Tag Archives: Burgundy

Have patience with older wines

26 Wednesday Feb 2020

Posted by in California, Napa/Sonoma, Uncategorized

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What is old wine? Nearly 20 years of wine enthusiasm has led me to think there is no single answer. A decent base-level understanding of wine only leads to more questions.

Two bottles of recently consumed wine have me reflecting on somewhat older wines. I haven’t consumed much 1980s Bordeaux or Burgundy but I have learned some things with Napa Cab and Oregon Pinot Noir.

The real starting point for this discussion is the truth about wine consumers. I’ve worked about 20 hours a week for two years in retail wine sales. Our shop is in an affluent neighborhood with a nice mixture of young people as regular customers. The average price point ranges $15 to $25. Still, we sell a good amount of higher end wine, $60-$125 and up.

Customers occasionally do ask about aging a $20 bottle of wine. I try to politely explain those wines are not made for aging. Drink them. I advise they find a decent decanter and air those red wines out for an hour or so and it will  probably improve them a little. The truth is American consumers want to drink wines when purchased. Winemakers are largely making wines for immediate drinking.

I make a point to ask winemakers how long to hold wines before consumption. During a trip to Napa the consistent answer was 5 years – though some high-end Cabs can certainly be held much longer. In Oregon’s Willamette Valley, winemakers say 4-5 years.

IMG_0346In my personal wine-drinking experience I’ve found those numbers to be pretty accurate. In the last month I have enjoyed a 2003 Joseph Phelps Insignia. Insignia is an iconic label, a wine that has always scored 90 points and higher. It’s always a stunningly gorgeous bottle of wine. The current released vintage, a 2016, sells for $300 a bottle and received a 96 point rating from Wine Enthusiast.

The second bottle was a 2012 WinderleaCrawford Beck Vineyard Pinot Noir from the Dundee Hills of Oregon’s Willamette Valley. The ’12 has always been hailed as a classic Oregon vintage. This wine can be found online for $50-$80.

image0These two slightly older wines performed the same. Both bottles were disorganized with an off-putting nose when opened. But, after an hour-and-a-half decant both started coming around. After another half hour in the glass both wines were coming into their own and showing as outstanding wine.

No one can tell you exactly when to open an older bottle. Pedigree and time in oak have an impact on how long you can age wine. The best advice is to experiment. Take a small taste when opening a bottle then “check in on it” while the wine opens up.

I’ve never tasted one of those 50-year-old Burgundys. Though I did have a 1991 Gevrey Chambertin this past winter that showed me potential for what aged wine can be.

Buy what you can afford, give the reds a decant, and decide for yourself what makes sense in aging your more pricey wines. If you really want to test aging, but a couple bottles – open one and wait another year or two and try the other. That will help determine your palate for aging.

 

 

 

Six wines you should keep in house

18 Saturday Nov 2017

Posted by in Holidays, Newspaper Column 2017, Uncategorized

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Some of us real winos keep a lot of wine around the house. Some winos have a basement or cellar or electronic coolers to store wine. Some crazy (or very serious) winos move from one city to another and realize they have a lot of wine.

But most people don’t buy by the case or half case. I know serious wine aficionados who buy a bottle or two at a time. There is nothing wrong with either approach. But with the holiday season fast approaching, maybe it’s time to keep a small supply on hand.

grape-sense-logoI’d suggest you always keep six bottles of wine in your home. It keeps you prepared for any meal and any guest. The list should include two reds, two whites, a Rose’ and a sparkling wine.

It’s easiest to start with the two reds. One of those reds should probably be Cabernet Sauvignon. Cab goes best with steak and big flavors. Any decent wine shop and even liquor store will offer several Cabernets at reasonable prices below $20. Mondavi, Louis Martini, Concannon, and many others offer good value and varietally correct wines.

Your second red wine should probably be on the lighter side. Personally, I’d recommend a Pinot Noir. Pinot is lighter on the plate. It’s excellent with seafood and other dishes not quite as bold as beef entrees. There are lighter style Pinots, think Oregon and Burgundy, and bigger bold Pinots often from California. If you want something other than Pinot, try a Spanish tempranillo, French Beaujolais, of Italian Dolcetto.

