A Burgundian Finale!

To end my blog series, I'd like to share with you our trip to Burgandy, France...

We have come to adore Pinot Noirs, and we went to go explore their roots. This pilgrimage helped us to appreciate both European and Californian wine a bit more. I always encourage wine tourism because it's educational, breathtaking, exciting, and full-filling in so many ways.

First off, to travel there, you need to take a train from Paris to Dijon, and then another one from Dijon to Beaune, the base town for a Burgundian tour.

2nd, wine tasting here is NOT the same as in California. You can't just drive up to the wineries and expect a glamorous tasting room with a perky, welcoming wine club attendant. Keep in mind that most wineries in France are generations old, which means that they have survived because they have a loyal following with consumers, restaurants, and distributors. They don't need to please tourists who will probably only buy 1 or 2 bottles of wine. Some might view this is "stuffy" but I think it shows history and culture, so it should be appreciated for what it is.

We did a bit of research and learned how to go wine tasting in Burgundy and found 2 proper ways....

1. Jeep/Van Tour

Companies: Authentica and Chemins de Bourgogne

Both of these tour companies were amazing: provided great information, tastings, and scenic views. There are multiple tours to choose from, whether you want a meal included, cheese tasting, or a simple vineyard drive along. Do a bit of research, and you will find tours that fit your style and budget.

Some key things we learned were...
a. ALL of the grapes in Burgundy are Pinot Noir. Government-mandated.
b. Quality is marked and controlled on the label. Look for "Village" or "Premier Cru" for your best bets (these mean that the quality is a bit higher and the winemaker is involved with the process from start to finish). Amazingly, this labeling is government controlled as well, so you know what you are getting. Now, if only California regulated what "Reserve" means....
c. Each region within Burgundy are distinct. Our favorites were the "Village" qualities of Beaune and Gevrey Chambertin. Fruit forward, but not jammy, and earthy notes that are not too overwhelming. Overall, great balance.

Sweeping vineyard views

Castle among the vines

Awed...

French vines. The long stem is referred to as a "baguette" and the short one is called "croissant" - Oh, Frenchies :)

Wine tasting at a family vineyard

Touring their generations-old wine cellar

Yes, GENERATIONS old. Reminds me of "Cask of the Amontillado".

Bought a bottle of "Gevrey Chambertin" for our wedding night.

2. Cellar tours, walking around Beaune

Winery: Mache Aux Vins

Stay overnight (or maybe 2-3 nights) in lovely Beaune, a little town with a wonderful wine-making past and present. Wander in and out of alleys, have snacks and house wine at random cafes, splurge and have dinner in a wine cave, and explore the ancient wine cellars masked as modern store fronts. Most are guided tours of cellars and caves, but some are self-guided. One we will highlight is Marche Aux Vins, a self-guided and self-pouring cellar tour. This "store" may not be among the vast vineyards, but we found it to be so much more...

Wandering in Beaune

Inside Marche.... looks like it could be a typical wine tasting on a long flat table, but....

... instead, you are lead downstairs into a wine cave/cellar!

Wines are labeled with descriptions. The tour is self-guided.

We are able to pour our own tastings. Very trusting of tourists. We remained surprisingly mature through this process.

Being a self-guided tour, we were able to move about at our own pace.

 

 Wine has taken us far and wide, shown us unique differences between people and cultures, made us open-minded about possibilities. I end my blog on this note: my journey isn't over, but I turn it over to you to take you places and experience/taste things you never knew of. Why? Because it's just good l'vin(o).

Little Penguin - Pinot Noir - Austrailia

When I first started drinking wine, I only drank Pinot Grigio, partly because I was clumsy and I didn't want to show any wine stains.

Then, I moved onto Pinot Noirs as my palate shifted towards reds.

After discovering Temecula, I longed for heavier, more tannic reds, so I developed a stigma towards Pinot Noirs as I stereotyped them as too "light bodied".

How ignorant of me! After many trips to Santa Barbara, I realized that Pinot Noirs can be fuller, but its delicacies should be appreciated.

This takes me to the Little Penguin Pinot Noir. Bought at the BevMo! five cent sale, I came home with two bottles (one bottle is only $8.00), and the next day one bottle was already finished. The thing I noticed about this Pinot was that I could taste the whole grape cluster. Fruit forward taste. Stems and seeds in the finish. Flesh remains on your tongue. Cheap, excellent wine. In fact, last year, Wine Spectator included this bottle in their "Best Wines under $20" issue!

Gascon - Malbec - Argentina - '08

Back in April 2009, I won a wine contest...

