We headed to the train station, hopped on our train, took a nap, and arrived in Dijon. Colette met us there and we were off!!
We began the day with history of Dijon, and then about 30 minutes into our trip to the Cote d'Or, we pulled over next to some vineyards. Whoa. There are alot of fascinating rules, history, and laws around Burgundy wine.
Essentially, there are three designations of land quality: village, premier cru, and grand cru. It basically assigns a quality designation to the specific plot of land where the grapes grow. It has either good, better, or best terrior to produce the best grapes, and the best wines. We also learned of many of the interesting inheritance rules of the wineries. It is a WAY OF LIFE here, I cannot state that enough.
We started our tasting at Domaine Rene and Francois Leclerc. Family winery where, although we started late, we had our first introduction to a real wine tasting and Burgundy wines. So amazing. Francois shared not only wines from 2013 and sooner, but went into his private cellar, and pulled out a bottle from 1988. After wrestling with the cork on that one, and losing...he pulled out another 1988! Wow, that was interesting, to say the least.
We had a wonderful time and then we were off to our next winery: Domaine due Chateau de la Tour. Claire met us, she had been pruning the rose bushes at the winery, and we had another simply lovely tasting. The grounds were beautiful, and the tasting room was so lovely I could have just moved into it - great views of the vineyards all around, a lovely breeze, and great friends to share it with.
We then headed to lunch at Restaurant Simon in Flagey-Echezeaux. And oh...my...god...I can hardly believe how amazing it was. Beautiful restaurant, amazing service, and the food. THE FOOD! Started with a little creme of mushroom soup, then an appetizer of poached eggs in a wine and cream sauce, then chicken in cheese sauce for me and coq au vin for Chris, then finally a poached pear in cassis for me and a cheese plate for Chris. You cannot imagine the aroma. You just can't.
After lunch Brett, Chris, and I passed out in the car, while Lynette, always the one to take one for the team, chatted with Colette on our way to the Hotel-Dieu des Hospices Civils de Beaune. Basically, in the 1400s, Nicolas Rolin erected this "palace for the poor" in Beaune, as a way to proviide care and charity to the poor and sick. AMAZING. Outside and in.
Final stop: Chateau de Corton C. This was my favorite I think. We tasted 6 wines in all in their cellar (that was amazing in and of itself). What a way to end the day in Burgundy!
We will be drinking the wine we bought and shipped in 5 to 7 years after it ages.
We hurried to the train, hopped on, passed out and arrived back in Paris.
An absolutely wonderful day.
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