Miraculously, memories of life in the sixties still remain. One of the more ubiquitous ones involved couples getting together for Fondue(and ice cold cheap Rose') parties and afterward, being treated to a torturous two hours, viewing slides of their most recent trip to France!
So here I go again, not learning a thing apparently and ready to tell you all about my recent trip to France. At least however, I'm sparing you the Fondue and slideshow and keeping it to just wine and cheese!
Wine
Cote d Or(Golden Hillside) covers only 37 miles, north to south and includes Cote de Nuits(mostly Pinot) and Cote de Beaune(mostly Chardonnay). Set in terraces, they run up from the roadside to almost 300 meters or so in altitude. As they rise, usually the value does as well. Draineage is key here, because it can get quite wet during the summer. Down by the road, you might find label indicating region(Bourgogne) which accounts for 50%of Burgundy's production, next up the slope perhaps the village label, (eg. Beaune) about 35%, followed by Premier Cru approximately 10%(usually, but not always, a hyphenated village/vineyard-eg. Gevrey-Chambertin) and finally Grand Cru coming in at about 5%. Grand Cru can be found with the vineyard name only and usually preceded by an article, such as Le Montrachet.
Ownership typically passes from generation to generation with perhaps only 2 acres or so to maintain. Family members can be seen puttering around on their 1.5 acre row/rows like a weekend hobby.
Rows are arranged 1 meter wide, vines 1 meter high and 1 meter between.
Yield, by California standards is surprisingly low. Sixty cases per acre(translated) is about average, with Domaine Romanee Conti Grand Cru, only approximately 9 cases!
On a golden sunny fall afternoon, I picked up my friend "shorty" a 25lb. mut I met the previous evening(while he was eating my leftovers at the corner cafe) and as payment, he enthusiastically led the way on a 3 mile tour the next day from Puligny(poo-lynn-e) Montrachet, where I stayed, to Mersault, the next village a few miles away. This is white wine country (row by row though, you would find red mixed in) and I found the wine in these two areas to be absolutely "haunting" in both nose and mouth. Keep in mind, I went into this absolutely preferring red and left the country with all whites-carefully wrapped in my underwear!
To my amazement, they were pruning already! And pruning in a most unusual manner. "Wheel Barrel"-ever heard of one of those? I immediately understood the origin of the term. A homemade sixty gallon oil barrel, welded between two metal bars-the back being the handgrip and the front anchoring a wheel. This is torched open on the top like a horizontal H and the flaps are pulled up as entry. They move slowly from vine to vine, pruning and depositing cut vines into a fire within the barrel, pausing occasionally to warm themselves over the crackling flame. In between, always time for a sit-down with a baguette and of course the ever present "ciggie"! All through the vineyards these little fires burned bringing the most pleasant aroma wafting in the air on a crisp, clear beautiful fall afternoon. Shorty "peed" on most every row and I never heard a complaint, so the rootstock must be quite hardy.
As the sun set the barrels were left smoldering at rows end. The owners were off in their battered Citroen(or bicycle) with no more than the shears they brought with them.
The next day I was driven to visit producers, usually in the four to six thousand case capacity, where again, I was reminded of the difference between old world and new.
All natural yeast, ML without inoculation (usually occurring naturally in the spring) some fining, but seldom filtering. What does happen here of course, is Chaptalization(addition of sugar to must). We have to remember that in Burgundy, with the same latitude as Boston, if it rains through mid August and must be picked before the BIG rain in late September, sugars can be a bit low. This explains the fields of sugar beets that no one seemed interested in talking to me about.
One winemaker barrel sampled me 08 and remarked that it was JUST going into ML....that would be about 15 months they waited. The next sample occurred in June. A different world indeed.
Tasting rooms as we know them don't exist. One's motivation for a visit to a producer is to purchase wine where the price is ALWAYS lower than retail. The village people come with their own bottles or the producer will have a stash of clean used ones as well. Potential customers visit, taste and buy. Simple as that. I'm glad this doesn't occur in Edna Valley, because I certainly wouldn't have a job.
