A quiet day of visits, the weather’s a little been a little cooler too – only ~28°C!
There was a little rain last night, but nothing too heavy. Generally the producers of ‘Greater Burgundy’ are content with their lot after flowering.
One more Irancy producer tomorrow, then I’m heading to Beaune. Note, a 98 Irancy today managed to leap into my Top-10 list of 2014 – which reminds me, I suppose I better put that list online next week 😉
The positive side to that is that flowering is, in the main, completed.
It is a good ‘set’ this year, so the vigneron(ne)s at least retain the possibility for a good harvest volume in 2014. The last great vintage ending in a 4 was 1964 – let’s hope that the 50th anniversary of that, is one to remember!
Of-course the negative side to this warm, muggy, weather is the incidence of storms. Many places have been hard-hit in France in the last 36 hours – parts of Bordeaux badly hailed again. Tonight in Chablis we had a threatening-looking sky, and even the odd thunder-clap, but as Tuesday ends – that’s the most of it.
As far as today is concerned, I have mainly been drinking Irancy!
Some of the first, anyway!
Once a week, the breakfast at Hotel Montrachet is my treat. Today, on the way back to Beaune, Clouseau-like, I poked around a few vineyards with my camera – today Puligny La Garenne and Meursault Les Perrières. In general the chardonnay of the Côte de Beaune seems a little in advance of the pinot noir, likewise, find a a nice big south-facing wall and those vines that nestle against it – facing south – are even further in advance. Here you will find an occasional vine that is already flowering. It’s an outrider If you like, but my first sight…
Just outside the south-facing wall of the Clos des Perrières:
A little more Meursault Perrières:
A few pics from Puligny Garenne too:
Sunday was a special day for many Burgundians with a (rather large) party to celebrate 35 years together for Becky and Russell Hone and their Le Serbet business. Maybe there have never been so many Burgundians and honorary Burgundians enjoying a day together like this. It was a little like a Paulée, but with more camaraderie, joviality and less competition. It was just friends.
I cannot lie, however, Ibuprofen was required on Monday morning after the ‘continuation’ of the celebration at the Bar du Square on Sunday evening!
Monday kicked-off well too, with visits to Grivot, Mugnier, Dr.Mugneret-Gibourg and Denis Bachelet. Today I’m trying to return to the keyboard as there have been so many distractions the last two weeks! Hopefully more of the same tomorrow, before attacking the Mâconnais on Thursday.
Oof!
What a day. It started a little like this: pic.twitter.com/Jc7vkNtDqT
— 🅱️ill nanson (@billnanson) May 18, 2014
Had a little of this pic.twitter.com/DRFwPlluL7
— 🅱️ill nanson (@billnanson) May 18, 2014
…and this, in the middle… pic.twitter.com/BjdqYTeoV6
— 🅱️ill nanson (@billnanson) May 18, 2014
Finishing, pretty much like this: pic.twitter.com/kEGH9JDP0w
— 🅱️ill nanson (@billnanson) May 18, 2014
Except that the Bar du Square is still to follow!
Just a little cooler in Chablis today. Eventually, about 17h30 some rain forced its way through the leaden sky – but it wasn’t particularly hard or long, as the actress noted. Of-course it waited for me to go jogging about 21h30 before it started to rain again! Still with hardly any rain for the last month – just 3mm last weekend – Chablis will be hoping for something a little less negligible.
Quite a long day; the last tasting finished at 19h20. The first tomorrow is at 09h00 – so it’s almost time for me to retire for the day.
As for the pics that follow, some unfortunately named Chablis packaging for younger, cool dudes – the Hipster! – and a couple of pics from the Portlandian of Lignorelles…
Having published the March-EXTRA! report in the early hours, I’m now back in Burgundy to complete my visits for April!
A brilliant visit to start the day, at Jean Fournier in Marsannay – wines certainly on a similar quality-level to Pataille’s, and the first Marsannay whites that I really like! (Shock…). Interesting that the locals are already pointing to plots of Marsannay vines and saying ‘but that’s only villages.’ 😉 Lunch was a rag-tag, but tasty, collection of things bought in the Boulangerie on the RN974 in Gevrey, then eating said items while wandering through the earthworks of Bertagna, checking-out at the bedrock of Amoureuses, and looking back towards the Clos de Vougeot.
Despite a little rain in the last days, the vineyards are dry, dry dry – really low rainfall this year – so far! A quick detour into Aloxe-Corton gives the impression that a battle has taken place there – the roads are simply awful just now – new drains but no new road surface – so far!
Bedtime in Chablis. Two full days of domaine visits await. It’s funny how I get to drink less wine while I’m in wineland – so far! 😉
A taste of Beaune market…
Friday, back in Beaune from Chablis – the weather had turned cooler and cloudier. An abortive attempt to go to Dilletantes in the evening – was on holiday until 24th – followed by an abortive attempt to eat something at Maison de Colombier – it was already full – so, luckily, found a place in Bar du Square! I say luckily, because you never know if is going to be open!
Saturday, sunny but a cold wind. I met the new aussie-powered coffee-machine in the Saturday market, plus another aussie, Andrew Neilsen and finally Matt the Canadian winemaker who works with Nicky Potel. In the afternoon it was to the ‘open-doors’ tastings in Monthèlie. I have to say, it was a bit cold, there weren’t so many ‘open-caves’ and the overall quality (on show) wasn’t brilliant. Actually the best wines were at the first visit – Château de Monthèlie – a long, slow (sometimes painful) diminuendo followed! Fortunately, the evening was on another level!
Early to Maison de Colombier – pole position, at the bar! Here you can watch the chef prepare what you’re about to eat, and the bottle of Coche-Dury 2010 Pommard Vaumuriens was simply a lovely sleek, direct and very tasty thing – a great evening.
Sunday, Easter Eggs, of-course from Bouché of Beaune. Yum! A walk of the ramparts – today in the sun and without the cold wind – followed by a trip to Maranges for their weekend of ‘open doors’! Many more producers showing wines, food, bands, lots of people in Dezize (where everything was happening) and the average wine quality was much higher than in Monthèlie – both surprisingly and on reflection sadly – but c’est la vie. In a way, it was quite surreal – Dezize has speakers dotted around the village, a quiet, calm, indeed half dead village (in places) yet with canned music blaring form speakers on most corners. It made me think of North Korea – except that instead of martial music, we had Gorillaz. Lovely day!
A taste of Gorillaz-free, Maranges…
Well, that’s blown out the cobwebs!
A quote from the manager of an important estate this morning:
Last night, -2°C down to nearly -3°C in some places. Frightening !
Another grower, this afternoon, showed me the ‘burned’ dead shoots he’d removed from some vines in Les Clos, but said
It’s inconsequential, there’s so little of this – but only because it’s so dry here. It may rain tomorrow though, and then we may have to worry.
Tonight, depsite the forecast of rain, it seems we’ve turned a corner in the season – the wind is still there, but today it was cooling rather than chilling – the first cicadas are singing tonight too, and I also saw the first swallow-tail butterfly of the year too!
A small collection of images from today:
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