If you are hankering for fine French wine and food, why not
consider the world famous Burgundy region in eastern
France? Although it's fairly rare, you may even find a
bargain. I hope you'll have fun on this fact-filled wine
education tour in which we review a Chardonnay white wine
coming from the Cote de Beaune region fairly close to the
city of Dijon in northeastern France. Burgundy ranks fourth
in acreage of France's eleven wine-growing regions if you
include the Beaujolais region, even though strictly
speaking Beaujolais wines aren't Burgundy wines; they don't
even use the same red grapes. A lot of people will tell you
that Burgundy wine is the best in France, if not in the
entire world. Perhaps one day we will review a really
expensive Burgundy wine. Here we review a medium-priced
Burgundy that comes from the oldest negociant (wine seller)
in Burgundy.
The city of Beaune is about two hundred miles southeast of
Paris. It is right in the heart of the Burgundy wine
region, with Cote de Beaune to the south and Cote de Nuits
to the north. Stop by the Twelfth Century church called
Collegiale Notre-Dame that hosts a series of tapestries
depicting the life of the Virgin Mary. You'll enjoy the
Marche aux Vins (Wine Market) where wine tasting is
encouraged. And make sure to visit the famous Hospices de
Beaune founded as a hospital for veterans of the Hundred
Year's War. The Grand' Salle is truly grand, it is more
than 150 feet (about 50 meters) long and still has some of
the original furniture. In late November the Hospice hosts
a world-class wine auction and fete.
Before reviewing the Burgundy wine and imported cheeses
that we were lucky enough to purchase at a local wine store
and local imported food store, here are a few suggestions
of what to eat with indigenous wines when touring this
beautiful region. Start with Gougere (Grated Cheese
Pastry). For your second course savor Boeuf Bourguignon
(Beef Stewed in Red Wine). And for dessert indulge yourself
with Pain d'Epices (Gingerbread).
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review
are purchased at the full retail price.
Wine Reviewed Maison Champy Pernand-Vergelesses 2004 13%
about $20.00
Let's start by quoting the marketing materials. Tasting
Note: The complex set of aromas includes apricot, lemon
zest, pear, mineral, oak, and a hint of butter. This dry,
youthful wine is good now and will become very impressive
with a few years of maturation (2-4 years). This long
finishing wine will work nicely with grilled trout or
Chicken Kiev.
My first meal consisted of chicken hamburgers with harissa
(a Tunisian hot pepper sauce), roasted potatoes cooked in
chicken fat, and spicy pickle slices. The wine was quite
round and sweet. (I might have guessed it to be a
Riesling.) It tasted of lime and was somewhat unctuous with
a great length. Frankly, it was too good for this simple
meal.
The next meal involved stove-top chicken cooked in a
soy-honey sauce with rice and green beans. This Burgundy
was refreshingly acidic, it tasted of white grapefruit and
lemon. It was feathery and yet powerful. I fail to
understand why it was sweet with the first meal, and
certainly not sweet here.
The final meal was a packaged Eggplant Parmagiana to which
I added lots of grated Parmesan cheese. The wine was quite
long, nice and fruity, with good acidity.
The first cheese pairing was with an Emmenthaler (Swiss)
cheese that actually came from Germany. The wine was
multilayered and nicely acidic but not sweet. I then tried
this Chardonnay with goat cheese from the Poitou-Charentes
region of central western France. The wine was muted but
not flattened.
Final verdict. I would buy this wine again but not waste it
on plebian food pairing. I really think that it could hold
its own with gourmet meals.
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In his younger days Levi Reiss wrote or co-authored ten
computer and Internet books, but he prefers drinking fine
German or other wine with the right foods and the right
people. He teaches computer classes at an Ontario
French-language community college. Check out his global
wine website http://www.theworldwidewine.com with a weekly
column reviewing $10 wines and new sections writing about
(theory) and tasting (practice) organic and kosher wines.
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Burgundy is a wonderful wine region. Highly recommended !
Cathy
Rocket French