008 Regis Minet Pouilly-Fume
1996 Regis Minet Pouilly-Fume-intense stone fruit aromas
1994 Regis Minet Pouilly-Fume-Amazing nose, unbelievable that a 16 year old Sauvignon Blanc still had acidity to it. A testament to this wine.
2006 Reverdy Sancerre Rouge
2008 Minet Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc


The spread


The soup




The fossils from the Loire


Fossils from Kimmeridgian soil



Good times


The evidence