It’s easy to start the whites with Chardonnay. But do you like them buttery and oaky or clean and crisp? California’s big buttery, woodsy Chard has dominated the market for years. That style of Chardonnay pairs great with food. But in recent years unoaked Chardonnay has really boomed. The unoaked Chards usually give a fresher fruit taste, crisp, and nice acidity. If you want sheer elegance for a special occasion, buy white burgundy or Chablis Cru at your nearby wine shop.

Your second white wine is a little trickier because of the wide range of choices. Lighter whites which drink easy include the entire family of Pinot whites. Pinot Grigio is often the lightest of the family and is made around the world. If you like a bit drier white wine, move to the Pinot Blancs. Riesling is a favorite of many and is made from very dry to very sweet. Arguably, the world’s best Riesling comes from Germany or the Alsace region. But you’ll also find great Riesling from Canada, New York, Washington, and upper Michigan.

Keep one Rose’ in-house because it’s the most flexible wine on your small wine rack or cardboard wine box. There are a few great Pinot Rose’ wines from California and Oregon but real devotees will tell you the best Rose’ comes from Provence in Southern France. World-class Rose’ comes at less than $20 a bottle. That funky pink wine is about as far from white zinfandel as wine can get. French Rose’ is a great food wine for lighter dishes.

Sparkling wine sales are growing around the world. Drink more and you’ll want more. Too many people have very dry Champagne memories from weddings past stuck in their mind. Today’s entry-level bubbles should start with Italian Prosecco and Spanish Cava. Both offer tremendous values with top bottles available for under $20 and often less. You don’t have to spend $300 a bottle to get the best French champagne either. You can buy great grower bubbles, grower meaning grown and produced usually in small lots, in the $50-$100 range.

The holidays are here and you need wine handy. Enjoy it with guests or keep the bottles around as a great gift. These six wines will help you be prepared. The only better advice is double down and buy a case!

Hard to believe: 10 years of Grape Sense

04 Wednesday Oct 2017

Posted by in Newspaper Column 2017, Uncategorized

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We all know time goes fast from time we’re aware of the calendar on the wall until we’re discussing retirement and beyond. Who could have guessed this little wine column would enjoy the success it has when it began in October 2007?

grape-sense-logoFrom five newspapers, mostly close to home base Crawfordsville, to more than 20 newspapers and websites across the state. At one point the column’s reach, based on print circulation numbers reached more than 300,000 Hoosier, Michigan, and Illinois homes. I only had one small paper in each of the two neighboring states but they’re worth including.

Today the number reached is harder to determine because several newspaper companies run the column as exclusive to their website instead of print. That’s okay because it still expands reach. If I had to figure out the number of homes I’d safely guess 200,000-250,000 homes.

That was always the goal to reach as many people as possible with some wine education. Arguably, the column has done that. It has also afforded me numerous opportunities to learn more about wine. The most impactful result was several press trips I participated in, and reported on here, to some of the great wine regions of the world. In 2010, I visited Paso Robles and it was back to California in January 2011 to Mendocino.

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Talking Oregon Pinot with Don Lange

But the big year for me was 2012. I took a press trip to Montpelier, France, in the Languedoc wine region for the world’s biggest organic wine trade show. That summer was another trip to the beautiful city of Bordeaux. In the fall, it was a quick trip to Chablis and its delicious whites in northern-most Burgundy.

 

I have led a couple of wine tourism trips in that time. The first trip to Oregon, which I’m thinking of repeating in 2018, really had an impact on my guests. I took four couples to Burgundy, France, in 2016 and it was my first as well. It takes a lot of time to comprehend the complexities of great Burgundy so I’m sure I’ll be going back.

The important thing about all those trips is I always tried to take you along here and on my blog.

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2014 travel group having fun tasting the wines of Alexana Winery in a beautiful outdoor setting.

More important than what Grapes Sense has done for the author is what I hope it has done for you. The most consistent message through 231 500-700 word columns has been to try new things, new grapes, and new price points. Visit winemakers and ask lots of questions about what they do. And always remember you learn more about wine in the vineyard than the winery.

For the future, I’m not sure. I still enjoy writing the column and seldom have much trouble with finding topics. Perhaps a bit more focus on food in coming months and a narrower look at some wines and wineries.

Gaining an Understanding of Burgundy

16 Saturday Jul 2016

Posted by in Food & Travel, France, Newspaper Column 2016, Uncategorized

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The Grape Sense newspaper column has often focused on introducing new wines, new price points, and an education focus about wine.

