Quick 6 day trip to Paris and Burgundy - 2019 edition

I wanted to put in a witty thread title, but somehow I’m at work after landing in LA the evening the day before, so all my brain power has been devoted to the morning work action.

Gaurav, Ryan, Tyler and I just came back from a delightful jaunt in France. Pretty short action packed trip - mistakenly planned it with the greatest Hallmark holiday known to man, valentine’s day, within the same week, so we all had to get home by the 14th. So we had our own Brolentine’s day trip and all headed back home on the 14th. We spent a few nights in Paris and a few in Burgundy. I’ve attached my instagram posts on each of the wines with pics and notes on the wines.

Places we stayed
In Paris we stayed at the Renaissance Paris Republique Hotel. Really well located in the 10th to some great wine bars/restaurants. Also lots of chinese restaurants next to it. Had myself a fantastic Cheese milk oolong tea with boba. Never thought I’d be ordering something in Mandarin in Paris.

In Beaune we stayed at https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/16543764 - huge space, 4 bedrooms, 3 restrooms. Fairly good sized kitchen. Large balcony, living room, dining area. Very well located and inexpensive.

Day 1 - February 9th

We arrived into Paris at 11am. Lunch booked at La Cagouille at 1pm. Awesome spot for seafood. One of my favorite places we ate on this trip. We ordered the whole starter board and tossed in a couple of entrees. I could sit there all day crushing seafood and drinking coche/roulot.




Afterwards we hit up Willi’s wine bar to take down some Rhone. Another protest was planned for the day which heavily impacted traffic. I left lunch a little earlier to hit up the pooper at the hotel. 50 minute uber ride instead of the expected 20. We all arrived at the restaurant at the same time as they got out of their uber and just walked the 3KM.

We ordered the 2001 Jamet and 2007 Jamet Cote Brune.

Dinner was at Le Petite Sommelier
We were told by a winemaker that this was the spot to hit for one of the best wine lists in Paris. Unfortunately, prices were relatively high and not particularly interesting outside of a few bottles. Food was good, but not out of the ordinary. We ordered a 2015 Mugneret Gibourg Chaignots and 1976 Dujac MSD. Gibourg was incredibly thick, ripe, black fruited and not particularly enjoyable at the moment. Dujac was pretty good per the note below, but the somm completely shook up the bottle after the initial pour.

Hipster wine bar time

Tyler and Gaurav hit the hay from the long travel day, but Ryan and I continued on with our friend Benjamin that lives in Paris. We ventured on and Benjamin sneakily was able to find a wine that I’ve been wanting to try for some time - Xavier Caillard. I had very low expectations coming in for the wine, but however low they were, they were surpassed as the 2004 Rouge was an excellent wine - not even quantifying it as a hipster unicorn wine darling wine. My favorite wine of the day.

Started to rain on us around 1am - so we decided to head on back to the hotel.




end day 1

that’s a LONG way to go for 6 days… holy crap… i thought you guys were going for 2 weeks!

the 04 chenin from caillard is fire. never bothered trying the red but i think the white is just as good as clos rougeard, even perhaps more interesting from the extended time in barrel. i believe there is gamay blended into the red too, can’t recall exactly how much though.

a little too much information, I think, but maybe the two are related.

What about the $90 Coche Enseigneres? [shock.gif] Enjoyed your trip through IG! [thumbs-up.gif]

That is awesome. Go for a short trip and throw abandon to the wind. I might have to do that sometime.

I just showed my wife your pics toward making our own 6 day trip a reality.

Well done, looks amaze-a-balls good.

Day 2 - man down

We lost Tyler today to the Bubonic plague. Or at least something similar. He stayed in the hotel while the rest of us ventured out into the rainy cold Paris streets.

For lunch we slowly meandered a few blocks down to Clown Bar

Looking over the list we couldn’t really find anything we knew except L’Anglore, so we ordered the 2015 L’Anglore Tavel. Fleshy, weighty red spicy fruit, a bit heavy and clunky on the palate as the alcohol seemed to show more obvious. We did not finish the bottle, probably running a little slow from jet lag.