Cheese
On another day, I left Puligny Montrachet to visit three sacred monuments. The first, the "Holy Grail", was Abbaye de Citeaux, near Nuits St. George. The Abbey was founded in 1098 and today, thirty monks tend their Montbeliard Cattle producing among other things the regions two most popular cheeses: Epoisses(e pway say) a soft bloom washed rind cheese and Brillat Savarin, the triple creme "king of cheeses" in France.
Later, I visited Epoisses itself and the Berthaut factory, followed by Brochon to see the Gaugry plant.
In France, a cheese course is offered AFTER every meal and BEFORE the chocolate, cigarettes and cafe. This is part of the "French Paradox". When they're not kissing, they're either eating, smoking or drinking wine. I never saw a jogger or an overweight person the entire trip.
Well that’s enough for now. If you're ever interested in some Fondue, I'll haul out the slide projector and really torture you!
-John Shakely
Events
Proud Members of:
Recommend Wine Links
Links for Foodies
Travel
November 24, 2009
June 02, 2009
Recent travel to France
I recently traveled on vacation to France, for research of course, visiting a few wine regions which were just amazing. We started our journey in Champagne visiting some amazing champagne caves dating back to the 1800's. One tour to Pommery, a well-known Champagne house in Reims, was very unique in it's art incorporation into the caves. In one section on the caves they had an room you walk into with guitars hooked up to amplifiers and then birds flying and creating the sounds as they landed on the guitars; it was very interesting and different for a "wine" tour.
After our adventures in Champagne we headed to the home of Riesling; Alsace! The region of Alsace, which borders Germany, is one of the most beautiful regions of the world. The countryside and the villages are very picturesque and the food and wine we consumed was some of the best we've ever had. We journeyed down the Route du Vin starting at the top in Marlenheim with an amazing dinner at Le Cerf, which I highly recommend. We then headed south down to Ribeauville, where we stayed in a great apartment above Domaine Sipp-Mack in a nearby town called Hunawhir, this is a great place and central located between Ribeauville and Riquewihr. We had a great visit with 12th generation family member, Pierre Trimbach, of Maison Trimbach. He showed us their facility and tasted us on many great wines, including a 375th Anniversary wine! We also ventured to Marcel Deiss and Hugel. Hugel had a 1991 Vendange Tardive that was delicious. Each place offers a different experience and by tasting and talking with the families you learn so much history behind the evolution of the vineyards and wineries. The history of French wine is incomparable to anywhere in the world.
After spending 7 days exploring the Alsace region we then headed to the land of Pinot Noir. As we drove into the Burgundy region the vines and soil were very different from what we had seen in Alsace. We drove down as far as the town of Beaune, where we stayed for 6 nights, exploring the countryside and visiting some amazing people. We had a tour with one of our barrel company's. It was very interesting to see how they handmade each barrel and to see the start to finish process done all by a line of 5-6 workers, it makes you appreciate what each barrel has to offer. We also had some great visits, one with Pierre of Domaine Henri Gouges, we were lucky enough to try his 2003 Pinot Noir down in his caves. We also got a once in a lifetime tour at Louis Jadot doing comparative tastings between bottled wines and wines still in barrel.
This is a picture of the what some of the caves give you to taste out of, it's how the Monk's used to do, don't worry I don't think Tolosa will be switching over...
All in all it was a great trip that I could go on and on and on about, but if you have any questions or are planning a visit to these regions in France I would love to help you if you need any advice. My advice is just GO! This was the best way to learn about the terrior and history of French wines and trust me the food is just as good as the wine!
Here is a picture of the 2007 Tolosa "No Oak" Chardonnay with the beautiful Burgundy vineyards in the background, it was very refreshing after a day of Pinot Noir.
