Yes, the house-moving has been a bit of a pain, but just to prove that I haven’t also been avoiding refreshments…
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one (special) day in the climats…
Yesterday was a celebration of the successful entry of ‘Burgundy’ into the list of UNESCO world heritage sites. If you have seen some/most of the coverage since this was announced on Saturday, you will have mainly noted that Champagne, also a new ‘inscription’ has taken the headlines, and that only the last paragraph mentions Burgundy.
Truth be told, it’s really a sub-set of Burgundy, one that we Anglo-Saxon’s refer to as the Côte d’Or, but the locals will quietly correct you and say that the inscription is actually for the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits – and in this instance, the definition used was Chenove to Maranges – inclusive. And the ‘grounds’ for inscription?
- To bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared.
- To be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change.
Beginning in 2007, it’s been a long road to achieve this local enhancement of ‘status’ – if it was ever required – and make no mistake it has been both resource intensive and requiring strong leadership. Clearly Aubert de Villaine was the symbol of the bid concept, but not merely a symbol, he was a driver and tireless promoter; his goal now achieved, don’t be surprised if Guillaume d’Angerville takes over what will inevitably now become a more symbolic rôle. One major positive of the successful UNESCO bid will be the greater attention to the fabric of the vineyards themselves – many have ramshackle walls and boundaries, sometimes shored-up with ugly daubs of concrete – I think (and hope) that maintenance will now be more ‘considered’ – after-all, ignoring weather traumas, the inflow of cash into the cellars of Burgundy has never been higher…
I had a special day of visits yesterday, arranged by the BIVB, to the most emblematic corners of Burgundy (sorry, I mean the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits!) – fundamental showcases of the cultural fabric of the region – and in much more bearable temperatures too; let’s say 28°C. We finished with a press conference and a garden picnic with a band and then fireworks in the grounds of the Château de Meursault – about 3,000 other people joined in the celebration too!
A day to remember!
Climats and the emblematic Hotel Dieu
Kitchen of the Hospices
“No, only I have the key to this cellar!” – Christophe Bouchard
1947…
The view to the church of Notre Dame in Beaune
(Part of) The statue of a famous Vosne domaine…
Romanée Saint-Vivant
Looking down on La Tâche
“And that bit over there isn’t as good…” 😉
2010 RC…
“We’d best finish this” (La Tâche 1990)
Climats…
Clos de Vougeot
In the Clos de Vougeot…
Back-slapping over, now time for the garden party…
“Ouf – excellente!”
“No, mine is better…”
“Have you tried this one?”
Let the band commence…
Some said there were 3,000 people…
Très Meursault…
‘He said what?’
Soizic et Denis
David et Jean-Yves
Thibault…
End of a great party…
99 volnay clos des ‘xxx’
Age shows the difference! My two wines from the Elégance de Volnay:
As young wines, i.e. the first year or two from release, this Potel was qualitatively on the same level as the Lafon Santenots and the d’Angerville Clos des Ducs – I really can’t say that anymore. Today the Potel is wild, complex and interesting, but also a little rustic – but the d’Angerville is a wine of grand cru interest and a fabulous silky texture – differences that really weren’t apparent when young. I didn’t bring a bottle of the Lafon to compare, because I know I have only 1 more…
1999 Nicolas Potel, Volnay 1er Clos des Chênes
Hmm – this smells good: complex, faint forest floor yet still with fine fruit notes too – super complexity. In the mouth it’s rather young, still showing plenty of grainy tannic teeth. Tasty wine and long too – in isolation a very good wine too – unfortunately for this bottle, it wasn’t drunk in isolation…
Rebuy – Yes
1999 Marquis d’Angerville, Volnay 1er Clos des Ducs
Aromatically this is similar to the Potel – complex, a little earthy development but with flashes of fine fruit too. In the mouth – wow – still young, direct and intense but with a cool sophistication and the purest of silk textures. Ouf! Gorgeous. Special wine.
Rebuy – Yes
relocation, muscle ache and 99 volnay (as a starting point…)
It was a quiet week in this Diary – eh?
Not so for me, in general, the above was my transport for part of the week. Full-power house-moving this week, and the refrigerated truck was just for my wine relocation. Although all my wine would have (just about!) fit into the truck, apparently I was not allowed to fill it with more than 1.5 tonnes – so I had to split the journeys. One trip to Bern and another slightly bigger parcel for a trip the Beaune – and fortunately no complications by customs/douane/zoll along the way – phew!
Did I say phew? Maybe phew what a scorcher – and getting warmer every day. I did note one design fault on my truck – yes climate control for the load, but no air-conditioning in the cab – oh-well only 3+ hours to Beaune with a coffee stop!!!
I can honestly say that I had a few aches afterwards – one case at a time (I’m something of a weakling) up the stairs from the cellar, up the steps into the truck, then back down the stairs for the next. Then reversed for the offload – fortunately in Beaune, the ‘reception’ was a little more professional – two palets piled impressively high, wrapped in saran and then transported to the cellar by forklift followed by lift – I gave thanks…
Friday was about catching up with a the wall of email, and today, Saturday is a very relaxing day – almost without muscle pain! Tonight the there is there is the dinner of the ‘Elegance de Volnay‘ the weather is warm with a medium breeze, but fortunately, unlike last year, all is calm…
I’ve two 99s lined-up to take to the dinner, I’ve just opened them and they seem fine; Potel’s 99 Clos des Chênes and d’Angerville’s Clos des Ducs. I’m anticipating ‘YUM!’
The 1st half of the first load!
A Porsche Moron – who would have thought?!
Sustenance along the way…
Sustenance along the way…
Sustenance along the way… (2012)
Hot day in Beaune, a #bagnum, a banette and paté from the market. Life is good…
l’éphémère…
你好 – こんにちは – bonjour…
Over 10 years ago, I had multiple language options as standard on these pages – but after a few alleged updates, they didn’t really work well. But after a long pause, there’s (potentially!) a more elegant solution, so…
Okay, it may be that the bottom of the page isn’t the first place that you’d look – I understand – but everywhere else looked just too scruffy to place the new ‘choose your language’ option. I’m happy to add other languages – as requested by you – but didn’t add German (so-far) as I find the translations pretty terrible. French looks not too bad to me, though don’t even bother asking me what I think of the accuracy of the (simplified) Chinese and Japanese translations 😉
The main problem with translation ‘engines’ for a wine site such as this, is that they also try to translate the vineyrad/wine/producer names – that will always be a bit of a mess, but:
这就是生活 / それが人生です / c’est la vie!
producer map of meursault-perrières…
I’m really happy to have my hands on a copy of this.
Two weeks ago (maybe 3…), Laurent Gotti made a presentation in Beaune of some of the producers’ wines and discussed a little of the complex terroirs of Meursault Perrières – illustrated with this new map. The syndicate of Meursault producers were very happy to help Laurent produce the map, as the only other maps of this style are for much lowlier wines; Montrachet and the Clos de Vougeot!
If you want a copy of the map, it will cost you €19.90 from @laurentgotti – it’s worth it. Now a trip to the picture-framers…
an evening in the clos vougeot with yo-yo ma?
That sounds good to me.
Here you can find the programme of ‘Musique et Vin’ at the Clos de Vougeot, starting with Yo-Yo next Sunday:
lundi – le grand deluge!
Monday’s view down Chablis Les Clos
Well if Saturday was a perfect day, Sunday was fine until the evening, when the rain began. From then-on, it just got heavier and heavier – torrential was the only apt word for Monday morning – so yesterday I headed with my touring group for Chablis.
It was still raining in Chablis, but on a much more modest scale – in-line with a very modest, practically disappointing tasting at Le Chablisienne. Still, lunch and the service at Au fils du zinc was excellent, and with tear-inducing prices for those without private allocations of Dauvissat and Raveneau – here, their grand crus cost only €60 in the restaurant…!
A brilliant tasting of brilliant wines followed under the tutelage of Christian Moreau before a short window of rain-free wandering through Les Clos.
Despite the weather – a good day!
Lots of standing water in the lower vines of Beaune at the end of the day – and as a side note, this rain was perfectly timed, because the flowering was 99% finished. It would have been a different story if we’d had rain like this one week earlier…