Where: Trader Joe's Westside, Sepulveda at Palms

Prompt: In 75 or fewer words, review and recommend your favorite wine from those offered at your Sepulveda/Palms Trader Joe's and be eligible for a $50 gift card!

What I Reviewed: Gascon Malbec '08, retail $9.99


What I submitted:

On a lazy Sunday afternoon, I poured myself a glass of Gason Malbec. I was mesmerized by the sunlight radiating through the deep plum color. The pleasant, balanced aroma of dark berries and chocolate seduced my lips, inching to the rim of the glass. As I sipped, the initial light texture sprouted into tannins, which provided an enjoyable earthy finish. Nibbling on chocolate with the next sip, all that was left was a sigh.

Looking back at my writing, I cringe. I'm proud that I won first place, but I'm not proud of what I wrote. But that feeling just comes with writing; there's always room to edit. First of all, it was difficult trying to fit my ideas into 75 words - I must have went through more than 10 revisions. Second, reading this description again, it sounds like I threw up a Wine 101 dictionary. I just needed more space to show my personal connection with the wine without sounding like a generic commercial (can you tell I'm self-critical?).

However, this experience DID start me off into writing about wine, and I'll only improve with time, experience, knowledge. And even though I'm not truly happy with what I had written, I stand by the Gascon Malbec when I say it's truly a nice, drink-at-any-occasion wine.

The Wine House - no risk buy guide!

The DILEMMA: "Danny, what bottle should we open up next?"

The Costa De Oro Tempranillo? Nope - at $27, that needs to opened on a special occasion...
The Ecluse Cab? Nope! That was $30!
The Castoro Primativo? Do we really want to open a Paso wine? We traveled so far to pick them up...

Once in a while, we get to a point where we can't manage to open up any of our bottles because we had splurged on them, or traveled some distance to get them. On a lazy Saturday, Danny and I ran out of cheap good wine to open and lounge with.

"Wanna go to Ralphs?"
"No"
"Wanna go to BevMo?"
"No"
"Wanna go to Trader Joe's?"
"No"

Here's the problem with going out to buy cheap wines blindly: what are you really basing the purchase on? The price? It doesn't matter if the bottle is cheap. If you don't like it, you just wasted money. What about the descriptions? Of course the stores will make it sound appealing... rhetoric! Points? Everyone has different opinions on wine - it's all relative.

In my experience, blindly picking bottles at stores is the worst way to buy. Sure, you stock up on cheap wines that you don't feel bad about opening at any given moment, but you only find "diamonds in the rough" occasionally. Most of the time, you will spend criticizing the wine, checking off which ones you will NEVER buy again. I don't mind paying up for a bottle that I know will be excellent and meaningful, but I WILL stress out about how I'm forced to finish a bottle which I cannot stand. What a waste of time and money! Plus, if I'm going to continue working out my liver, I'm going to give it the good stuff.

As Danny and I conversed about what to do and where to go to buy good, cheap wine, we remembered that the Wine House has a dispensing tasting room!

 

http://www.wineaccess.com/store/winehouse/newsletter.html?newsletter_id=129521

This is how it works: You go to the customer service desk in the back of the store and purchase a tasting card and put money on it (between $10-$20). Then you go to the tasting room, insert your card, and choose a wine to taste. Each tasting price varies (from $1-$6, depending on how much the wine costs), and whichever taste you choose, the cost will be deducted from your card. After this trial and error process, we found two bottles that we definitely wanted to purchase...


What we bought AFTER tasting:

2008 MAN Vintners Pinotage South Africa

Retail: $7.99

This red has a LOT of fruit and drinks smoothly - almost with a bacon fat aftertaste... in a good way! Perfect to bring to a party, or to lounge on the couch with. Don't judge it by the twist top. It's a good, solid wine that will deliver!

2008 Boekenhoutskloof The Wolftrap Red Wine Western Cape

Retail: $9.99 

More oaky and peppery than the above MAN Pinotage, but still has fruit present. Would be a great wine to enjoy with a meaty meal! Long, slighty tannic finish.  

Plungerhead Old Vine Zinfandel, Lodi

Retail: $11.99 

A delicious, mouthwatering burst of fruit. Smooth and easy to drink! Would pair well with smoked, tangy BBQ or a juicy burger! Great crowd-pleaser for any party. 

More importantly, we tasted cheap wines that we did NOT like, and therefore ended up not purchasing. If we had just bought blindly, we probably WOULD have picked up the bottles, and then be disappointed. We saved money, AND brought home bottles that were a great price and we KNOW will enjoy. My next dilemma.... which of the three bottles to open up first...

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The Wine House
2311 Cotner Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90064-1803
(310) 479-3731

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