Winemakers go on wine tours...in France

Posted 07/08/2008 at 09:07 AM by Dirk

I admit it; I have been avoiding this blog because I was travelling. I tried...really...but was unable to overcome the complexities of a French keyboard. Try one. They moved the letters and added all sorts of accents. (Just who needs a cedille anyway?!) These problems lead to the dreaded "bloggus interuptus."  I have heard that it can take a while to really get going afterwards.

France was great...the dollar wasn't. Internet cafes in Paris have computers but do not have food or drink let alone a sidewalk table. I thought all cafes in France had sidewalk tables. What's with that?

A whole group of us - Stephanie, Greg, Darice, Aaron, Larry, Beth, Erik and I - spent time visiting wineries in Bordeaux and Burgundy. We managed to stuff in a day in Paris and in the Jura too.  As soon as Greg or Beth is back, we will add a couple of pics as visual aids but don't expect the entire trip's slide show.

Since I can't talk about all that we visited without inflicting terminal tedium, I will mention one visit now with the noble intention of mentioning more in later postings. Remember, it is an election year and an intention is not a promise.

Our last visit in Burgundy was with Jean-Louis Trapet of Domaine Trapet in Gevrey- Chambertin. (I won't admit to us having a bias but, he is great and the wines are memorable.) We stopped in last week after slowly driving through the vineyards of the Cote de Nuits. We even stopped to take pictures by the wall of La Romanee Conti. (It's the tourist thing to do and we were tourists!)

Most of the vineyards gave the impression of being tended like prized gardens rather than being farmed. (Once we heard the price of land there...they should be tended!)  Jean-Louis' old stone cellar held barrels from the challenging 2007 vintage. The barrels were perfectly stacked and aligned. (Winemakers always check that out...it doesn't make the wine taste better but it sure indicates attention to detail.)

As we talked about farming in their vineyards and progressed onto the demands of organic farming in Burgundy versus Napa Valley, we tasted each of their wines from the latest vintage. The wines were using the warming temperatures of spring to finish up their malo-lactic fermentations. There was a touch of spritz but they were undeniably wonderful examples of their vineyards and how Burgundy can create wines that capture the imagination.

Jean-Louis is a practitioner and strong spokesman for bio-dynamic farming and brought his perspective, beliefs, and reasons for moving their domaine to these practices in the last few years. The cumulative residue from copper sprays has become a real concern. He is a wonderful advocate for the needs and benefits of being organic.

Jean-Louis surprised us at the end of the morning when he opened a crusty looking bottle without a label. That is always an honor but this time it was quite the surprise, too. He modestly stated that it was "older" and from their "Latricieres" vineyard.  

The first sniff revealed a wine that still had perfume but was mostly rich in bottle bouquet aromas that tend to defy simple or articulate description so we resorted to the time-proven "WOW." We didn't guess the proper vintage. Actually, we weren't even close.  It was so well developed and yet so fresh, elegant and silky that I guessed it was a 1972...wrong. I was off by more than 20 years! He created a remarkable impression by bring out a 1949, which was begging to be savored and enjoyed and drunk up even more than being "tasted."  There was no danger of it wearing out anytime soon, but we sure were thrilled to be the lucky ones to share it with Jean-Louis Trapet in his cellar.  It reminded each of us who loves making wine that we also love being able to share it. Of course, when Jean-Louis visits our cellars, we will have to find something that isn't quite as old.

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