First off, we want to say thank you to Mark and Colleen for taking their hard-earned vacation to come and visit! As Mark stated, he did this solely "to make the blog", and as such I will give him the honor of being mentioned. "Mark Nester". There you go, Mark – you can now rest as a happy man!
All joking aside, it’s great to have friends along in your travels, as it makes the experiences that much better. This weekend, we went to Burgundy, France, for another shot at tasting
some of the greatest wines the world has to offer. We started Friday with the whites of Chassagne-Montrachet and moved north through Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault. In Burgundy, the wine tastings are hit or miss – it’s not like California where you have a big tasting room, tons of people crowded in, etc. Burgundy is still a land of farmers, and regarding the wines, they have no problems whatsoever selling everything they produce. As such, the consumer is not particularly needed, which as a consumer can be annoying, but when you break it down into simple economics, you can’t worry too much about it.
Anyway, so our first tasting was pretty good, and we bought a couple bottles. The next tasting was disastrous, as the lady basically wanted us to just leave, which we quickly did. The final tasting, after enjoying one of the best lunches I’ve ever had, was conducted entirely in French (which I understood about three-quarters of) with one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. We bought a bunch of bottles there, which just goes to show you the importance of a good salesperson. Her name was Chantel, and she has now made the blog also. On another note, we ran into Chantel the next day in the market, and she came up and said hi to us and talked for a minute or two (in French). Kind of funny, and it’s one of those little, nice experiences that makes traveling fun.That night, we stayed in Beaune, a walled medieval city that is fun to walk around, although I wouldn’t recommend driving 3+ hours just to see it. It’s pretty cool though. Anyway – we hit a wine tasting there before dinner that boasted 15 Burgundian wines, which after a day of constant tasting, turned out to be quite a bit; in all, we tasted 32 wines that day, which will probably go down as my all-time record. Also of note is that fact that every single one of the 32 would be a $20+ bottle in the states (and some of them would push triple digits), so if that isn’t a crash-course in fine wine knowledge, then nothing is.
The next day, we hit red Burgundy country. We drove through a couple of the villages, stopped on the hillside holding some of the most expensive vineyards in the world (the grand crus of Corton), and ended the afternoon at one of the more authentic caves we could have imagined. Due to insider knowledge that Colleen was able to procure, we were welcomed into the "caveau" of one of Vosne-Romanee’s producers, where we tasted a handful of their best wines. Of course, we bought even more wine from here, which at this point was just getting silly.After that, we dropped Colleen and Mark off at the train station in Dijon. No, we didn’t tour a mustard factory, although that would have been a great idea. While they headed to Paris for the rest of the weekend, Soph and I decided to explore the Burgundian countryside. And can I just s
ay, as far as countrysides go, there can’t be many that are more beautiful than Burgundy? Rolling hills, green fields, medieval towns…really cool stuff. We hit a couple of old towns that were literally in the middle of nowhere, completely forgotten by time and off the beaten track. It boggles the mind that some of these places exist, and that hardly anybody goes to see them. Sure, they don’t have stores or tourist shops or the cutesy things that draw people in – rather, they are desolate, untouched, sometimes downtrodden, but completely authentic. The one town had a number of buildings you could tell had no inhabitants, but the stone houses and streets held up well, still in the same state they were hundreds of years ago. The only downside to these towns is that they are clearly inhabited by zombies. In one situation, I tried to make Soph crawl down a zombie hole so I could get a picture, but she smartly declined. Regardless, the towns did have an eerie-ness you could feel on the wind, which I thought was cool, but Soph thought was, well, eerie.
ay, as far as countrysides go, there can’t be many that are more beautiful than Burgundy? Rolling hills, green fields, medieval towns…really cool stuff. We hit a couple of old towns that were literally in the middle of nowhere, completely forgotten by time and off the beaten track. It boggles the mind that some of these places exist, and that hardly anybody goes to see them. Sure, they don’t have stores or tourist shops or the cutesy things that draw people in – rather, they are desolate, untouched, sometimes downtrodden, but completely authentic. The one town had a number of buildings you could tell had no inhabitants, but the stone houses and streets held up well, still in the same state they were hundreds of years ago. The only downside to these towns is that they are clearly inhabited by zombies. In one situation, I tried to make Soph crawl down a zombie hole so I could get a picture, but she smartly declined. Regardless, the towns did have an eerie-ness you could feel on the wind, which I thought was cool, but Soph thought was, well, eerie.
So we drove all over the place, finally staying outside a town called Avallon, at an old Mill on a creek. I’ve decided I really like creeks; this one, in 
particular, was one of the best I’ve ever seen. The hotel was pretty sweet, once we navigated our way to it – don’t get me started on French country roads, or the one-lane stone-lined 50 mph streets that qualify for roads there. Anyway, we had a great dinner, even considering they served some milk-like substance as an aperitif that neither Soph nor myself had any idea what we were supposed to do with (of course we ate it, but it was probably a sauce meant to go with the bread or something). In their defense, the escargot was amazing, so they can get away with serving all the random stuff they want outside of that.
Here is the link to all the pictures: http://www.flickr.com/gp/14460611@N03/1S9PP4
Next weekend: Lake Como!
particular, was one of the best I’ve ever seen. The hotel was pretty sweet, once we navigated our way to it – don’t get me started on French country roads, or the one-lane stone-lined 50 mph streets that qualify for roads there. Anyway, we had a great dinner, even considering they served some milk-like substance as an aperitif that neither Soph nor myself had any idea what we were supposed to do with (of course we ate it, but it was probably a sauce meant to go with the bread or something). In their defense, the escargot was amazing, so they can get away with serving all the random stuff they want outside of that.Lastly, I think I’ve found my calling in life. No, I’m not going to be a circus clown – although their work/life balance is arguably better than mine. Rather, I’ve started my life of crime, specifically – smuggling! Yes, due to the fact that Mark and Colleen left their wine with us, and we also had quite a bit of wine ourselves, we were well over the limit of bottles of wine we were allowed to bring back into Switzerland. So, as we drove through the border, Soph put on her sunglasses and I put on my eyeglasses, as that was about the extent of a disguise we could come up with. And you know what? The border guards fell for it! So we got through without having to pay a huge fine, and now I’m thinking of making a career of this; armed with my glasses, I can’t be stopped! (I’m totally getting stopped next time for saying this, by the way…)
Here is the link to all the pictures: http://www.flickr.com/gp/14460611@N03/1S9PP4
Next weekend: Lake Como!
