Beaune
Trip Start
May 21, 2005
1
5
6
Trip End
Jun 09, 2005
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Beaune, France
Thursday, June 2, 2005
Finally found a WiFi hotspot here in Beaune. Understanding the wines of Burgundy has been more difficult than we expected. The terms Premier Cru and Gran Cru don't refer the the chardonnay or Pinot Noir wines but rather to the terrior (ground) that the grapes come from. The plots of vineyards are very small, in some cases only a few rows of vines and it is because of this that there are some many different wine labels or designations here in Burgundy. At least this explains why Burgundy wine labels are so confusing.
The reason there are so many small plots of vineyard dates back to the French Revolution when the new government confiscated all the vineyards and auctioned them off to the non-artistocrats.
We had a wonderful wine tasting lunch at Olivier LaFliave (sp?) hosted by the owners brother who runs the business side of things. We had a great lunch accompanied by Premier Crus of Chassagne and Puligny Montrachet and Corton Charlamagne Grand Cru from 2000 through 2003.
One of the photos is a wine press from the 11th century use by the monks who really established wine commerce in this area. The photo does not convey the massive size of this press.
We have a few more days in Beaune and then off to Paris.
Take care all,
Tom & Lynda
