found some of my old notes never posted here. Not sure there’s much relevance, but, if not, they’ll soon fall to a back page. This is from my second visit to Burgundy:
Burgundy is a magical wine and a magical place. It scares and frustrates even seasoned wine aficionados, but, for those who take the time to explore its nuances, the rewards are great. While I usually take copious notes on wine, on this trip to Burgundy, I took none. I did have a digital camera in my pocket and I used it often. But mostly I wanted to feel and see Burgundy, to live it a little bit and capture the impressions and moments in my head, not on paper. I knew I would taste wines I’d never see again and there’s not a lot of point in cataloguing them for the future; I wanted to live and enjoy the moment. One highlight was a visit to Roumier, the domaine run by Christophe Roumier for almost 20 years. Based in Chambolle, there is a range of wines including Chambolle-Musigny, Amoureuses, Bonnes Mares and Musigny, the latter being a 1 to 2 barrel production and hard to find even when the wallet and eyes are wide open.
Under any circumstances, a visit to Roumier’s cellar would be a wonderful and rare event. This time, though, it was beyond expectations and dreams. I went to Burgundy with a few people whom I had never met. Our common bond was a love of the food and especially the wines. They took me in as a friend and included me in their special moments. This small group goes often to Burgundy and has developed friendships with many of the vignerons, allowing them to share special and private moments that no typical tourist could imagine. Doug Ellis, a collector and longtime friend of Christophe, was actually the first American who Christophe met—almost 20 years ago. When Doug visits, he stays at Christophe’s home in Chambolle, with the cellar below the house. The home is a simple bachelor pad with wine memorabilia and other mementos, magazines of mountain biking and outdoor activities strewn about, a very comfortable place to live and entertain. The ten year old dog wanders around looking for a scratch or morsel. The kitchen was first class and modern with an excellent stove and oven; the dining room table accommodated 10 people easily. Christophe had engaged the services of a 2 star chef to prepare a meal and we brought many wines to his home. I enjoyed standing in the kitchen and watching the chef create a course and talking politely while I stumbled through my clumsy French questions. Whenever Christophe wanted to open a domaine wine, he just ducked down a few steps, wiped off a cobweb or two, and brought out a pristine aged Burgundy. He made many trips down those steps during this evening.
Before dinner, we tasted his range of 03 and 02 reds, the 03s still in barrel. The 03 reds are very successful for the vintage with great management of the tannins, beautiful wines worth the search and the price. The 02s are fabulous, mostly gone from the retail sources, but wines to age and enjoy for many decades. Production in 03 is down by more than 50% and the wines will be hard to find and, due to the Euro exchange rate, rather expensive. But they’re certainly at the top of the Burgundy hierarchy.
We drank a lot of super wines that the guests brought with them, and then it was onto and into Roumier wines. There aren’t a lot of wines left from the tenure of Christophe’s father, but his grandfather saved small amounts of many of the top wines. And Christophe has also. He presented a vertical of Musigny—03, 02, 01, 00, 98, 95, 91, 90 and even older—back to the 30s, as well as a 46 Bonnes Mares served just to show Allen Meadows what the vintage could do. The wines, food and company were amazing; I especially enjoyed the 95 Musigny. Christophe laughed when I told him that of all his Musigny bottlings, that was the vintage where I had found the most bottles–two. Courses included ingredients such as Burgundy truffles (less intense than the Perigord but lovely dark foresty truffles), game, foie gras, morel and other mushrooms and the 7 or 8 course meal ensued over a several hour period. Single-handedly the chef kept the cuisine coming at a perfect pace, as the corks kept popping and the laughter continued. Christophe’s English is excellent and even the tawdry jokes were understood by him—usually.
Late that night, actually early the next morning, since dinner didn’t even start till after 8:00 p.m., we left his home and headed back to our rental, a large home overlooking Beaune premier cru vineyards including Teurons. That was the first great night of this wonderful trip.