We ordered a bunch of the starters as we were still going to walk around and grab some more food later in the afternoon. We ordered the Dry Saussage, Whiting Tempura, Veal Brain, Burrata, Radicchio and Clams.

Standouts for the meal were the Whiting Tempura and the Veal Brain. The tempura looks like a hot mess, like the chef messed up and burned all the food. In reality, it was a perfectly fried piece of fish at a great fish/batter ratio. What really put it over the top was the piquillos sauce, sour and spicy and all things nice.

The veal brain is a rich rich soft piece of meat. Swimming in a savory dashi broth. Really good but since it’s so rich, hard to eat more than a few bites. Also I was able to capture the elusive - photo of a photo being taken for an instagram photo of food but of two cameras.

After that, we took a short walk over to Les Enfants du Marche thanks to a suggestion by Mark Kaplan. The restaurant is situated within the farmers’ market of Le Marche Des Enfants Rouges. It’s a small 270degree bar seating around 25 people. Then a couple of 4 tops. Pretty brilliant the type of food they are pumping out there in the small space. Prices were pretty high I felt for something so casual.

We ordered an octopus (hey more piquillos sauce! Must be the new trend) dish that was well done with a nice bite.

A pork loin with a large belly cap left on with roasted veggies and au jus. The pork loin was a bit dry.

Finally their special of the day is a giant dry aged veal chop on top a mountain of roast vegetables and a ton of jus. The veal was incredible. Cooked rare and falls away when you bite at it. The au jus was brilliantly full of flavor and salt.

We washed it all down with a Neo Nervis from Wilfried Valat. Chalky, bright yellow citrus fruit. Refreshing and works well with the pork and octopus. Don’t think I’ve ever had anything made from Macabeu, so that was a first! Good rec by the guys at the restaurant.

After the dual lunches we headed back to the hotel. Gaurav went to nap, Ryan caught up on work and I went shopping for the family. I also stopped for that aforementioned boba tea. 8 euros and a 30 minute wait for boba tea, damn!

After we gathered ourselves, we met up with Austin Ferrera at Septime Cave. Incredibly small, we squeezed our fat asses into the corner and ordered up a bubbly.

First on deck was a 2014 Ruppert-Leroy Rose - really bubbly and bright minerality on the wine. More of a textural expression than fruit to me. Not a ton of fruit, more sea shells and saline flavorwise. Not a hit for me. Didn’t check the box for anything I look for in a rose.

Second we ordered the 2016 Julien Guillot Cuvee Auguste Bourgogne. I was blinded the 2014 a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it, so I was curious how the 14 was faring.

If this bottle was any indication. not well. I guess the problem with “natural” wine and the adherence to no additives, is the wildly varying wines you have even in great vintages. The wine was spritzy, ripe and really murky flavor/color wise, tasted a bit like muddled strawberries and wet earth. Not particularly tasty.

After those two bottles, we bid adios to Austin as we headed to our dining destination.

Les Bon Georges

I took absolutely awful photos of the food so I didn’t bother posting it, but I did post pictures of the wine. This place is a temple to beef. 10 week dry aged rump is the speciality. Done either as a roast rump, tartare or carpaccio. We opted for the two raw versions. Tartare is chopped thick with just salt and pepper. Carpaccio sliced thin and topped with raw spicy greens and shaved Parmesan on top. Both were incredible, best versions I’ve had of either in a long time. Great fries, wonderfully prepared roast char, scalloped potatoes. Go there, order beef, try all the sides, you won’t be disappointed. Service is fantastic by Benoit and the crew. Seriously feels like you’re at a neighborhood joint that you’ve been going to forever and everyone knows you.

Washed it down with 2014 Roulot Tessons and 2012 Prieure Roch Nuits 1er VV (notes in IG post)

At this point, Gaurav was furious. He was promised exssible balla bottles of wine and we had yet to do it. “DEATH TO NATURAL WINES” he screamed as his war cry (he would later tell everyone we meet how we forced such atrocities against him)

So off we went, back to La Cagouille at 10pm.

