After walking around the city a bit more, it was time for our winery tour. The tour began with the guide driving us north across town and through a number of the vineyards.
During the drive, the guide took the opportunity to provide a lot of background information on the area, the wine-growing process, the wine itself and other areas of interest. Given my general ignorance on the subject matter, I found the information very interesting.
Here are some of the things that I learned:
-- Burgundy wines are only made from two grapes: pinot noir and chardonnay
-- Wines denoted by the “Clos” moniker are those whose vineyards are completely enclosed by a surrounding wall
-- The vineyards require no artificial irrigation – natural rain provides the optimal amount of water
-- There are strict rules governing every element of the growing and marketing process with an official governing body that seems very totalitarian
-- Burgundy has the highest number of appellations d'origine contrôlée (effectively wines that meet specific quality criteria based on their growing conditions) of any wine region in France
-- There is archaeological evidence of wine growing in the Burgundy region dating back to the 2nd century AD, though it likely dates back to centuries earlier during Roman control of the area
-- Monks and monasteries of the Roman Catholic Church played an integral role in the history of Burgundy wine
-- Due to inheritance practices, the vineyards are generally going through an ongoing subdivision over time as properties are split between heirs
After a while we stopped in one of the vineyards for a break from the drive and to sample a chardonnay from the area. It was neat to walk in the middle of the vineyard and the chardonnay was very nice. I won’t bore / annoy you with a snobby description of the various smells, tastes, colors…though I probably couldn’t provide one even if I wanted to given my untrained palate.
The following is a picture of Emilie and me that was taken in the vineyard.
We then headed to a winery and the vintner walked us through the wine-making process and told us the history of the vineyard, which has been in his family for seven generations. It’s pretty incredible that his family had been making wine there for the past two hundred years or so.
The vintner was a pretty quirky guy – very tiny and with a perma-smile that made you think he continually sampled his product throughout the day. He had tons of stories but did not speak a lick of English so I had to do my best to follow his detailed (and often technical) explanations when the guide wasn’t around.
We weren’t able to visit the wine cellar since the harvest was in process (at least I think that was the reason he gave), but we were able to visit the room where the wine was literally being made. It was pretty interesting – particularly when he let us climb up a ladder to look inside the giant barrel-shaped vats where the wine was fermenting.
At the end of the tour the vintner walked us through a tasting of a number of his vintages. It was interesting to taste the distinct differences that were simply due to the various vintage years of the grapes. Like I’ve written before, I definitely don’t have a seasoned palate and probably couldn’t appreciate the tasting as much as others. Nonetheless, I could definitely taste what I like and what I don’t like, and perhaps that’s all that counts in the end.
For dinner we ate at Le Jardin des Remparts, which is in a beautifully renovated house from the 1930s.
The ambiance, the food and the service were all excellent and in a way gave you the impression that you were really eating at someone’s home.
For the appetizer I went with the specialty: the charolais steak tartare with gillardeau oysters. I’m not a big tartare fan, but it had been recommended by a ton of people so I decided to take a leap of faith. It turned out to be very good, and the foam on top tasted like the ocean (in a good way…).
The following are some of the other courses. They were all very good, but nowhere near as memorable as the tartare.
After dinner we headed back to the hotel. It was a beautiful night, with a bright, full moon.
During the drive, the guide took the opportunity to provide a lot of background information on the area, the wine-growing process, the wine itself and other areas of interest. Given my general ignorance on the subject matter, I found the information very interesting.Here are some of the things that I learned:
-- Burgundy wines are only made from two grapes: pinot noir and chardonnay
-- Wines denoted by the “Clos” moniker are those whose vineyards are completely enclosed by a surrounding wall
-- The vineyards require no artificial irrigation – natural rain provides the optimal amount of water
-- There are strict rules governing every element of the growing and marketing process with an official governing body that seems very totalitarian
-- Burgundy has the highest number of appellations d'origine contrôlée (effectively wines that meet specific quality criteria based on their growing conditions) of any wine region in France
-- There is archaeological evidence of wine growing in the Burgundy region dating back to the 2nd century AD, though it likely dates back to centuries earlier during Roman control of the area
-- Monks and monasteries of the Roman Catholic Church played an integral role in the history of Burgundy wine
-- Due to inheritance practices, the vineyards are generally going through an ongoing subdivision over time as properties are split between heirs
After a while we stopped in one of the vineyards for a break from the drive and to sample a chardonnay from the area. It was neat to walk in the middle of the vineyard and the chardonnay was very nice. I won’t bore / annoy you with a snobby description of the various smells, tastes, colors…though I probably couldn’t provide one even if I wanted to given my untrained palate.
The following is a picture of Emilie and me that was taken in the vineyard.
We then headed to a winery and the vintner walked us through the wine-making process and told us the history of the vineyard, which has been in his family for seven generations. It’s pretty incredible that his family had been making wine there for the past two hundred years or so.The vintner was a pretty quirky guy – very tiny and with a perma-smile that made you think he continually sampled his product throughout the day. He had tons of stories but did not speak a lick of English so I had to do my best to follow his detailed (and often technical) explanations when the guide wasn’t around.
We weren’t able to visit the wine cellar since the harvest was in process (at least I think that was the reason he gave), but we were able to visit the room where the wine was literally being made. It was pretty interesting – particularly when he let us climb up a ladder to look inside the giant barrel-shaped vats where the wine was fermenting.
At the end of the tour the vintner walked us through a tasting of a number of his vintages. It was interesting to taste the distinct differences that were simply due to the various vintage years of the grapes. Like I’ve written before, I definitely don’t have a seasoned palate and probably couldn’t appreciate the tasting as much as others. Nonetheless, I could definitely taste what I like and what I don’t like, and perhaps that’s all that counts in the end.
For dinner we ate at Le Jardin des Remparts, which is in a beautifully renovated house from the 1930s.
The ambiance, the food and the service were all excellent and in a way gave you the impression that you were really eating at someone’s home.For the appetizer I went with the specialty: the charolais steak tartare with gillardeau oysters. I’m not a big tartare fan, but it had been recommended by a ton of people so I decided to take a leap of faith. It turned out to be very good, and the foam on top tasted like the ocean (in a good way…).
The following are some of the other courses. They were all very good, but nowhere near as memorable as the tartare.
After dinner we headed back to the hotel. It was a beautiful night, with a bright, full moon.
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