A
trip to the Beaune wine
region
in the south of France in
May
1999
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A
trip to the Beaune wine
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region
in the south of France in
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May
1999
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Svenska
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Our wine trip took
place at the end of may 1999, we first flew
to Paris and then we took the TGV - fast (express) train to Dijon (Train
á Grande Vitesse). We changed to a slower train in Dijon to get
to Beaune. The trip was fast. It took two and half hours and was very
comfortable. A cab was waiting for us at the station in Beaune and took
us to the hotel "Central" in the old part of the charming little town
of Beaune. Our wine
guides at the wine tour were Britt Karlsson
and her husband Per.
Excellent guides who knew everything about wines! Britt Karlsson started in Paris more than four years ago and has more than 10 years experience of teaching wine and wine tasting, arranging wine tastings and advising on wine and food, both in Sweden, France and Holland. Her activities include: |
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Publishing the newsletter VinNytt (Wine News) with news and information
on wine in Paris and France. * For the Munskänkarna Association (the world's largest wine tasting organisation): arranging and conducting first and second level courses and tastings. |
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The Hotel was charming and was "centrally" located in the old part of Beaune, close to all restaurants, shops and so on. | 
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The wine shops were not only many, also the wines were many. We looked at kinds that we had never heard about. And during the wine tour we widen our intellectual and gastronomic horizon. | 
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| Thanks to the excellent wine experts Britt Karlsson and Per. |
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The first day we
visited the producer Domaine
Bertagna at Vougeot,
having 28 hectares. The wine from this property has been showing up clear
improvement of quality the last years and the wine now has a strong colour,
an intensive aroma of berries and some oak-character. Owned since 1982
by the German family Reh and is taken care of by the young Mrs Reh and
her English husband Mark Siddle, who was our cicerone at the vineyard. He spent much time with us and told us about the wine's history and how it is to be an owner of |
| a vineyard in France, which is not always easy....he told us too that it was not possible to buy more land. It was too expensive, almost incredibly so, so they invest instead in "new" wine areas in South Africa, which has been very successful. And with the competence that Mrs.Reh and Mark Siddle has it should be no problem (!) |  |
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At Bertagna there
was one little "exhibition", nicely displayed, as you only can find in
France!
We had time to drink one or two glasses of wine.... |
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Many strange "gadgets", on the picture to the left a punnet with wine that was obvios to us, but what the on the picture on the right may be is still a mystery to us (!) |  |
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The flowering had just begun and a flower bunch fits in one hand! Mark Siddle told us that the tendrils of the wine grow about 5cm every day! Irrigation is generally not done, instead they want that the roots should grow on deep when it is a dry spell. |
Domaine
Bertagna, Vougeot
Red
| Clos de la Perrier 1998(from cask) | Powerful, spicy bouquet with a touch of liquorice. Good, fruity taste with a certain of roughness |
| Vosne-Romanée 1er
Cru1997 (In bottle since Easter) | Stunning fruit, a certain harshness, good |
| Corton 1997 Grand Cru | Soft, concentrated fruit, good |
| "Clos de la Perrière" 1996, Vougeot 1er Cru (monopole) | Good with a typical character of Pinot Noir, fullbodied, very good |
| Vougeot Blanc 1997 (tased from cask) | Buttery, soft, fat taste with hight acidity (heavily toasted oak casks). Good. |
| Gevrey-Chambertin 1996 G. Cluny (from cask???) | Good bouquet, a fairly light but nice taste. |
| Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Prieure 1994 Domaine ROY Marc | OK, but a little harsh. |
| After lunch it was time for the second visit of our wine day at the little vineyard "Domaine des Lambrays, Clos des Lambrays, Morey-Saint-Denis", having 10 hectares. A few years ago the Clos des Lambrays was updated to Grand Cru-status. Domaine des Lambrays is, (almoust) solo owner of this Grand Cru the vineyard. The Wine Maker is the very good and the ambitious Thierry Brouin, in the picture on the right. He told us, in French, about the vineyards and the wine's history. Thank you very much Britt and Per, for the translation from French to Swedish... |  |