We ordered some Razor Clams and Langoustines to go with our wine of choice. These Langoustines were briny, meaty deliciousness. Sucked every morsel out of those puppies.

Our wine of choice, finally to G’s satisfaction, was the 2007 Coche Dury Corton Charlemagne. His first Coche CC experience and a marvelous one at that. Really tough to beat Coche CC from a great vintage, fresh and beautifully prepared shellfish and then being able to stream the Lakers getting their butts handed to them by the 76ers.

We shut down the restaurant as we finished off with their INCREDIBLE apple tart… and went to bed waiting to go to Burgundy the next day.

end day 2

I wish I were young again. Well done!

Wow. You’ve got more stomachs than a cow! Great reports.

Loving this so far! Will be making a solo pit stop to La Cagouille in mid March in-between transit.

What was the best burgundy “score” in terms of wine list pricing and delicious to boot?

Tell Gaurav that GC Burgundy’s for closers!

Super trip so far… keep on the good work…

I’ve witnessed Fu eat. And drink. It’s like a Hoover vacuum, only faster, and a bit more funny.

champagne.gif

Chuckles doesn’t eat. He consumes. There’s a difference, and it’s a not so subtle one… [snort.gif]

You mean “chicken wings at midnight” Fu?

Thanks for the super well written and illustrated report Fu
Love the area around Canal Saint-Martin. And love Marche Des Enfants Rouges
It seems to be a bit tricky to accept privacy terms on the imgur snips or is it only me?

I’m not sure I’ve seen the privacy term pop up, could be cause I’m logged into my account though.

Day 3 - on the road to burgundy

We woke up at the butt crack of dawn to catch our 7:20am train to Dijon. Grabbed some croissants and other baked goods from Du Pain et des Idées right when they opened at 7am. Piping hot fresh croissants out of the oven in Paris = dream breakfast.

Here’s us running toward Gare de Lyon

https://imgur.com/a/1SkXnMa

Why you ask? Cause someone cough G called the uber to Gare de Nore. Once we arrived at Gare de Nore we turned right back around to Lyon. Ran into the station. By the time we figured out where the train was leaving from (with wrong instructions from the workers),the train was pulling away as we approached the platform =(. The next available train wasn’t until 11:30am and unfortunately we had to miss our appointment at Genot Boulanger and lunch because of it.

Got to the station in Dijon at 1pm, met up with our friend Icy and zoomed down to Domaine Roulot for our first stop.

My favorite white burgundy producer and a treat to taste through their fabulous 2017 lineup. Love the Domaine Roulot Zaltos!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt7VUK4ndqS/

After saying our goodbyes we headed to check into our Airbnb. Being that I’m a glutton for punishment and we didn’t have lunch, I dragged Ryan and Tyler to Dilettante. Ordered their incredible cheese and meat plate and washed it down with 2013 Raveneau Montee de Tonnerre and 2015 Overnoy Poulsard

The Raveneau had a really strong tropical element going on. A bit out of balance as it was abrasive and too forward. Hard to really drink.

On the other hand the 15 Overnoy Poulsard was a sweet strawberry fruited, energy infused , easy to drink wine. Of course had some carbonic going on. Not terribly complex but really easy drinking. We saved half the bottle to see where it’d go the next day. It turned horribly swampy the next day which was unfortunate.

https://imgur.com/a/v7Qlb7i

Gathered all the troops as Colin had made his way down from Paris. Tyler fell to the Bubonic again so skipped out on dinner. We headed back to Meursault to begin dinner at Le Soufflot.

Soufflot is doing really interesting food. They are trying to present a finer course of dining in Burgundy, with that modern edge. Some dishes were really successful (beet/pork belly was divine) while others were pretty mixed for me. It’s a quick 5 course tasting meal.

