Author: Thomas Wilcox

11:53PM  |  Beaune  |  Burgundy

A quick coffee before heading south today — again a clear blue sky with warm sun and a mild breeze. The floraison (flowering) happened last week, and the weather was perfect; the vignerons are trés content with the the flowering of their vines, and have begun their 100 day countdown to the maturation of the fruit. 

Our first appointment is in Chassagne. Beautiful, opulent, golden Chassagne-Montrachets, with long tense cores and excellent acidity. The 2013 burst of freshness is evident here, but well supported by bodies that are rich and gras.

Our second appointment is further south in Santenay. Here we taste 2014s en cuve and 2013s from the barrel — both white’s and reds are better than we remembered. The whites show very dense, concentrated cores with good acidity over top, and the reds are juicy, young, full, and even silky. An embarrassment of riches so far with the 2013s on this trip.

We grab lunch in Santenay at an ourdoor café — salad aux époisses — and organize our thoughts on the morning’s tastings. We drink our coffee and return to the car, where we use crusty bread and sparkling water in an attempt to neutralize our palates.

Final tasting of the day is in Auxey-Duresses — whites with great energy and tension, and reds with beautiful juicy cores and rustic mouthfeels. Excellent, well made wines at very reasonable prices. We head back to Beaune to catch up on some work and email.

Dinner tonight is at a new restaurant in a 12th century abbaye with carefully-lit vaulted ceilings, white tablecloths and candelabras. The food is outstanding: smoked cod with escargots, roasted duck breast done perfectly, and a host of cheeses from the plate. The wine steals the show: a bottle each of 2002 and 2003 Vosne-Romanée 1er cru Monopole Clos des Réas. Twelve and thirteen years has done these wines nicely.

10:31PM  |  Beaune  |  Burgundy

Coffee in the apartment and a warm baguette from the boulangerie next door. Our first tasting is a new producer in Gevrey, in a beautiful 18th century house with a welcoming courtyard. The domaine is a very exciting new find, with excellent Gevrey-Chambertins at the villages, premier cru, and grand cru levels.

Our second tasting is also in the Gevrey, with an old school negociant making classic and very singular wines. Using whole clusters and open barrel fermentation, the domaine makes cuvées full of traditional structure and character: ten wines covering fifteen vintages.

After a quick charcuterie lunch we head south to Vosne-Romanée. Our tasting here begins with a dozen 2013s from barrel — all beautiful and ripe, with excellent freshness and plenty of matière. We’re joined by friends from the States, and we descend into the cave for a tasting of some already-bottled cuvées. The Vosne Romanées — both village and 1er cru — are from 2012, and are open, silky, dense, and delicious.

Final tasting of the day is in Meursault. The wines here are extraordinary — well balanced, long and complex, and full of freshness to carry them into old age. Even in a difficult vintage, these wines show a golden roundness that is surprising and impressive.

Dinner is at Ma Cuisine: tartare de boeuf, terrine de la maison, and roasted lamb shank, with 97 Corton, 09 Beaune, and 00 Gevrey as wine highlights. Gooey, runny, nearly liquid Époisses for dessert; Santenay in the morning.

10:44PM  |  Beaune  |  Burgundy

The Gare de Lyon buzzed quietly at 6:30 this morning, with sleepy travelers standing blankfaced in line for their coffee. The train to Dijon was sunny and sleepy as it rocketed smoothly through the lush French countryside.

Our first appointment, a 9:30 in Nuits-St-Georges, was a promising start to the week — a crisp, fresh white from the Côte de Nuits, and three clean and concentrated reds from Nuits. Though perhaps not the vintage to hold onto for your grandkids, 2013 is is far from the disaster it might have been. Winemakers have told us of their surprise at the quality of the vintage, and are enthusiastic about its future.