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The property has a very good location. It is situated at the very top of the Grand Cru-vineyards in Morey-Saint-Denis with a lot of limestone and sand in the soil. They produce strong but at the same time velvety wines. The Domaine has changed owners several times but the winemaker Thierry Brouin, has all the time staid at the vineyard. A well-advised decision by the new owner to keep him in charge of the production! |
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| Morey-Saint-Denis 1998 | Ok. |
| Clos des Lambrays 1998, Grand Cru | Young, fairly hars, good potential. | Morey-Saint-Denis 1997 | Ok. |
| Clos des Lambrays 1997, Grand Cru | Very good. |
| Clos des Lambrays 1996, Grand Cru | Long, intensive taste, very good. |
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Wine maker at the property
"Domaine Antonin
Guyon" in
Savigny-lès-Beaune, shows on the map where the family property
is situated. They own land both in Côte de Beaune and Côte
de Nuits in many different appellations. Quality, both of red and white
wines have much improved since 1988. They make very good
Meursault, Corton-Charlemagne (White) and Corton, Aloxe-Corton and Volnay
Red), and many other things. Bottle
after bottle uncorked, we tasted, spitted and tasted again, what a straining
job... |
| Meursault-Charmes 1er Cru 1997(from cask) | Quite "rich", acacia, honey, good potential, drink now or save it 5-7 years, as aperitif or to fish, cold meat. |
| Corton Charlemagne 1997 | Very good, balanced oak-character. |
| Gevrey-Chambertin 1997 | Red fruits, pickled cherry, charming, easy to drink. |
| Corton-Bressandes
1997, Grand Cru |
Freshly roasted coffee, red fruits, very good. |
| Corton-Bressandes
1996, Grand Cru |
Somewhat gamey on the nose, ripe fruit, good ageing potential, high acidity, a little harch. |
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At the property Domaine Henry Fessy, in Beaujolais, did the wine maker lined up a lot of bottles, again (!) Here you can taste Beaujolais at its best. Good colour, intensive bouquet, soft taste. |  |
| Good Brouilly, Chiroubles and Morgon, all typical for the appellation. |
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Packed and ready to deliver...you could say.., "Wine in the bags" exists! Amazing..we thought that kind of wine was bad (!) |  |
| Beaujolais Village 1998 | Nice. |
| Chiroubles 1998, Grand Cru | Good fruit and structure. |
| Fleury 1998, Grand Cru | Good and fruity taste. |
| Beaujolais 1998 | Good, nice fruity taste. |
| Brouilly 1998, Grand Cru | Very good, powerful. |
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| Juliénas 1998 Beaujolais | Ok. |
| Macon Villages 1997 | Quite ordinary wine, but nice. |
| Saint Véran 1997 | Aromatic and good. |
| Saint Véran Vieilles Vignes | Oak character, fullbodied and good. |
| Mâcon Rouge 1997 | Ok. |
| Mâcon Pierredos 1997 | A certain oak character and very fruity taste. |
| Château d'Antugnac, Vin de Pays d'Oc | Very good, good structure, somewhat tannic, earthy cellar. |
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| Pouilly-Fuissé Mâcon | Quite fullbodied, very good. |
| Gevrey-Chambertin 1993 Trapet | Some ripeness, good Pinot Noir-style, good. |
| Pommard 1994 Comte Armand | Delicious, somewhat gamey scent, good, intensive taste. |
| Bourgogne Blanc 1997 Chardonnay | Taste of apple, sournesshigh acidity, nice. |
| Pernand-Vergelesses 1997 | Some bit oak character, should be aged 2-3 years more. |
| Pernand-Vergelesses 1997 Clos Berthet | Became 1er Cru in 1998. Quite fullbodied, good oak character. |
| Corton-Charlemagne 1997, Grand Cru: | Mineral vigorous, young acidity, should be aged about 10 more years. |
| Bourgogne Chapelle Nôtre Dame 1997 | Very good fruit, good structure and body, good balance. |
| Pernand-Vergelesses 1997 Clos Berthet: | Young, but very good Pinot Noir- character. |
| Savigny-lès-Beaune 1997 1er Cru "Les Vergelesses" | Good, quite high acidity, quite light and elegant. |
| Savigny-lès-Beaune 1997 1er Cru "Ile de Vergelesses" | Very good, powerful. |
| Corton "Clos du Roy" 1992 Grand Cru: | Nice Pinot Noir-nose, mature taste, dried fruit. |
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Red
| Auxey-Duresses 1994 1er Cru | Ok. |
| Jean-Claude Garnier | Good, quite light and elegant. |
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| Chardonnay 1998 Savigny Blanc 1992 | Light, high acidity, unremarkable. Ok but somewhat impersonal. |
| Meursault 1991 | Fullbodied, quite some oak character, long taste, not worth its price. |
Red
| Beaune 1er Cru 1995 | Light, high acidity, OK nose. |
| Savigny 1er Cru | Light, high acidity, OK nose. |
| Pommard "Les Petits Noizons" 1994 | Light, high acidity, OK nose. |
| Volnay "Clos des Chênes" 1995 | High acidity and light. |
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To our excellent wine-guides Britt and Per, thank you
very much for extraordinarily
exciting and instructive wine tour, Tommy, Leif, Bengt and Anders.
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Click at the link, and you coming back to Beaune |
If you have some question
about the winetour or want to know more about it gp to: "VinNytt"
* * * * * * * * * * *
Tommy
Högberg 
gmail.com
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