Paris Wine Walks is Taste Tours this week, and we're on the road in Burgundy and Beaujolais...
GEOFFREY FINCH
OCT 03, 2024
It has oft been said, the best way to know wine is to visit vineyards. There is no better wine education than direct interaction with the people who cultivate, harvest, vinify, bottle, and age wine. And I have often said, I’m happiest when I’m among vines, because vines tell stories.
But there are years when those stories are tales of woe, and 2024 is one of those years where the harvest, marked by a series of meteorological challenges, will go down in history as one of the worst of the century. But even in bad years, good winemakers make good wines, and though the mood might be described as somber in places, the show must go on, and so all the energy and enterprise that distinguishes great winemakers is being focussed on turning a potentially disastrous year into something remarkable.
End of harvest in Chablis
Tasting at William Fevre in Chablis
As travellers exploring the iconic vineyards of the Côte d’Or, we but scratch the surface. And that surface, for the past few days has been very wet and unseasonably chilly. From the comfort of our air-conditioned people carrier, we enjoy a rosy view of things, even through the misting and pouring rain.
On the road in Burgundy and Beaujolais
As a picture is worth a thousand words, here are some random images of our adventures up until today. Next week I’ll try to provide a summary of our experiences.
Clos de Vougeot
Romanee Conti
Vines of the Romanee Conti
Hospices de Beaune under grey skies
Tasting with Emmanuel Giboulot
Overlooking Pernand Vergelesses
Sorting grapes at Marchand Tawse
Polyptych of the Last Judgement by Roger Van der Weyden, Theriac (cure all), vinescape, Marchand Tawse tasting with Pascal Marchand
Cellar and punching down at Domaine Trapet, Maison T, and tasting at Clos du Moulin aux Moines
Bunches of grapes in Fine de Bourgogne - a comparative temporal record of ripeness taken each year on 21 June
Bunch of grapes in Fine de Bourgogne, picked on 21 June, 2024 - a temporal record of ripeness from year to year.
And on a positive note, this dictum, a reminder that the benefits of working through the toughest years will still be rewarded with wine - never in vain, always in wine - from the Clos de Vougeot.
‘Never in vain, always in wine’
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My book, ‘The Hidden Vineyards of Paris’ (reviewed in Jancis Robinson’s wine blog, the Wine Economist, National Geographic Traveler UK, UK Telegraph) is also available at ‘The Red Wheelbarrow Bookshop’ at 11 rue de Medicis, 75006 Paris. If you haven’t yet discovered this gem of a bookshop, now’s your chance. Open every day!
Wine Walks!
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Short on time? This one’s for you.
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