Our next tasting, a marathon in Ladoix, begins with 4 whites, followed by 10 reds. Here the wines are bright and full of red fruits — cherries, cranberries, etc. Lots of energy and impressive tension. The last three wines, all Corton Grand cru from 2006, 2002, and 1997, are all impressive, and the 06 is extraordinary. If we’re able to wheedle some from the vingeron’s cellar, it may appear in July Futures next month.

Lunch is in Nuits-St-Georges — French beer, and Croque Monsieur — then up to Morey-St-Denis for an afternoon tasting. Here the 2013s are more than just fine; these are concentrated, energetic, beautiful red Burgundies, and we struggle afterwards to pick our favorites.

A pause back at the apartment in Beaune, then dinner a block away at an outdoor table — it’s still light when we walk home at 10pm.

11:36PM  |  Paris  |  France

Sunday coffee in Châtelet on the way to Porte de Clingancourt. We meet a local friend for a morning tour of the Les Puces market, which is sprawling and full of amazing antiques: copper pots, Victorian dresses, Louis XIV furniture, and everything in between.

Brunch in an abandoned rail station converted to an eclectic restaurant. Afternoon drinks in an outdoor café near Montmartre, then a stroll back to the Marais. The French Open plays in the background as we pack our bags.

At 7:45 we stroll through the Place des Vosges, which is packed with people sunning themselves on the grass. Dinner is in a winter garden, lit by natural light even when we leave at 10:30. One last digestif in a café, then back to the apartment.

Back to Beaune and Boston tomorrow for work. A magical two weeks, and a trip that will be hard to top.

Yin and Yang. Spend even a few days tasting Burgundy, and the power of terroir is hard to miss. During a brief visit last week, we sampled Volnay, Savigny, Givry, Mercurey, and Pommard — five wines made from the same grape and the same region. But the characters of these wines could not be more disparate.

Volnay and Pommard are a particularly good study in terroir. These neighboring towns feature opposing takes on Pinot Noir: Volnay is known for wines of elegance, Pommard for wines of power. Some Burgundy enthusiasts prefer one over the other, but for those who’d rather not choose, we suggest this Pommard dressed in Volnay robes.

Continuum.  And as you approach the border, the differences between the towns blur a bit, and it’s from there that today’s wine hails. Grown from three plots in the appellation of Pommard, it’s the vines from near Volnay border that dominate this wine. The nose is very pretty, showing raspberry, cassis, and a touch of menthol. The mouth shows dry blackberries, with elegant, delicate mouthfeel.

We’ve been pleasantly surprised at how well this wine drinks today. Though it will certainly benefit from another 3-5 years of cellaring, an hour or more in a carafe dramatically softens the tannins and opens the palate. Paired with a simply prepared steak, this is a delightful glass of classic Burgundy. Try a bottle every six months for the next few years — it might even age better than you do.

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MEGARD Pommard 2011
Ansonia Retail: $52
case, half-case: $44/bot

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AVAILABLE IN 6-  AND 12- BOTTLE LOTS

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Email Tom to place an order.

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11:49PM  |  Paris  |  France

A quick early breakfast at the Abbey, then heading north to Paris. We drop the car at the Gare de Lyon, take the metro to the Marais, and find a crêperie for lunch. Chèvre and salad, then butter and sugar, with dry sparkling cidre to match. It’s cooler here, with a blue cloudless sky.

We drop our bags at our quaint rented apartment on the Rue Francois Miron, and head west for a stroll through the Tuileries. The park is bustling with people on this perfectly clear day, and the sunlight dances brightly off the fountains. We cross the Seine and make our way to the Musée Rodin, and take a brief tour of the gardens.

We walk slowly back east to St-Germain, ducking into shops and admiring window displays. Crossing back over the river, we pass Notre-Dame, lit brilliantly against the afternoon sky. In the evening we find a cocktail bar and sip for a few hours; when we leave the bar at 9:15 the sun is still visible above buildings on the Rue du Rivoli. Dinner in a tiny restaurant on a Marais side street. The city is charming as ever.

