JC in France May - June 2018 | Day 14
Early on the road to drive through the vineyards/Appellations/Climats of the Cote de Nuits before our first meeting in the very famous village of Vosne Romanee. It is incredible how just driving (and stopping from time to time) does help to understand the make-up of this complex region that is Burgundy. Of course a stop at the single vineyard (and monopole) of the Grand Cru 'Romanee Conti' is in order but also 'La Tache', 'La Romanee', 'Clos de Vougeot' (and its Chateau), the famous hill of Corton and many more. Marie-Christine at Domaine Mugneret Gibourg was waiting to show us her (and her sister Marie-Andree) 2017 wines. Their domaine has taken its place in the very top echelon of red Burgundy producers. While not yet as widely known as the likes of DRC, Mugnier, Rousseau or Georges de Vogue, insiders know that their beautifully perfumed, intensely flavoured, firmly structured wines of quintessential grace and harmony place them right at home in this company. They are such nice ladies that everyone I take there are under the charm. Needless to say we are very lucky to have them in NZ even if the quantities we are getting every year is minuscule.
After a wonderful lunch at the restaurant 'Au Clos Napoleon' in the village of Fixin (I had to have the Andouillette. You can't come to Burgundy without having one! Angela and Richard passed on this one!) we were expected at Domaine Georges de Vogue (in the village of Chambolle Musigny). The soft-spoken and hugely poetic (as always) François Millet took us through his 2017s. A hard yard but ever so interesting tasting as the wines that were still in the phase of finishing their malo-lactic fermentation. The tasting confirmed that 2017 red Burgundies are similar to 2015 but with better acidity levels and to 2016 vintage but with more flesh ('matiere' as the French call it).
On our way to the next meeting we dropped Angela back to the hotel as she had tasted enough wines for the day. We did not drive too far as we moved to the Cote de Beaune and stopped in the village of Santenay to visit David Moreau. A very young man tending to 5 ha in Village and 1er Cru Appellations of the family vineyard after being trained by the Domaine Romanee Conti, Olivier Lamy, chateau de Beaucastel and Neudorf (NZ). A pretty impressive CV! His wines are incredibly stylish and fine; with seductive perfumes and silken flavours. The young David Moreau is definitely one to watch!
Dinner at 'Caves Madeleine' in Beaune – Still a favourite of mine despite the pricing being much higher than before. Lovely white asparagus to start with and braised white veal as the main. The wine list is extensive and a real pleasure. - JC
