Beaune, France Pics from Burgundy on GIVE ME EVEN MORE WINE

Yesterday's blog was lost and my head took a drubbing from the "medicinal" remedy needed for every lost blog...Give me more wine, Kir (apertif of wine) food, and even more Borgogne wine! Blogging will continue till nap time.  A new vintage has been designated as noir et or, please stay tuned for this development. 


Beaune, France is in the Burgundy region of France and continues the wine tour of France and Spain.  
Beaune is small medieval walled city surrounded by the grapes of Burgundy which are chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Here are some some shots of the town at night. Lots of places or Caves to taste wines of the region. It also has a wine museum. 


One tour of the area was undertaken along with 2 other tourists from Colorado and Lima, Peru and our French guide in her auto.  We visited the northern areas of Burgundy toward Dijon and extending as into the Cote de Nuits appellation into the village of Gevrey-Chambertin.  Some villages add the name of the Grand Cru (highest designation from a system dating to 1955 in origin) to the village name.  In this case Chambertin was added to the villages name and is the Grand Cru of this area. On our way to Gevrey-Cambertin we also stopped in the village of Vosne-Romanee. 

 In the pictures around this text,  I am standing in front of a old stone wall with the field name of Romanee. This is a very famous field and according to the guide a bottle cost 15000 euros. 

Okay maybe I heard wrong but it costs a lot, 

Romanee Cont field

  

but don't worry you will never find it to buy it. Yes, each field which can be very small is designated with the two highest designations as premier cru and the highest is Grand cru.  Okay, the terroir is everything and when vineyard owning parents pass, then ALL the children divide the field.  Until recently, now the children and parents form companies and one child manages the vineyards for the company.  It is nearly impossible for the outsiders to buy a vineyard according to the guide.

Here are the pinot noir grapes 

ripening in the sun. Crazy year this year as they had  the following unusual weather,  2 months of snow which is not bad, summer was in Spring, and spring in Summer, now it is Sunny and grapes will be harvested earlier than normal, but not unusually early. 

 Slope is everything.  The premier and Grand Cru are all mid-slope or above on the ridge-line. This pic to the right is mid-ridge grand cru field and it goes up.  Trees at the top are to protect the soils from washing away. The best pinot is mid-slope because it combines both higher slope limestone and lower slope clay. The field at right is mid-slop and is the grand cru field.


I like the smoother and more full-bodied pinots which are lower slope and less expensive. At least I am a cheap drinker in Burgundy as well as the States.he.he.he. It all started with Iron City.

 Here are the fields going down the slope and in the valley will be clay soil with less expensive pinots. The mono-culture fields are interesting to see because at times you see a mass of green and you are realigned into systematic row of plantings  as seen to the left.

As part of the tour, we go to one winery. Supposedly, individuals can not call up the vineyards for a tour or tasting, but Vola, here we are with an appointment and other folks come while we are tasting so. Tour guide talk. In some very small towns virtually the entire town is employed in the wine industry. Tour is in the village of Gevrey-Chambertin and vinter is Gerard Quivy and I think he does everything, sometimes it says on the labels and we did not see any presses which the guide says they don't show. A little mystery here but he does have a small field of Grand Cru and has premier cru. See evidence to the right
 Here are the barrels which is the complete production in one vintage. Very small compared to others. The grand cru field in the new oak barrels seen below.
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The tasting bottle and label are here too. This is premier cru field to in the bottle and on the map The field is Les Corbeaux which is marked on the map where her finger is located.  Amazing how everything is tracked, designated and concise. 

Here is my tools of the wine travel trade. Yes, that is a baby's cup that is plastic for drinking on trains etc. This is the first time I am using these cups and after a long hike yesterday, I opened last night to a grand display that ended in the deletion of the blog.  see blog note. AND a French morning after dull thud in the head. In honor of the French, I have depressurized the remainder of the bottle and it still speaks to me.


And now I can speak to you...again. Day 3 in Beaune, I need to do some walking or get outside and proceed with my map of walking tours of the area. I go to the starting point, see and nice display of my map and look and look for a starting point. I finally find it as seen to the left on the pavement and with additional markings on the street poles to take you through the town and quickly into the vineyard.

 Later the markings are much more noticeable with signposts but starting was tough. It is a very good system and I just needed to know the lingo.

slope and forests rows & rows

Do you see the bike rider?

Lots of good roads for bike riding!

Grapes go for ever it seems but really  not

Chardonnay, I think

small huts fomerly used by farmers

After 16 km of walking, I arrive home and collapse into my bed for napping and trying to stay awake and napping. A little sore too but felt good.

Next day, I try for a short walk since the system is known and instead I go for another 11km and then walk to the train station for the train to Dijon which at this writing, I have seen nothing yet but my computer, wine, and food and more wine.

One last thing, while hiking in French wine country, please do NOT KISS the grapes.   Don't tell anyone but I tried, but the grapes keep on moving away from me!!!!!

Yes, of course we must discover a new wine while hiking and it is designated noir et or.  This is the french version of Black and Gold. I designated it as seen below. I hear it will be above the GRAND CRU level of excellence.  We can only hope!!!!!!!

Fini.