12:31PM  |  Bussière-sur-Ouche  |  France

Breakfast is in the light-filled winter dining room — soft boiled eggs, croissants, local yogurt, chèvre and locally smoked salmon. We borrow a pair of bikes from the Abbey, and set out on a 25k loop around the surrounding countryside.

The first leg takes us along the Burgundy Canal, a beautiful stretch of water dating from 1775 that connects the Atlantic and Mediterranean. We bike on the tow-path, once used by horses or cows for pulling barges. We pass beautiful wooden barges with smiling pilots, and watch them maneuver into locks and descend levels. The day is hot and the breeze is refreshing; a heron follows us along the water for a time.

We turn off the canal and head north to the town of Châteauneuf (no Pâpes here), a storybook castle and town perched on a steep hill. The climb on bikes is grueling and intense, and the ancient defensibility of the castle’s location seems more obvious with each pump of our legs. Once in the town, we break for water, picon bière, and crêpes salés — with cheese, bacon, potatoes, and spinach.

Our constitution restored, we hop back on the bikes and follow the route south back towards the abbey. We cross rolling hills of wheat and grains, and pass ubiquitous herds of white Charolais cattle. Back at the hotel we sit on the veranda, enjoying kir royales and trying to find room for dinner.

A second extensive and impressive tasting menu, dishes include morel mushrooms, crayfish, rabbit confit, escargots, and mackerel. An expansive selection from the cheese tray: melted époisses, Brillat Savarin, fresh local goat, Cîteaux, and others. Calvados and armagnac on the terrace. Paris tomorrow.

11:27PM  |  Bussière-sur-Ouche  |  France

Croissants and coffee this morning on the Place Carnot, Beaune’s central square. We head south mid morning through the Côte d’Or and out the St. Aubin valley to the Chateau de la Rochepot. The castle dates from the 13th century, and was carefully and lovingly restored in the 19th century by a local family. Rochepot boasts classic Burgundian tiled roofs, a bright and sunny courtyard, and a 230 foot well through solid rock dug entirely by hand in 1228.

Lunch back in Beaune — escargots, aligoté — then a stroll through the streets and an exquisite raspberry tart. Back in the car, we head west through beautiful rolling hills full of poppies and white Charolais cattle. The road leads us through dark forests, past tiny stone towns, and a stretch along the picturesque Burgundy canal.

The Abbaye de la Bussière, our home for the next two nights, is a magnificent property, with beautiful gothic buildings and impeccably tended grounds. Once a summer retreat for the wealthy bishops of nearby Dijon, the main buildings have been converted from an Abbey dating to 1131, and the inside of the building is extraordinary. Stained glass and stone staircases adorn the reception hall, and the one-star dining room is in an open two-story atrium with stone columns and a blacony.

We check in and take a walk around the grounds, which include an old mill wheel, stables, bee hives, a functioning winery and cave, a 12th century underground chapel, and a lake swimming with beavers and geese. We find a boat and take a quick spin around the lake, before returning to the main property for an afternoon on the lawn.

Dinner is an exceptional eight course tasting menu, with too many details to name. Highlights include a creamy and whipped Abbaye de Citeaux cheese dish, roasted pigeon on a bed of puréed peas,  and a sous-vide unnamed saltwater fish with kale juice as a garnish. Macon from Louis Michel, unusually dense Savigny 1er cru from an unknown vigneron, and a rosé Champagne from Leroy Duval are among the several memorable wines.

11:51PM  |  Beaune  |  France

We started the morning on the road, driving due north out of Provence, past Lyon, and into Burgundy. The terrain flattens out and the hills become greener; the sun today is clear and very warm.

We make it to Beaune by noon, grab some provisions in the market, and head south to Volnay. On a bench in the town square, in the shadow of the Volnay church spire, we spread out picnic between us and enjoy a lunch overlooking the sprawling Côte d’Or. Fresh warm bread, cheeses, sanglier saussicon, strawberries, and chocolate.