Cheers,
Katie Noonan
November 13, 2008
Vintner's Holiday in Yosemite
The series ends with amazing five course dinner in the Ahwahnee Dinning Room, and I have to say it was an meal not to be forgotten! Tolosa 2006 "1772" Pinot Noir was paired with Crispy Veal Sweetbreads with Spinach, Apple Butter & Natural Reduction. Yes, it is not your typical pairing but was very tasty.
November 01, 2008
July 10, 2008
May 23, 2008
Come Fly With Me
“Lets fly lets fly away. If you can use some exotic booze, there’s a bar in far Bombay!”
One of my favorites, penned by Sammy Cahn and sung by Ole Blue Eyes himself, had me thinking in the shower this morning. Why would anyone think of flying away today as adventurous or romantic? Particularly after arriving at the airport three hours prior to your flight, hungry, only to have time for concession food prior to your “pat down” and walk thru; shoes in hand, beltless trousers slipping off, only hoping your lap top makes it through the scanner. Ugh- - - just the thought of it!
But wait, I have an idea for a flight, which takes place every Saturday at 11 am, beginning June 6th in our Heritage Room. No lines or security pat downs. Just arrive, pay ten dollars (complimentary for wine club members) and relax to quiet soothing jazz ballads while enjoying a wine tasting flight!
Wine flights include selections from our winery library as well as new limited release varietals. A theme one week could be Chardonnay, old to new or perhaps Pinot. What about the Rhone itself with both northern and southern expressions. Our Syrah is crafted in the style of northern Rhone, which for the most part utilizes only the Syrah grape. With that spicy pepper like characteristic, it is unmistakably “cool climate”. We even have a Southern Rhone style blend, which includes both Syrah and Grenache.
At the same time, and in the same “terminal” (VIP lounge), we will be offering our wine and cheese pairings for the week. We usually work with Monterrey Street Wine & Cheese and change the menu weekly to reflect our mutual curiosity, resulting in the best pairing possible. We offer four cheeses paired with four wines for $20($15 members) served in a Riedel glass.
At your trips final destination, we will be able to mark your ticket (menu) with purchase choice to take to our register to be packaged (not lost like an airport bag) and rung up. Now how civilized is that!
Captain John, Concierge
April 02, 2008
Habitat for Humanity journey for Tolosa winemaker
In March, I took some time away from winemaking to travel to El Salvador as a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity’s ‘Global Village’ program. Kristin and I joined about 100 other volunteers from the United States, Canada, and Barcelona for a week of hard work, constructing simple, decent homes for people who need them.
Although Kristin has volunteered on Habitat trips for the past few years, travelling to India and Africa, the trips always seemed to coincide with harvest or other busy times at the winery. This time, I was able to go, and I see why it has been such a gratifying experience for her. We worked side by side with the family members whom will become the new homeowners, played soccer with their kids, shared meals with them, and learned from each other. The work was hard, and the food was simple and repetitive, but we enjoyed the time that we spent, and it was amazing to see how much progress we made over the course of the week. I think of all the great little kids that we met, and about how they will be growing up in these houses that we helped to build with our own hands, and how they will have a clean, safe home to call their own – it feels pretty good!
You don’t have to go to a different country to help other people around you – there are a lot of opportunities all around us every day. I’m thankful that I was able to make this trip, and hope that I will have more opportunities in the future.
I guess I better say something about wine, since this is a winery blog… A couple things that I noticed about wine in El Salvador; most of the wine was from Chile and Italy, and the few wines that I recognized were at least 2-3 times more expensive than they would be the U.S. All the wine was served cold, even the reds, and they were brought to the table in an ice bucket. As it turned out, that wasn’t a bad idea, as the wine quickly warmed up to serving temperature in the tropical temperatures! (We drank a lot more of the local beer, which wasn’t bad at all, and Nicaraguan rum, which was quite delicious, and quite inexpensive!)
Lots more of my photos on my flickr.com account:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/18097654@N05/sets/72157604280281956/
-NRC