There is no bigger educational high point in wine understanding than Burgundy, France. Burgundy is home to a confusing geography, hard to find wines, and most of the world’s most expensive single bottles.

Grape Sense LogoNormally the focus is on value wine. But on occasion a look at other prominent wine regions helps with perspective. Additionally, I just returned from leading a wine tour group in Burgundy – my first-ever visit as well.

Burgundy lies southeast of Paris where the whites of Chablis and silky red and whites of Burgundy have a history going back hundreds of years. Many of the vineyards and wine making facilities date back to the time of Romans. Many of the vineyards and ancient winemaking efforts were started by monks in the early 12th or 13th century.

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Nothing like getting in the vineyard

Burgundy is a place for history. Perhaps the first educational point to get out of the way is a reminder that most all of France doesn’t tell you what grapes are in the wine on their bottles. You have to have a very basic understanding. In Burgundy reds are Pinot Noir and whites are Chardonnay.

After that, it gets complicated. There are approximately 100 specifically designated wine growing regions or AOCs. The wines are named for the region and its growing characteristics or terroir.

An example would be Gevrey-Chambertin which is a small village and surrounding vineyards south of Lyon but north of Beaune, the heart of Burgundy. My group tasted four Gevrey Chambertin wines at Domaine Rene Leclerc. The four wines came from four different vineyards – with a difference in soil, slope, and micro-climate – even though all lie in the same region.

And, the wines had slight differences. The area is known for wines of more structure and slightly more pronounced tannins. We tasted different in the earthiness you get in Pinot Noir and a slightly different level in the spiciness on the wine’s’ finish in your mouth.

Okay, it’s pretty geeky for a wine novice.

A fact that surprised some of us was the production breakdown. In the U.S. if someone says the word Burgundy people think of red wine. Actually Burgundy is planted with 60 percent white wine grapes. The whites were consistently silky and elegant. The better white wines were rich with a full mouth feel while maintaining that silky texture.

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… and then you taste!

Good Burgundy seems to start around $50 or asmore in the U.S. So indeed, not the normal focus of Grape Sense. But they represent some of the best wines in the world and certainly worth a try.

Burgundy is also one of the ultimate trips for wine fans. The walled-village of Beaune is a delightful home base with legendary wine caves beneath the city streets, the famed Hospice de Beaune, and wine tasting shops, Michelin-starred restaurants, and charming hotels throughout the city.

European wine travel requires advance planning. A trip to Burgundy is really the ultimate for real wine fans.

Domaine Leclerc the Day’s Highlight

14 Tuesday Jun 2016

Posted by in Burgundy 2016, Food & Travel, France, Uncategorized

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My travel group, and I hiding in the back, at the vineyards of Romanee Conti.

Côte de Nuits, Burgundy, France – For any real oenophile is there anything better than starting your day in one of the premier wine regions in the world? Or starting your day in a wine cellar built in 1692 sipping Burgundy?

Debate among yourselves but that’s how my eight Burgundy tour participants and I started our week Monday morning at the north end of Burgundy just south of Dijon. Monday’s story is probably best told in my photos from the day.

The group got its first lesson in Burgundy appellations and more Sunday afternoon with Pierre. (see previous post.) But Monday we all got a first-hand education in the Côte de Nuits region.

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Chateaux Clos Vougeot

We started our day at one of the icons of Burgundy Clos Vougeot. The historic Chateau and property showcases the history of Burgundy wine. Whether one cares to think of the Romans or the Cistercian the monument is a living history lesson.

After alter an hour at Clos Vougoet learning the history and seeing the huge old wine presses, it was off to our first morning tasting at Marchand Tawse.

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Guillame led us through the Marchand Twase wines.

The wine caves and tasting room in Nuits Saint George is how we kick-started our wine tasting in the caves of the old property. Current ownership is two Canadian business men but the cellars date back to the 15th and 16th century.

They make a wide range of Pinot and Chard from many different appellations. I think it’s fair to say our group found the wines solid and an interesting start to our day.

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Lunch at Petite Auberge

At mid-day we had another highlight meal, this time at La Toute Petite Auberge in Vosne-Romanee. It might be called a wine-tasting lunch. We were served up a plate of Burgundian specials like snails, Oeufs en meurette (an egg poached in a red wine sauce), pressed ham, and some small sausages in a pastry wrap. One white and three red wines were poured with lunch.

