Friends arrive for the weekend today – but in Switzerland! So time for just one visit this morning, in Chassagne, before heading home.

Picture-perfect blue sky. Still about 10° cooler – we didn’t really reach 10°C until lunchtime. Hopefully it’s still as pretty when I get back next Monday. Hopefully Beaune will be a little easier to navigate next week – this week, roads kept being closed for putting up the Christmas lights!

Hmm, only 5 visits in the diary for next week though – so far 😉

Ouf! Thursday was cooler – we’ve lost 10°C in 12 hours! Thursday had a brilliant sunrise (for those heading for early appointments in Maranges!) but stayed very cloudy until late afternoon. By 4pm there were the first flashed of blue sky – but don’t tell the people of St.Romain – it was already black as night when I left there!

In the evening I had a little play with, comparing a Zalto, a Riedel and a 2004 Volnay Champans from Count of Lafon. I didn’t find any pyrazines with either glass, but the aromas were a little more herbal in the Riedel versus the more floral and prettier Zalto. 1:0 to Zalto. In the hand though, I found the Zalto stem disconcertingly narrow and it seemed a little top-heavy. The Riedel seems more balanced in my hand – that could be familiarity of-course – the Riedel was more like an old friend. I prefer drinking with old friends!

But that doesn’t mean I won’t keep having a chat with the Zalto 😉

Auxey

Auxey

Well, somebody has to do it!

This morning the wind had dropped, but there was also a more noticeable chill: 7°C at 07h30. The light was lovely though, and the vines haven’t yet lost all their leaves from the wind! A mix of grander and ‘insider’ domaines today, including one that previously ‘could do better.’ I was invited for lunch – a shock I know – I’m unrepentant, but I don’t have a list of commercials ‘things’ that I have to avoid on my site, so I’m allowed – I consider myself too grown up for that 😉

Back to my apartment in the evening, it’s still chilly – I will have to jog faster – but first, it’s time to eat the Bolognese that I was too scared to eat yesterday while cleaning. Yum!

I arrived in Beaune today, just like I will every week from now until Christmas – some weekends will spent here along the way too. There are just so many 13s to taste and put into some sort of digestible format before the en-primeur offers hit your mailboxes – mainly in January, but some of the schemers (merchants!) are now even sending out their offers in December!

Actually I’d prefer to do all these tastings exactly as I have this year: I mainly tasted the 12s after assembly or bottling. But now I’m up and running with the ‘EXTRA!’ report, readers won’t wait for that – reduced or fizzy people want to know: to buy or not to buy, as Will S would say…

It’s still unseasonably warm here, but it feels just a little cooler because there’s such a gusting wind – occasional heavy downpours too. Still, I’m dry, and despite a little jogging too. I’d planned to crop and post the last of the images for my September report tonight – but it looks like it’s now slipped into Thursday – that’s because a public health imperative intervened! My lodgings were shared with winemakers doing a stage, but now it’s just me – actually not just me – there seemed a mountain of mouldy stuff in the kitchen. I really didn’t know where to put the food I’d just bought. So! Sleeves rolled up, I attacked, defrosted and cleaned the fridge and the freezer. The dishwasher looked frightful too – so all the things that didn’t look properly clean were loaded-up, the ECO program was junked and a long 70°C wash is ensuing as I type. I expect to be able to eat my breakfast from the inside of that machine tomorrow. Okay, gastroenteritis now avoided (hopefully!), I will return to more productive typing tomorrow – oh, but only after visiting 5 domaines…

And for the record, the EXTRA! timetable:

September Issue: This week, is the harvest info issue.
October Issue: Mid-November, is the ‘white domaines’ 2013s issue
November Issue: Mid-December, is the ‘red domaines’ 2013s issue
December Issue: Hopefully as a Christmas present will be the ‘Grandes Maisons 2013s’ as here
January Issue: 2nd half of February, will be the Chablis 2013 issue…

This week in the côtes I have begun my attack on the 2013 whites – already some lovely wines to recommend. It’s also remained very unseasonably warm – almost 25°C. There was a measure of respite on Friday afternoon – the heavens opened – lots of rain!

But this week, people have been very busy with ‘decuvages’ – basically emptying their (red) fermentation tanks and literally digging out the solid mass of grape and stem residue in the bottom of their tanks. Hot and sticky work! There is also no respite yet from the season’s (drosophila) fruit flies – there are some suzukis about, but mainly it is the traditional European version…

The vineyards are taking on a beautiful colour right now, it’s a shame we had hardly any sun this week to make them more photogenic:

The picture-perfect weather continues – even if my pics aren’t perfect 😉