Let’s be honest – for over a week, the weather forecast was not good for Vézelay’s 2019 version of the St.Vincent – first minus degrees and snow – which would have been preferable to the closer (to the day) forecast of rain, wind and 7°C. Given such circumstances, we chose an easy breakfast at 9am – still in Chablis – before committing to a plan of action.

Tada! – Saturday morning – dry, and now the forecast was no rain until 7pm! That would work!

We packed the car then went our cheery way – deciding to make a stop in Avallon en-route: I’d expected more, despite it being market day, I think I was expecting a little more charm – though the area around the old walls/remparts looked quite interesting. Maybe we will return in the Summer – maybe.

Classed as ‘press’ we had our own car-park ‘in’ Vézelay – a seemingly long, improbable, single-track to a campsite – though described in my paperwork as an Auberge – a very muddy campsite despite no rain – I pity those that would use the same spot on Sunday! Whilst dry there was some low cloud – the town of Vézelay was nowhere to be seen in this, so we had no idea if we had a 10 or a 30 minute walk ahead of us – it turned out to be only 10 – hooray!

Vézelay is such a cool town – winter or summer – lots of people, lots of snails, lots of barbecue andouillette, and of-course lots of Vézelay wine – and cuvée for the St.Vincent was delicious – no indication of the producer on the label, but the cork said Domaine de la Croix de Montjoie.

They were expecting 30-40,000 people over the weekend – and I expect the Sunday may have been very wet, but like last year, on Saturday, we stayed dry. Vézealy was the perfect venue for the St.Vincent.

Next year the St.Vincent will be visiting Gevrey-Chambertin – 25+26 January 2020.
 

That’s ‘only €75’ per grand cru, but it must include Montrachet, Romanée-Conti, La Tâche et-cetera…
From the BIVB:

Top wines in 2019: Indulge yourself with Bourgogne’s 33 Grands Crus

There are 33 Bourgogne Grands Crus wines. Some are the stuff of legend, such as Romanée Conti or Bâtard-Montrachet. Others are more accessible, like Chablis Grand Cru or Clos de Vougeot. But all have one thing in common: They represent the essence of the Climats of Bourgogne and symbolize 2,000 years of winemaking history.

Now you can share in this priceless heritage. The Ecole des vins de Bourgogne is offering a single training session per year to explore these 33 outstanding appellations, including the rarest of them.

“The Ultimate Bourgogne Wine Tasting: The 33 Grands Crus” is run in English by two experts, one in tasting, the other in geology.
The program includes reading the landscape in the field, estate visits, and commented tasting sessions, which together will provide a unique insight into these celebrated wines. These three days combine learning with pleasure.

And as an additional treat, participants will be invited to the exclusive Paulée of the Musique & Vins Festival on Friday 28 June at the Château de Meursault!

Dates: 27 to 29 June 2019 (plus an introductory evening on 26 June).
Limited to 15 places
Price: 2,500 euros

Registration and program: on line.

I’m planning a tasting of 16 different labels of RSV from the 1999 vintage – in Bern, in Spring 2019. All the bottles were bought by me between 2001 and 2002…

Clearly it won’t be a cheap tasting, but get in touch if you’re interested to join – 10 places available – anyone who brings a magnum of the Leroy can get in for free though!

Waiting will be:

There’s a new exhibition coming up in the Clos de Vougeot, from Saturday 15 September 2018 until Sunday 31 March 2019 – Le Pinard des Poilus

Commemorating the end of the 1914-1918 world war. This exhibition brings together the Château plus UNESCO, author Christophe Lucand and the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin.

The inauguration of the exhibition will be held on Wednesday 12 September from 6.30 pm in the former dormitory of the Monks of the Château. Here you will have a preview of the exhibition plus a discussion moderated by Christophe Lucand, a historian, and author of the book “Pinard des Poilus” – what a coincidence! The central theme is wine during wartime.

The preview is open to the public and is also free – but entry is only by pre-reservation due to a limited number of places – and note, the presentation is likely only in French.

If you wish to join this evening, you can confirm by phone +33 3 80 61 07 12 or by email here.

We arrived in Beaune about 9pm on Thursday – I say ‘in’ but that’s not technically correct – virtually all the entrances to the centre of Beaune were blocked. A little local knowledge, followed by reversing 300 metres up a one-way street finally got us to our usual parking place. Why? Well it’s midsummer’s night in Beaune and there are bands galore – at least until 11pm – the bars largely going to 11h30-12h00 – even those that normally close at 10pm.

And the ‘bands?’ Let’s just say that there was was something fort everyone! From traditional LaLa singers, to French pseudo-Muse, to Southern Boogie, to not so Deep Purple and eventually the best school disco ever. That’s midsummer Beaune.

It was clearly a very hard night, because Friday and Saturday seemed much quieter than usual!
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