Red Red Wine - Bourgogne (better known as Burgundy)

Needless to say, this leg is a gastronomy stop.

I've read about French wine and their wine regions, but that pea brain of mine just could not register that Bourgogne's speciality is Pinot and Chardonnay. Since I'm not a fan of Pinot, this fact is now etched in my cerebral hemispheres.

We set base in Beaune, where we could savour both the bourgogne cuisine and their distinct architecture.

Hotel Dieu - Hospices de Beaune

This used to be a hospital for the public, and was built by Nicolas Rolin (Chancellor of the Duke of Burgundy) and his wife. The multi-coloured roof is very typical of Burgundian architecture.

The Hospice married both Burgundian and Flemish architecture beautifully.

The sick and poor used to be housed in this room, males on 1 side and females on the other. There was a purpose for the decorations on the ceiling to bring comfort for the sick, which I think that it was really thoughtful of the founders then.  The Chapel at the end of the room was for nuns to pray for the sick.

To raise money for free/subsidised medication for the poor, the Hospices also provided a private room for patients who can afford to pay.

The kitchen. Interesting to know that the patients each have a carafe of red wine by their bed. Water on the other hand, was considered to be more harmful due to possibilities of water pollution. The patients' meals were also planned according to the individual's constitution. Poultry are reserved for patients with weaker digestion, while red meat such as beef are for patients with better constitution.

The dispensary. Herbs such as dill, menthe and thyme etc were used as medicine for various ailments.

The stained glass here have a very different genre as those seen in most churches. The colour theme is just shades of grey and yellow. 

1.5 Days of Wine Tasting

For this 1.5 days, we can hardly remember doing anything except an information overload on wine making, and an endless list of Pinot, Chardonnay and Crémant.

Beaune is a town that is rather developed on the surface, little would I expect that there are actually cellars  running everywhere underground! 

Our 1st wine tasting stop was at Marché aux Vin. I came to know of this place through travel reviews, and was even more intrigue by it during our visit to the Hospices. This company bought over the vineyards that were once owned by the Hospices, and is still holding on to some really aged bottles in their cellar now. Entrance is 10 Euro/pax, and you get to keep the taste vin (a shallow metal dish) that they give out for tasting.

After we woke up from 1.5 days of intoxication, we kinda regretted spending that 20 euros on Marché aux Vin. If we will do this again, we'll probably dedicate the time for an oenology session (1 to 1.5 Hrs) instead.

Marché aux Vin

Old bottles from the Hospices

We didn't suspect anything running underground with this amount of buildings in the surroundings.

We went direct to a wine maker, Chateau de Meursault to check it out. 15 Euros/pax, wine glass to keep. You can also make reservations for lunch and other tours with the Chateau. Details: www.chateau-meursault.com

Wine pairing information with cheese, and other food.

It is very old world to put their emphasis on terroir, which I personally agree very much with. Here, the maker believes that the plants around the vines are also very important to harmonize with the grapes. As we are not in the season, we couldn't really see what's growing in this garden.

The Chateau has its history since the 11th century, and this cave has been intact since the 13th century.

Bottles left for ageing since years ago. I've been restraining to clean off that thick layer of dust on the bottles.... 

This cave is humongous! It is a maze of red wine bottles in here.

This room is 800 sq m,with more than 800 barrels of alcohol. To be matured 15 months for red wine, and 1 year for white. They make Marc here as well, which is similar to Cognac. These are aged for 12 years in the barrels to reduce the alcohol level from >70% to 40%. 

Look at that layer of dust since 2001!!!!! This is what ageing is all about...

The distinct coloured roof of Burgundy, in the town of Meursault.

Our last tasting was at Veuve Ambal, a maker of sparkling wine (Crémant). This is one of those times when we felt really fortunate to be visiting in the non-peak season. Through the tourism brochure, it stated that the guided tour starts at 2pm. We went a little earlier after lunch, and was surprised that we could start whenever we want, as it is off-peak, and they are not expecting a big crowd. The staff who attended to us is very knowledgeable, he studied wine for 2 years in school, and can be a qualified sommelier. We chatted for the entire afternoon, and clarified everything about wine. What we wanted to know, and what we do not know that we do not know...it was an amazing afternoon for us!

I've always wondered why Pinot fetches a premium over other grapes. It seems that the main reason lies in the difficulty of harvesting the vines. It is a more delicate species than the rest, needs to be hand-picked and requires more attention during loading. In Burgundy, the best plots of vines are usually found in the mid-slope  facing East and SE (Grand Crus). But of course, grapes from the same Grand Crus could still taste different between different makers, so the best is to taste and find one maker to your preference.

We've thought of growing vines as a retirement hobby, but it seems more difficult than we thought. First, we need a sizeable plot at a good location with good terroir. Then, we need to go through the entire farming to harvesting process which is not that easy at all. Vines need pruning to concentrate their juices, then it is the picking and sorting of the grapes (which can't be squashed during loading, otherwise oxidization will occur) and the pressing (1st press is the best)...blah blah and blah...so I guess we'll stick to growing vegetables instead.

After this trip, I suppose we will not spend that premium on Moët when we are back in Singapore. What's it with Champagne? It's only a region isn't it, so why should I pay a premium for crémant made in Champagne?  Not that Moët is not good, but there are other makers with pretty good recipes on crémant too.

The mix of grapes that they use in making the various crémant recipes.

Food and accommodation

We stayed in Beaune hotel. Good location, but not very value for money. Very bad sound proofing too, we could hear our neighbours putting the key into the keyhole, turning the key, opening the door to pulling the key out. No joke, it is true!!! Private garage is 5 Euros/day. We checked out other Logis along the same stretch, and found that there are cheaper and better options.

Food specialities:
Appetizers: Escargots, Jambon Persillé (looks like 猪脚冻, but with ham instead).
Mains: Bouguignon beef stew, Coq au Vin (cock stewed in burgundy wine), veau or lapin (rabbits) with Mustard sauce (Dijon, the father of mustard makers is only a stone throw away).
Dessert: Pain d'epices (ginger cake).

Lunch at Meursault is pretty good. I promised that we will not take any more pictures on food, so here is the ambience...This is a hotel-restaurant, very cosy setting and traditional home-cooked burgundian meals... brilliant!