Travels in Burgundy 2024

Catching up #3 – A Chablis Encore & the Burgundy water-table…

By billn on March 22, 2024 #degustation#travel pics#travels in burgundy 2024#vintage 2024

In January, I really didn’t have enough time in 3 weeks to visit all the Chablis domaines – or at least all the ones in my current list as it now extends to over 100 domaines! So I was back in ‘the north’ in March – with another trip planned for May!

In May, I’ll be mixing it up with a few visits in Irancy too.

La Chapelle de Vaupelteigne - March 2024
The view to La Chapelle de Vaupelteigne

On the Sunday I was in the Côte d’Or and I have to say that the flatter vineyards in the Côte de Beaune looked ready for ducks – there were a lot of vine ‘feet’ under water. Whilst the water in Chablis’ river Serein looked high on Monday, I still wasn’t prepared for the road closures on Tuesday as the river burst its banks to fill many of the flood-plains in the area. The rain hadn’t been so heavy in Chablis, rather in the surrounding Morvan countryside – as much as 70-80 miles away – and it takes about 3 days for the floodwaters to rise in Chablis.

Chablis itself wasn’t too badly affected but the village of La Chapelle de Vaupelteigne (above) was under water – only partly accessible for me by taking a route descending the hillside from Beine.

The weather calmed – indeed this week we have sunshine in Beaune – it’s a nice change! For now, Burgundians can’t right now complain about a lack of water – it’s double what was seen at the same stage in 2022 and 2023 – but instead they can complain that it’s 22°C in the afternoon 🙂

Catching up #1 – Beaujolais Reporting

By billn on March 16, 2024 #beaujolais#reports#travel pics#travels in burgundy 2024

So a couple of days of typing this week, post week number 4 in Chablis – but for now, let’s just talk about up-and-coming Beaujolais reporting.

Like in Chablis, there will be another week of visits in Beaujolais, as three weeks just doesn’t cut it in either place anymore – I’ve over 100 domaines to visit in both regions. But more visits means less time to type – such is life.

So I don’t want subscribers to wait around too long for reports just because I’m doing more. So I plan to split February’s monthly (Beaujolais) report into about 3 weekly issues until all is complete – then there is less tumbleweed on the site. As soon as at least 20 of the 80 visits are publishable, I’ll do that and let everyone know on the WhatsApp group (top right of this page) – and of course, with a post here.

Only to say, that at this stage of the wines’ lives – I think the greatest quality/value to be found in 2022 comes in Beaujolais – only a teaser 🙂

dipping a toe into the côte d’or

By billn on February 12, 2024 #picture gallery#travels in burgundy 2024

As a warm-up for my three weeks in Beaujolais I, last Friday, dipped my toes into the (mainly) reds of the Côte d’Or before a Beaune weekend with a wonderful Saturday ‘lunch’ in the Hospices de Beaune – my first!

Two domaines in Gevrey-Chambertin and one in Chambolle; Astrelles, Marc Roy and François Millet. It wasn’t weather for sunbathing but I still toured a few vineyards – interesting to see three different approaches in the vines – all within a stones-throw from the house in the Clos des Issarts.

Then it was cool to see that most of the decorations for the St.Vincent were still in place in both Morey and Chambolle: The estimate was 70,000 people attending the St.Vincent weekend – for a time the police had to stop people coming into Chambolle-Musigny as the streets are so narrow and there were queues forming!

And the lunch in the Hôtel Dieu? Yes, in La Chambre du Roy – I’ve had tastings in here before but it’s the first time that I saw it set with tables for lunch. Really a super Saturday afternoon – yes we were there for 4.5 hours!

Adieu Chablis – for now

By billn on February 06, 2024 #picture gallery#travels in burgundy 2024

Friday was my last day in Chablis – for my first tranche of visits!

I managed a little more than 60 domaines in my January tour but actually have a list of over 100 domaines that I could potentially visit. That means I will have to visit again in March, April and possibly May too!

There are worse things 🙂

The weather wasn’t bad and the Scooby (2) surged through the 600,000 km mark – just one day with a little rain but the last two weeks were incredibly mild for January – 10-14°C and no frosty mornings. At this stage, I think the vigneron(ne)s should be happy that they have some stock after two decent volume vintages!

Just a few pics from underway…

T-shirts already !

By billn on January 26, 2024 #travels in burgundy 2024#vintage 2024

Chablis views this week…

The weather has been very topsy-turvy in Chablis for the last 10 days – you could go as far as to say bizarre!

Last week I arrived to a hoarfrost – all the trees were white – but there was no snow. Tuesday morning when I did a short jog, it was -8°C. Tuesday evening when I did a long jog – it was warmer but still minus and there were snowflakes in the air. Wednesday lunchtime it was 15°C but Thursday morning we were back to -4°C !!

This week we seem to have settled around 13-14°C daytime temperatures and a lot of the buildings haven’t yet recovered from last week’s cold – so it’s often warmer outside. Yesterday was rainy – so nothing to see – today for an hour we had sunshine – and what did I see in l’Homme Mort? People pruning in t-shirts…

We have become accustomed to seeing that in recent years for a few days in February – but it’s not yet even February – pff!

Burgundy Report

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