The highlight for many of us the past two days has been discovering another regional product, cassis. The dark, rich berry is delicious on its own. Our lunch concluded with a Cassis Tiramasu. There were gasps at the table!

After lunch we really enjoyed a ride through the countryside seeing the vineyards. We made a brief stop at the vineyard of Romanee Conti. For those who may not recognize the significance of that, Romanee Conti is probably the most expensive wine in the world. Their wines are impossible to acquire and hit the market anywhere from $8,000-$13,000 a bottle. It was fun seeing this bit of Burgundy lore; we took a group shot.

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Francois Leclerc talking about his vineyards.

Our final stop of the day was nearly unanimous among the group the best wines of our trip thus far. Domaine Rene’ Leclerc in Gevrey Chambertin was a lot of fun. Rene Leclerc has retired and turned the winery over to his son Francois who gave us a tour and led the tasting.

The younger Leclerc was a fun guy leading us through the caves, dating to the 1400s, talking about his different vineyards and pouring the great Pinot Noir. The uniqueness of this tasting is that all four bottles poured were Gevrey Chambertin wines but from different parts of the region  (or AOC). The group thought Leclerc’s wines were some of the best of our trip. I agreed!

Today (Tuesday), we are off to visit two of the top Domaines in all of Chablis – William Fevre and Billaud-Simon.

Au Revoir.

Dinner in a Grand Beaune Cave

11 Saturday Jun 2016

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There are two rooms in an old wine cave beneath the city streets. This one is really beautiful.

BEAUNE, France – I’ve found my way around Beaune just in time for my eight guests to arrive this afternoon for “The Charms of Burgundy.” The trip is five nights in Beaune with wine education, domaine visits, great food, and – we’ll probably taste a few.

Of course, the French are known for their cuisine as much as they are for their wine. I had my first real dinner Friday night at Caveau des Arches, very close to my hotel.

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The chilled mackerel

The restaurant was highly recommended on a number of online sites, I read the reviews, checked out the website, and made a reservation before leaving the UW. Like most French restaurants they have a standard menu and a fixed-price menu. At Caveau des Arches, the fixed-price options are a Burgundian (25E), Traditional (34E) and Gourmet (54E).

My primary waiter’s broken English was only a minor challenge. I can read parts of the menu but not all. I chose the Traditional menu with the option to have the appetizer of the night, mackerel.

The mackrel was served cold, almost as though it had been pickled, with salad. It was a bit fishy, as any raw fish can be, but quite delicious.

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I should have taken the pic when the fish was looking at me! My bad!

I decided to stay with the seafood theme and ordered the trout with mixed baby vegetables. The beautiful, and good-sized, fish arrived whole which my waiter promptly offered to de-bone. I took him up on the offer and he masterfully removed the fish head and center bones.

The fish was cooked just right. The firm white fish was delicious in a brown butter sauce with crunchy almond slices. The veggies tasted fresh as well.

When in France, you eat cheese. The ‘cheese course’ was next with a choice of traditional Burgundy or fresh cheese. I went traditional and was rewarded with a soft, mild, and creamy goat cheese that was quite good.

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The best Creme Brulee ever!

Dessert really knocked the meal out of the park. Ordering Creme Brulee is a bit like going to Italy and having the cannoli – but it sounded good. It was the best I’ve ever had. The vanilla was intense and incredibly smooth. The potato chip-thin, warm chocolate chip cookie was out of this world.

Dinner did not include wine but I had two choices by-the-glass. I didn’t see the labels and our struggle with language did not motivate me to push it. I had a 1st Cru Beaune white that was rich and wonderful. My red was a Pommard that was just ok. But at 7E a glass, the wine was a bargain. The wine list was quite extensive running from great buys to crazy prices.

The service was good. I was dining as a single  and in these places you never know what’s going to happen. For the most part, I was pleased. There were times when tables with two or four people got more attention but that was to be expected. The wait staff were all wonderfully trained young men in white shirt and tie. Two of the waiters spoke some English.

So I left after paying a bill of 50 Euro. Honestly, that was a great value for a nice French restaurant. If you’ve never traveled Europe before, 50E with today’s exchange rate is $56.50. Everything was beautifully prepared and presented. The staff struggling a bit with their English. The atmosphere is really beautiful.