After checking into our hotel, we tour the Hospices to Beaune, a hospital for the poor founded in 1443. The Hospice is a remarkably well preserved landmark in the center of Beaune, known today as much for its annual wine auction as anything else. It’s not often the professions of wine and medicine overlap, but the tour brings smiles of recognition to both our faces today.

For dinner, we join three members of the Gros family at a new restaurant a few blocks from our hotel on the Place Carnot. The meal is outstanding — slow poached egg with morel mushrooms and asparagus, crusted duck with turnip and rosemary, and rhubarb compote with concentrated vanilla ice cream. Chassange and castles tomorrow, then the Abbey for dinner.

11:54PM  |  Violès  |  France

We took our coffee in Vaison-la-Romaine this morning, in view of the extensive, sprawling weekly market. The market is an impressive collection of vendors selling everything from meats to wicker baskets to clothes to soaps and spices. We grab a few souvenirs, then head back to Gigondas.

At 11 we meet some old friends for a tasting at their domaine just outside the village. We taste through white, rosé, and red, all familiar but somehow fresher in the place they’re made. After a quick tour of the cellars, we head to neighboring Séguret for a delightful, leisurely lunch in the same sun-filled terrace restaurant from Sunday. We drink ice cold rosé, and toast the family absent from the table; after dessert (pear aumonières, and crème caramel) and coffee, we bid adieu and head back to Violès to write a few cartes postales.

Birthday dinner a day late is at the Oustalet, a restaurant in Gigondas perfectly placed on the town square overlooking the valley. We arrive at 8pm, over an hour before sunset, as the warm evening begins to settle into night. Lights are strung between the sycamore and olive trees, and the fading sun plays beautifully off the leaves. The food is as magical as the setting: monkfish, mushroom risotto, sea bass, and foie de volaille, all prepared with minimalist elegance. For wine, a white from our Burgundian friends at Domaine de l’Arlot, and a few glasses of a local Muscat de Beaumes de Venises.

A perfect and charming end to a lovely few days in Provence, full of wine, food, markets, friends, and sun. Tomorrow north to Burgundy.

11:18PM  |  Violès  |  France

The morning is cool, clear, and sunny; light bounces from the shimmering olive trees. Began the morning with a trip to the local market for lettuce, fruit, sausage, olives, and a collection of cheeses.

We drive across the valley to Vaison-la-Romaine, a Roman era town set on the side of the river Ouvèze. After a lunch of foie gras salad and chicken in mustard cream sauce, we tour the Roman ruins — a remarkable collection of well preserved foundations and streets built over two millennia ago. As the afternoon sun intensifies, we grab some gelato (coconut and cassis) and head back to Violès.

Dinner in the courtyard of our little apartment — fresh baguette, tapenade, salad, Comté, Brie de Meaux, and Barolo. A digestif of Pastis, and makeshift birthday cake in chocolate pastries. Market and wine tasting tomorrow.

10:48PM  |  Violès  |  France

A cloudless summit of Mont Blanc greets us on our final morning in Chamonix. After breakfast in a streetside café, we pack our car and head east, out of the Alps and into the Savoie. We drive past orchards, cows, and vineyards as the dense forest behind us fades into flower-filled meadows.

We pass into the Rhône Valley as the sun dips in the sky, and the light strikes warmly off Mont Ventoux in the distance. Once off the highway we circle the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation, with its unmistakable galet roules-filled vineyards. We pull into the sleepy town of Violès, and find our charming old apartment, complete with a stone sink and small garden courtyard.

Dinner is ten minutes away in Séguret, member of the “Prettiest Towns in France” group; quaint cobblestone streets are lined with rose bushes and flower pots.  Drinks and dinner on a veranda overlooking the patchwork of vineyards; steak frites and a bottle of Séguret under honeysuckle and the setting sun.