We debated long and hard what our one bottle from the “Rare” page would be. 2009 Liger Belair La Romanee? 2016 Coche Dury Enseigneres? 2015 Mugneret Gibourg Ruchottes? We settled on the 2011 D’auvenay Narvaux as our rare wine of choice.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt1VmaFHfMw/

To accompany the wine, we ordered a 2013 Vatan and a magnum of 2002 Selosse Millesime

The first bottle of the Vatan was completely oxidized. The somm came by, took a whiff and immediately took it away. The second bottle was slightly advanced as it showed far more honey than it ought to, but it wasn’t so terrible to have them replace at the great price it was for on the list.

The 2002 Selosse was a take it or leave it wine. You either like the style or you don’t. It was fabulously rich, nutty and yeasty. Filled with ripe powerful pitted orchard fruit with chunks of strong abrasive acidity running through. It’s one of those wines where the oxidative nature is so powerful you ask yourself is it correct? but the immense amount of bubbles, acidity, ripeness of fruit shows the quality of the wine.

https://imgur.com/a/oa1eQIk

After dinner, Ryan dropped us off into Beaune as he headed back to the AirBnB to sleep. I promised Gaurav that on this trip he’d drink some well priced Rousseau Chambertin and I’d be damned if I didn’t fulfill that promise to him. Fortunately Icy and Colin were also up to the task.

We walked over to La Maison du Colombier and settled into one of their comfortable sofa lounge areas. We also adopted a stray by the name of John. John was also eating at Soufflot , but by himself and we saw him again at Colombier by himself, so we offered a place at our table for him! Hopefully John had a good time, but we’re all instagram friends now!

We placed our order for wine and chowed down on one of my favorite dishes of this trip, Veal feet stew with mushrooms. That yummy cartilage with chunks of baguette.

https://imgur.com/a/D6KNbVj

First wine to hit the table was a 2015 Rousseau Chambertin. But we didn’t order a 2015, we ordered the 2013?? But the benefits of Colin being a frequenter of the establishment meant we had our choice of a few vintages at the same pricing. How could I say no to trying the 2015!?

The wine is a powerhouse. Waves and waves of powerful ruby red berry fruit accompanied with spice and black licorice. Disturbingly silky as it glides down the palate. Like a tsunami the wine just hits and hits and covers the mid palate and just consumes the finish.

I asked G if it was to his satisfaction, his only response was a wide eyed facial expression and a smile.

Next up was the 2008 Comte Liger Belair Reignot - woo this is a plump, dense wine. Full of dark ripe fruit and a hint of sweet chocolate. Starts to pick up a rougher texture as the wine builds up and starts to really build into the full bodied hulk. Has the stemmy quality of the vintage, which I feel actually helps lean out the exuberance of the dark sweet fruit. Oddly showing a touch of browning on it, which I’m starting to get on some of the earlier vintages of the domaine.

Then we veered toward some white wines to end the night. I saw a bottle of 2014 Hubert Lamy Criots- Batard-Montrachet Haute Densiti and knew I had to order it. G’s never tried the wine, Colin just had the marvelous 2013 a week before so I said we ought to try the 14. Seeing how amazing the 13 was, I couldn’t wait to see what Lamy did with 14.

I was not disappointed in the least. If you’ve never tried the new style of Lamy’s Criot you’re really missing out. The wine is all encompassing. It is a stellar bottle of chardonnay at its pinnacle. Pure clean white fruit set with hints of exotic lychee and wood spice. There’s so much energy behind every sip in the wine, the intensity almost overwhelms the palate as everything about the wine is amped up to a 11 on a scale of 1-10. I believe it’ll only get better as it settles in but it’s so damn good right now.

I asked G how he felt about the wine and his look was a look of shock. One of “wtf is this and why haven’t I ever had it before?”

Finally we ended with a 2007 Dagueneau Buisson Renard . Woodland fox on the label dressed in an aristocratic fashion? You got me. Really tasty ass wine, love the flint, spice and citrus peel on the nose. The palate has this infusion of straw, lemon, cream, spice on an easy drinking acid spine.

We had ran into Tim Kopec and Daniel Johnnes a couple of times on this trip and they dropped us off the remaining few ounces of a fantastic bottle of Green Label Chartreuse from 1985. Just love the intoxicating nose of spiced leather, wood, licorice.

We all left with a big smile and a great end to our first night in Burgundy.