For any wine fan making the Burgundy pilgrimage, Caveau des Arches is a good one to add to your restaurant list.

I should note my group will dine Sunday night at Le Benaton and Wednesday at Loiseau des Vignes – both awarded one Michelin star. I’ll try to get similar posts up. Even if you’re not likely to visit Burgundy, who doesn’t like delicious food with nice photos?

Here are my photos from walking around Beaune Friday afternoon and evening.

Gaseous Woman, Stinky French boy & Me

09 Thursday Jun 2016

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Germain Au Mont D’ OR, France – I wrote of the joys of wine travel for my latest newspaper column but I was maybe too focused on the wine part.

I am leading a small tour group in Burgundy France June 11-19. I flew in a day and a half early to get a feel for Beaume – the heart of the Burgundy wine growing region. I visited Chablis in 2012, at the north end of Burgundy, but never beyond that small commune’s boundries.

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Bedroom of my two-room apartment for two nights.

So yes, this is a bit of a travelogue – today at least. It’s been eventful getting here. And I’ll quickly add, I think I have a few helpful travel tips along the way whether you’re headed for wine country or elsewhere.

It all started in early March when I booked my flight from Chicago to Paris. Most fares were showing at $1,500-$1700, and that is economy friends. I discovered CheapOair a discount site. They have great prices with airlines you’ll seldom give second thought. The flights are cheaper but often feature grueling layovers of 10-12 hours. So I was thrilled to find a flight on Iceland Air from Chicago to Iceland to Paris, a one-hour layover, and it was mid $1,200.

So my adventure began Wednesday afternoon (June 8) leaving my Indiana home about 2 p.m. I separately booked a flight from Indy to Chicago instead of leaving my car at O’Hare for nearly two weeks. All went well until boarding the plane. After locking down, we spent 45 minutes setting at the gate waiting for a mechanic’s paperwork on a small repair.

But into Chicago, over to the International terminal and my first surprise. I checked in with Iceland Air only to learn my flight was re-booked on Air France direct to Paris. I sort of wanted to enjoy my hour in Reykjavik, but hey I’ll take that disappointment any time.

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Chassagne Montrachet white and charcuterie.

Oh, on the way to the airport I first learned, or paid attention, to the France rail strike. My attention was focused with an email noting my particular connection was cancelled due to the strike. But the French are delightfully civilized about such things – and they do like strikes – but only one in three trains are affected.

The Air France flight was uneventful. My seatmate was a very nice gaseous Muslim lady who ate stinky food. Not sure that I slept much at all. The meal was pretty crappy.

I was proud of my effort at Charles DeGaulle airport. If you’ve never flown through Chuck’s Paris spot, let’s just say it’s big – really big. I picked up my one checked bag, found the terminal with the train station and made my way to a ticketing office. That re-book on Air France got me in earlier and proved to be a blessing.

My original train was 4 p.m. south to Lyon then back up to Beaune with a 9 p.m. arrival. That’s sort of like leaving Crawfordsville and driving to Bloomington to get to Indianapolis. But the only direct train to Beaune was like 7 p.m.

So I booked a 2 p.m. train instead with the same crappy route. I can’t sing the praises of the French TVG hi-speed rail service enough. It runs on time, all of the time, and darn they do go fast. I sat with a French teenager who was very quiet despite my efforts. Maybe he was fully concentrated on the shower he was going to take when he got home because those close train seats know no lies.

So now I’m writing this on more of a “local” train headed back north to Beaune. In train-speak “local” means old and slow. It’s sort of like a Greyhound Bus ride – we stop at every town. Oh, we’re stopping now in some burg called Villefranche-sur-Soane and a lot of people are getting off.

We’re stopping AGAIN – Saint Georges De Reneins! And now we wait those five minutes in middle of nowhere with no one getting on or off. It doesn’t seem very efficient but hey, did I mention they run on time?  Well, five minutes after our SGDR stop above we’re stopping in Velleville Sur Saone (no hyphens on this one, hmmm). Okay, enough of that but you get the idea.

Beaume is still just under an hour up the road. It’s 5 p.m. in Burgundy, or about noon EDT. So I’m going to make it to Beaune, that’s the good news. I’m staying at a bit of an apartment/hotel for first two nights before tour begins. Don’t be afraid of the off-the-beaten-path spots. They can add character to your trip – not to mention Euro. I’m paying something like 80 Euro a night compared to more than 300E at the spot our group will stay in starting Saturday.

