I spotted the news late on Saturday – far too late for posting about here – a Sunday-morning tweet having to suffice. As you can see from the photo above, on a Sunday night that is usually packed with revellers, the only thing moving in Beaune tonight, was the Christmas lights.

I’ve seen in various local press-outlets that the organisers have been getting a lot of flack over their insistence that the Hospices de Beaune sale would go ahead – and then finally giving in to the inevitable and cancelling at the last moment. On the other hand, I admired their bloodymindedness – that they were trying to keep a charitable event going – and one that is extremely important to the businesses in, and around, Beaune too.

They are planning to find another date as soon as possible, is the current message, but for those buyers who normally (directly) decant the wine into older barrels, trying to lessen the impact of all the new oak – well, it won’t be the same this year – will it(?)!

Loathed as I am to criticise, in the end, like so much of the auction-business in 2020, they should have found a mechanism that preserved as much as possible of what makes this sale so special – but done online. Not just safety for all but a certain measure of security too – having not done so – now what?

Well, in the first instance, somebody’s going to have to pack-up the saleroom – for now, anyway!

I’m in good shape. This year the injuries have been nothing serious – but:

The Chablis marathon/half-marathon has been cancelled, as has the Beaujolais marathon/half-marathon. The latter of these surely wins the prize for the best original artwork – see above!

That does leave the possibility of the Beaune semi-marathon to test myself; currently shrunk from 5,000 potential runners to a maximum of 1,500. In the end, however, great shape or not – and I’m thinking 1:27-1:29 – I just can’t face being at the start-line shoulder-to-shoulder with 1,500 others – whether I’m wearing a mask, or not. And that’s going to be a big mess to clean up when 1,500 people throw their masks to the ground as they pass the startline…

So, for this year, I’ll stick to the roads, trails and vineyards – alone – I’m anyway anticipating the late cancellation of Beaune too – the infection-rate-growth is something to behold in France right now, as practically everywhere…

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: