The wine values across the board were astonishing except at the very upper tier. I was less impressed with what you can drink for over, say, $100, as I knew those were there anyway even if they're relative bargains compared to US prices for the same wines. What instead made the largest impression on me was the quality you can drink for $20 or less. I'm way too used to the high prices of wine in America even for American wines, and this was a good wake-up call.
Beaujolais is one of the most beautiful wine areas in France, maybe THE most beautiful. It hadn't actually been on our itinerary. It just popped onto Bob's and mine when our five-day self-piloted river cruise got sunk, literally, by the risen rivers. The other couples headed north, we went south. To make it an adventure, I told Bob we were going to go in search of the mysterious Metras bojos and explained why they we should want them. A fruitless mission, I fully expected (especially for people who don't speak French) but hey, this was about having fun.
So outside of Juliennas, we stopped into a wine store and asked the owner if he carried the wines. His eyes rolled, "No, I can't get them," he said. I explained my mission and his eyes rolled again. Apparently Metras is notoriously elusive and temperamental even among his own people. And so it went at several more stops, but it was fun asking and conversations pinpointed Fleurie as ground zero, and furthermore we had acquired the name of a vigneron known to be one of Metras' best friends and he was headquartered there too. If we were lucky enough to find the friend, then he might help us get a few bottles. But before we got that far, we arrived in Fleurie and saw a tiny wine store on the tiny town square and inquired there. And voila, the hunt was over. The seller not only knew the friend of Metras and carried his wine, he also had some Metras bottles. I brought home some of both. Btw, I asked the wine seller his opinion on who makes the best wine in all of Beaujolais. His answer? Foillard.
We stayed in Fleurie, but also got to drive through all the hilly/pastoral Beaujolais Cru towns except Brouilly. I now have a mental image to match to future tastes. I saw the Cote de Py!
A day spent in Arbois (the Jura) was interesting. Sitting in a restaurant surrounded by animal heads and hunting paraphenalia felt more like someplace closer to Bavaria than Burgundy. The foods were as different as the wine. Heavy, smoky with manly portions. We tasted at several places, and the wines of Stephane Tissot stood out among those. In particular, I fell in love with his Trousseaus aged in amphora, and bought a few to bring home. Hard to believe we were just 90 minutes away from Beaune.
Beaune has changed a lot since I was there about 19-20 years ago. Tasting rooms everywhere. Restaurant food more touristy--just wander around Beaune and try to find a place that DOESN'T have Beef Bourgogne on the menu. Or Jambon persille, much as I love it. And salads? Almost nonexistent. But living right in the heart of town, in an apartment that dates from the 16th century but has been remodeled in grand style with a lot of art, above a bistro, which was next to a charcuterie store and a patisserie on the Rue Monge, was exciting and wonderful. On Sunday mornings, an accordian player set up a chair below our window. Okay, so he only knew five songs--but our lives sounded like a French movie cliche, and I loved it.
I got real sick of cheese, real fast. Indulged for the first ten days, then stayed away for the last ten. Never even took a bite of the Epoisses I specifically went to that village to buy.
But I have a newfound respect for gougeres and the many ways they can be approached, from rustic to sublimely elegant works of patisserie artistry. I must work on this.
We visited several wineries in the Pouilly Fuisse region of the Macon, ditto Chablis later in the trip. We also drove through lovely Mercurey and the Cote (or is it Cotes) Chalonnaise, which I had not realized were adjoining regions. More lessons learned.
I brought home 28 bottles of wine. Haven't unpacked them yet but am guessing my purchases are about 65/35 white to red. The only non-Burgundy I brought home was a 2001 Rayas Fonsalette.
We didn't take wine luggage with us but were thrilled to find Todd French's Wine Checks for sale in several Burgundy locations. We bought two, and that's how 24 of the bottles got home. (You should have seen my husband's face when I told him we were each going to have to stuff two bottles in our already over-filled luggage. Along with four cans of foie gras.)
On the way home, we spent a few hours at Heathrow. The wines on offer in the BA Lounge were sauv blancs, chardonnays and a few reds from California, South Africa and New Zealand. After Burgundy, everything tasted like gasoline. (Or gazoyl, if you drive diesel.) We hoped for better on the plane, after all we were in biz class. And guess what the featured white was? Kendall Jackson chardonnay. We skipped the whites and had a few glasses of a very nice Montecillo rioja instead.
Due to illness I've not had another glass of wine since, and it's been a week. Going to be hard easing back into my old ways, which are a mix of old and new world styles.
Viva la France!
