Clive Coates’ Cote D’Or: A must read
Once my interest was piqued with Burgundy, I searched around for all things Burgundy. Websites were scoured, magazines digested, and books dog-eared…yet none more so than Clive Coates’ Cote D’Or. The interesting thing about this book is that it can be a wonderful coffee table book if someone just wishes to pick it up. For me, this book has been much more, an inspiration, companion read and altogether it has been an amazing reference to Burgundy.
The vineyards get a great amount of ink (as they should). The history of the many villages, the types of soils, location, soil depth, etymology along with the wines they produce are all fully fleshed out in detail. While the book can at times provide information bordering on overkill, the information is there for the times when you really wish to dig a bit deeper. I wish I would have taken my book along with me when we visited. One of the first things I did on our return was to read about some of the places we visited. The notes on producers are a bit out of date, yet the historical aspects remain. Also, there is a revised edition that hit last year with more producer info and more maps.
I can’t say enough about this book. In a nutshell, pick it up! Enjoy!
Back to the books
After visiting vineyards in Chambolle-Musigny with Eric Bourgogne, the vineyard manager of Comte Georges de Vogue, my mind keeps wandering back to things he mentioned while there checking out Bonnes Mares, Musigny, and the beautiful Les Amoureuses. Have to admit, I kept the camera at home, I wanted to take in every word that was told to me. He spoke about vineyard management keeping away from soil fertilizers, pruning low, and spraying the vines for protection as their only chemical interference. Terroir was conveyed to me on a much smaller scale than ever before. Eric mentioned the close relationship with nature, embracing the bugs on the top of the soil and the worms living beneath. Sure, for many this level of attention is at times hard to digest but it certainly made me think about things on a much smaller scale.
After coming back home, I’ve been researching the history of the vineyards in Burgundy. Not just the wines. That would be less valuable for me. Looking at the simply the wines or the end result is cutting short the importance of the vineyards and disregarding a bit of the origins producing the raw material. I’m especially interested in reading older articles and books on the subject to see what philosophies have changed or mutated,and why. Vineyard spacing, soil types, drainage, vintage differences effecting the vineyard, pruning, vine age, trellis type (if at all), diseases, chemicals, machines, tools, growing season length, everything is of importance. Can’t wait to get my grubby hands on some more info. I’ll be sure to update with thoughts.
in the vineyards
While in Savigny les Beaune (the pics above were the view from the kitchen window) I also met with more courtiers (brokers) that assured me that getting 1er Cru fruit and above is quite likely in this economic landscape. I have been looking at a few very interesting vineyards in both the Cote de Nuits and the Cote de Beaune. One vineyard in Nuits Saint George is quite interesting. The vineyard lies on the side nearest Vosne Romanee, very rocky soil, certified organic, vine age of around 45 years old generally and the owners flat out know what is best for the vines and soil. The vineyard is Village level, though the wine should be fairly interesting. I also checked out a 1er Cru in Aloxe-Corton in bold reddish orange soil, huge stones laying on the topsoil, peaking through and buried a good way below. The vines are said to be just a bit older than those at the NSG parcel I viewed just before. It’s not certified organic, but this is the first year they have been doing things organically, and the soil has been responding well with a bunch of topsoil growth. I’m digging in deeper to see what else can turn up.
Beaune is where the heart is
Before visiting Burgundy, one question bugged me. ‘If I do find grapes, where in the world am I going to make the wine?’ The production of wines in Burgundy are so low that you cannot expect to find much room if any to make wine short of buying a domaine with a cellar, which is actually hard to find. I was after something a bit more difficult still. I wanted to find a facility that I could share while using some of the equipment such as sorting table, vibrating table, destemmer, etc. I was open to whatever humble facility that would be actually sound for quality winemaking.
As it turns out, Olivier Leflaive connected me with a good friend that has room in his facility in Beaune Centre, and is allowing me to rent space for everything from harvest equipment to room to store my wines below in the cellar aftermaking the wine above in the winery. I’m not quite sure I can mention the winemaker’s name just yet, but I am quite thankful for this opportunity to work in the same cellar as this talented and generous fellow.
testing the water in Burgundy
Right. It’s been a short while since I’ve updated the blog. Burgundy has been amazing. The region is similar, yet different than I had expected. For one, by car, the region is a lot larger than I had expected. The villages themselves are intimate places with Boulangeries (bakeries), Bistros, and churches standing tall with ringing bells that bring in the hour, every hour.Looking in from the Route de Grand Vins you pass by many villages. They look so tiny from the road at times infront of rolling hills of vines, yet once inside the villages, there is so much life to see.
Each village is different. Sure, Burgundy is Burgundy, I thought before visiting. Yet, the vineyards aren’t the only thing showing complexity within a tiny amount of space. The food tastes different, the people are different and the experience is completely unique depending on which village you find yourself in.
Living in Burgundy has been going quite well. When I say living, I don’t mean when we were in hotels. We decided to rent a house in Savigny les Beaune after leaving Puligny-Montrachet to see how it was to walk the roads, buy at the market, cook at home- clean up, basically treating it as if we were at home. We managed well, much better than our first try at the supermarche in Paris. In that instance, while our items were rung up, I watched the clerk and the prices fly by. Well, after I paid we noticed the collected lot of items sitting there, waiting to be bagged. With a large line behind us we went scurrying for bags. No bags? Turns out that we needed to purchase the bags that we were to use. Out in the US, we have a bagger and the bagger has the supplied bag. Different system, small detail, but to say the least it was as if someone turned on the blinking neon red ‘Foreigner Alert’ sign above our heads. We learned from that experienced and were actually able to later help others in similar situations.
As many things are different out here, its amazing how comfortable how many things are the same. The feeling of comfort, kindness of people (rare at times in both places, but still present and welcomed), and general activites are enough of a foundation that will make the move less complicated. Nothing you read about a place tells the full story of how you yourself will feel once there. And having a place feel right is a great feeling.