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A peak where our group is staying next week. Click to enlarge.

My host, Ines, could not be more gracious. She communicated every step of the way with all my changes and promised to personally pick me up at the train station.

What’s coming up? Well Friday and Saturday is exploration days. I will wander around Friday and find the restaurants, and stops we’re making in Beaume before group arrives. I’m looking forward to the farmers market Saturday morning. Then my group starts to arrive Saturday afternoon.

I’m going to try to get something up on the blog daily while in Beaume. I will have postings throughout the day on Facebook and Instagram!

Follow along – au revoir for now.

Wine You Won’t Find, Would Love

21 Wednesday Jan 2015

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Ponsot Cave

John Baptiste barrel tasting his whites.

The headline above is enough to label me or anyone who would write it a bit of a wine snob. But that’s not really the point of the post. I was recently taken with a very nice glass of White Burgundy that I found surprisingly wonderful for a mere $25.99.

First, the wine: Jean Baptiste Ponsot Rully 2012 would be an entry level White Burgundy (Chardonnay) from an extremely small producer in France’s famous Burgundy region.

I bought the bottle along with two Burgundy reds (Pinot Noir) from a New York wine shop. But more on the back story in a second.

John Baptiste in his vineyard.

John Baptiste in his vineyard.

The white wine was stellar. From the first whiff at the rim of the glass I loved the hint of mineral and flowers. There certainly was a bit of wood going on as well. The wine offered soft fruit like a peach but what got me was the creamy texture but still a delivery of well-balanced acid on the finish.

The back story is compelling. John-Baptiste Ponsot is just 35 years old but has worked the vineyards since he was 20. Rully is a small village south of Cote d’Or – the heart of Burgundy. The young winemaker watches over his 8.5 hectare (or 21 acre) vineyard and produces wines that sell out as quick as he can make them.

The back story is a friend of a friend is an importer of small production Burgundy wines. His clients are little guys in the shadows of the bigger names of one of France’s most famous wine regions. But the wines are available retail – restaurant or shop – only in New York. The importer directed me to a New York shop that ships to Indiana. I bought the bottle described here along with the two reds. I’m really anxious to try the Pinots.

I tell the story and sing the wine’s virtues to re-iterate the point that as you search the shelves of your favorite wine shop or visit a wine region, seek out the small producers giving every wine, every bottle, and each grape his or per personal attention. The wines will often astound you.

PonsotThe story one level deeper is I’m starting to plan a wine tour to Burgundy for 2016. The importer friend – Benjamin Golden, Golden Vines – has already offered some suggestions for the trip.

John Baptiste Ponsot 2012 Rully ‘en Bas de Vauvray, $25.99, Very Highly Recommended.

Postscript: I will write about the two reds after tasting them. I would be happy to share the wine shop information if anyone wishes a real taste of Burgundy.

First Wine Tour Shapes Future Trips

15 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by in Food & Travel, Oregon

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OREGON’S WILLAMETTE Valley – Flying home Saturday night, readying for a new adventure starting Monday, I’m reflecting on a debriefing session I had last night with the eight participants on my first wine tour.

Our five nights and four days in Oregon’s Willamette Valley were nothing short of spectacular and a rousing success. One member of the group went around the table asking couples on the trip if it had lived up to expectations and each said it was far more than they ever expected. That was rewarding.

What I learned from this group of friends is that I need to emphasize the wonderful food as much as the wine. Instead of Pinot Palooza, how about Drink & Eat Oregon?

I’ve also toyed with the idea of putting together a less costly version of this trip and after the evaluation I’m leaning strongly against it. The experience our group had in Oregon should be duplicated for others and not lessened to save a few hundred bucks a person on cost.

The fabulous Black Walnut Inn is unmatched in hospitality, location, and beauty. The views on top of the hill surrounded by vineyards, and a view of Mt. Hood on a clear day, is where I want to take groups.

The Oregon wine community hospitality was unmatched. The wine’s were off the charts. The food was simply unbelievable.
I’m going to try to get some posts, and a lot of photos, up over the next couple days from more of the trip. Meanwhile, I’m thinking I’ll repeat the trip next June and perhaps set up two trips on back to back weeks. I’ll continue to try to do the trip at 8 people, or four couples. I could do 10 but believe 8 is the perfect number. I’m going to set dates real soon and get that out for folks’ calendars.

