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Howard W. Hewitt

~ … The "W" stands for wine!

Howard W. Hewitt

Tag Archives: Domaine Rene Leclerc

Gaining an Understanding of Burgundy

16 Saturday Jul 2016

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

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AOC, Burgundy, Chardonnay, Domaine Rene Leclerc, Gevrey Chambertin, Pinot Noir, wine travel

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.

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Domaine Leclerc the Day’s Highlight

14 Tuesday Jun 2016

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

≈ 1 Comment

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Beaune, Burgundy, Clos Vougeot, Cote de Nuits, Domaine Rene Leclerc, Francois Leclerc, Marchand Tawse, Pete Auberge, Pinot Noir, wine travel

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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.

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Curt Is here for a shift or two on weekends. He and I will be here Saturday for Sipps. This weeks lineup includes a new very affordable Prosecco, a great value white burgundy, and a wonderful Grand cru red burgundy. Join this Saturday pouring starts at 11 AM and we go until four or five. Bring a friend and tell a friend!
Have you met Karen? She works mid week mornings at the shop and is reminding everyone to join us for Saturday Sipps this weekend. We will be pouring the popular Auntsfield Sauv Blanc, another new Rose, and a Pinot noir from the Loire Valley! It all begins at 11 AM through the afternoon
Very mixed thoughts about an unplanned visit to Nonna’s Italian Italian in Plainfield just off I 70 from last night. Unexpectedly stuck in town for a couple of hours thought I would try it out it’s an odd set up where you have to order at the register. Calamari was great my salad was great the lasagna was good except for some odd white sauce top of the marinara which was delicious the white sauce was congealed and tasted bitter… The home-baked roll was delicious… The glass of Gabbiano Chianti was OK well I paid 1150 for a glass that sells for eight bucks … total bill $36 for those items which I thought was a little high mostly the wine cost. Service seem confused and disjointed but they were all very pleasant I’d probably give it a second chance not sure
Join Curt and I Saturday at the Wine Shop for Saturday Sipps. We will be pouring an unusual and delicious Austrian Rose, Italian Vermentino, and Sicilian red! Of course, all three 20 percent off Saturday only!

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