Units (in school) like France and Italy really are the best, giving you the excuse to spend a little more than you normally would on tastings where you can't help but finish everything you open because it is DELICIOUS. Even some of the wierder Chenin Blancs we have tried are just so intriguing and austere that "study sessions" almost feel criminally fun :) Study shouldn't be that fun, right?! As much as I can appreciate the classic quality of a Napa Chardonnay or an Aussie Shiraz, it just doesn't have that sexy European thing going on. There may be a hidden man comparison in there somewhere but we are talking about 50 shades of purple, garnet, and ruby here....not grey.....
I guess part of the reason I love Burgundy so much is because it has one of the richest and most fascinating historical frameworks. A bottle of Burgundy is, in its purest form, a historical artifact. Terroir, in France more than any other country, is so much more than elevation, rainfall, sun exposure, soil composition...but a family history of vineyard ownership and cultural evolution. From the Cisterian monks whose detailed maps in the 15th and 16th centuries to Napoleon's inheritance laws and love of Gevrey-Chambertin....the characters of these wines are truly unique.
We've split Burgundy into multiple days, conquering Chardonnay in one, Pinot Noir (largely all Chablis and Cote D'Or examples) in the second, and the surrounding areas of Jura, Savoie and Beaujolais in the final class. The wines in class have been divine, and I've been in a sea of mushroom, leather and mossy cherry heaven. I wanted nothing more than to pull out a rare filet mignon with shaved truffles to pair with the 2006 Drouhin-Laroze Latricieres-Chambertin Grand Cru.
Over the weekend "The Nose" and I met up to "study" the french whites we had covered so far, with a melange of Bourgogne Blanc, Vouvray Sec, Sancerre, and some other fun "off topic" things. By the end of it we had our noses in scotch bottles to compare the "petey" smell with the "mossy" smells of the straw-dried late harvest wine I had brought and the Bordeaux style Dau Cabernet Sauvignon. I should certainly dedicate a whole different post to my ridiculous obsession with dusty dried rose bouquet of Chenin Blanc.....but certainly best left for another time.
The biggest thing that I have walked away from this week has been the importance of THE PRODUCER when purchasing or selecting Burgundian wines. Good vintages are good and bad vintages require more creative wine making, but the scarcity of Burgundy and the specificity of its AOC (Appellation D'Origine Controllee) causes prices to shoot through the roof regardless. Scarcity of wine can cause a price to rise regardless of the quality. Knowing good producers, whose quality is reliable, is therefore absolutely essential unless you want to risk spending $100 dollars on a Chablis which could be upstaged by a Bourgogne Blanc. Boutique wine shops with educated staff (or even places like Total Wine) are great places to find these wines, which if you are unfamiliar, can be guided to the good value bottles versus taking shots in the dark.
The other important thing when purchasing Burgundy is understanding that varying terroir and the chameleon like quality of pinot noir as a varietal can bring significant differences between neighboring towns, or even neighboring vineyards! Trying through different villages to develop more specific tastes is helpful for the aspiring Burgundy enthusiast, as Saint Aubin Rouge will be significantly different from a Volnay or Givry. Generally you'll get a mouthful of mushroom, minerality, and macerated red fruit (cherry, strawberry, raspberry, cranberry, pomegranate), but even generalizing to that level can be a mistake.
Spent a good part of the weekend in Paso Robles wine country interviewing at vineyards. Great experience and can't wait to dig deeper into some of these career opportunities!
Until next time, remember varietal and jammy are not technically real words.
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