And what happens after 2015? How about the trip of a lifetime in 2016 to France’s iconic Burgundy region? I’m also thinking about Paso Robles in the next two years.

Frankly, I couldn’t be more pleased that my first venture into wine tourism went so well!

Learning Chablis’ Differences

27 Saturday Oct 2012

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Very chilly but spectacular view of Chablis from the vineyards

Who stands atop a hill with strong winds and 36 degree weather talking about wine? I would be guilty as charged.

Szablowksi talking terroir atop the hill
But it’s not a normal occasion to be standing on top of a hill overlooking Chablis, France, with one of the area’s top educators. Our small press contingent had the opportunity this morning to spend time with Eric Szablowski, one of Burgundy’s leading wine experts.
It was darn cold but fascinating to hear why Chablis is so special and different. At several times this morning the group discussion followed a similar pattern. The world knows Chablis as a fresh, clean wine with good minerality – but they can also be quite different.
Erik took us into the vineyards and showed us the incredible slopes on the hills around Chablis and nearby villages. He explained the effect of the clay and limestone soils which effect the vineyards and therefore the wines.
Chablis is not a large area with 350-400 wine growers and just more than 100 producers of any significant amounts of wine. Additionally, these produces export approximately 70-80 percent of all the wines they make.
Tasting at the Fete des Vins
But to understand how one wine with the standard characteristics can vary to the next Erik explained the terroir. Take the Grand Cru vineyard, for instance. There is just one Grand Cru but there are seven different sub climates within that vineyard area with its slopes, soils, and exposure to the sun. “Eighty percent of the quality of the wine is determined in the vineyard and the other 20 percent by the winemaker,” he offered.
We followed up the chill walk around two sections of Chablis vineyards by tasting the 2012 ChablisWine Award winners. We tasted 10 different wines which won mostly gold, and a few silver, medals in the recent competition. The tasting showed the differences slight and significant the Chardonnay grape can produce in this diverse terroir.
I hope to add notes on most of the 10 wines later. I did take notes to share because most are available in the U.S. My two favorites were Damien and Romain Bouchard’s Premier Cru Montee’ de Tonnerre and Domaine Drouhin’s Vaudon Chablis Grand Cru.
The event we’re here to enjoy is the Chablis Fete des Vins, or festival of wine. There are more than 50 producers pouring their wines, food, and entertainment.
Our group translator Isabell Terrillon accompanied me to a number of booths she recommened for visits. Here are a few of my favorites. All of the ones listed here have at least some distribution in the U.S.
Domaine Fevre (Nathtalie and Giles) – I tasted through most of the Chablis with Nathalie who speaks great English. I loved the consistency of her wines with or without hints of old oak. Many of the labels had good bottles but some not quite at the same standard.  Her wines were age worthy but showed quite nice as young wines.
Domaine Chantemerle Boudin Pere & Fils – A limited selection of wines but also available in the U.S. I loved his two Premier Cru wines at very affordable prices. With a very old-world label they represent the second tier (Premier) well at prices in France of under 20E.
Vins Fins de Chablis (Isabelle et Denis Pommier) – Again very consistent across the four major appelations of Petit Chablis, Chablis, Premier and Grand Cru. Isabelle took time to answer questions and talk about the wines. Another very affordable label even once you add the importing costs and distribution markups for top quality Chablis.
Jean-Marc Brocard– This was my first stop of the festival and one of the best. The Brocard name is well known not just in Chablis but around the world. Consistently in elegance and style, the wines were consistently well balanced with great minerality, finesse in winemaking, and reasonably priced. I bought a Premier Cru to bring home.
Domaine des Marronniers (Bernard Legland) – A producers of very stylish wines with understated fruit and that nice acidic finish you expect from Chablis. Bernard poured the wines at the booth and talked about the vinification (through Isabelle’s able translation.)
Pascal Bouchard – A great name producing great wines. I like the twist of his sons, who won one of the Chabis Commissions 2012 awards for their Premier Cru Montee de Tonnere  label. Romain Brocard poured three different Chablis which I found enjoyable across the board. The Montee de Tonnere was one of the best wines I tasted all day.
I did taste at a couple of other booths but found the lines inconsistent or not to my liking.

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