The London Club Burgundy Trip 2018 – Day 1

Wednesday March 14th 2018 – Day 1

The planning started just over a year ago and excitement was growing every day until this once in a lifetime experience started on Wednesday March 24th. Thirteen London Club Members arrived at La Terre D’Or (http://www.laterredor.com/en/) located in the beautiful town of Beaune, Burgundy. This little paradise is located on top of a “Le Montage” with a spectacular view of Beaune. The family run luxury B&B started in 1999 after 2 decades of making this family home into beautiful retreat. Vincent is very knowledgeable about this region and passionate about making sure that his guests are well looked after and feel at home.

After the members were all settled in, Cyndi Grossman poured us a magnum of vintage Grand Cru champagne from Legras & Haas. An excellent way to start the day, I must say! We were then quickly whisked away in a convoy of SUV’s. Just a short ride away with a stunning view of the Corton Hill and centuries old stone walls, we arrived at Domaine Lucien Jacob’s cellar located in Echevronne. We were graciously greeted by Jean Michael and Christine Jacob who gave us a beautiful rustic lunch followed by a tasting in their cellar. The members were treated to 10+ different wines from their portfolio:

Cremant de Bourgogne
Aligote 2016 (10 days bottled)
Haute Cote du Beaune Blanc 2016
Bourgogne Rosé 2016
Savigny Vergelesses 1er Cru Blanc 2014
Savigny les Beaune 1er Cru “Les Peuillets” 1er Cru 2006
Savigny Vergelesses 1er Cru Rouge 1996
Savigny Vergelesses 1er Cru Rouge 2012
Gevrey Chambertin 2009
Gevrey Chambertin 2016
Beaune 1er Cru “Les Cent Vignes” 2008
Beaune 1er Cru 2016
Chambolle Musigny 2016

With full bellies and light heads, we headed back to our rooms for a short nap before the evening festivities began.

One hour later…………….

A unique dining experience was planned for The London Club at Le Bouzeron. This quaint village is known for its Aligote grape variety, 155 habitants, and residence of Albert De Villaine (owner of the Domaine Romanee Conti)

Chef Ludo and his partner/wife Emily, had closed the restaurant just for us. Again; Cremant, (Sparkling wine, made just like champagne) was welcoming us. This is what I call civilized!

Specializing in creative menus showcasing a Trilogy of Gastronomy we were spoiled with:

Amuse Bouche
1st Escargots: tempura, cassolette, and croquille
2nd Canard from the South West: foie gras with red wine popper, confit, and magret
3rd Comté from the Jura: naturel, baked with jambon cru and breaded with cumin
4th Poire (Pears) Sorbet, poached with honey and ginger, poire with chocolate
5th Petite Fours

All paired with Domaine A&P De Villaine Bouzeron (Aligote) 2014 and Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise “La Fortune” 2015

A great night had by all. I am stuffed! Off to bed, 8:30 am tasting tomorrow morning!

March 27, 2018 / No Comments /

The London Club Burgundy Trip 2018 – Day 2

Thursday March 15th 2018 Day 2

One might say that an 8:30 am tasting is too early. However, this is the best time to taste and spit, wine. Your palate is fresh and not much has affected it, with the exception of the wonderful French coffee and a fresh baked crossiant.

We arrived at Domaine Denis Carré in Meloisey and was greeted by Gaetane; the second generation of this Domaine, who with her parents, built the winery from scratch. Her passion and love of the vines was contagious and showed in the final product of these exceptional wines. Blessed to sample, were the wines that Mellecey Wine Group brings into Ontario:

Bourgogne Blanc 2016(chardonnay grapes coming from Meursault)
Auxey Duresses “Les Vireux” Blanc 2016
Haute Cote du Beaune “La Perriere” Rouge 2015 (yes, we had this at the club)
Saint Roman “Le Jarron” Rouge 2015

This hour went so fast; and off we were, to our second tasting. All before lunch!

The group arrived at the top of Nuits St George at 10:00am after a 30min drive through a narrow and a windy road. It was definitely worth the uphill rollercoaster when we were pleasantly greeted from Axelle Machard de Gramont. This is a famous name in Nuits St George of centuries past. Her father Bertrand finally went on his own in 1962, planting vines on a very steep hill unaffected by the disasterous, phylloxera in 1863. A rarity to find virgin soil! He was also able to purchase vineyards in the world famous Vosne Romanee. They follow the moon and practice biodynamic viticulture; which definitely made a difference in this very small production of rich, concentrated wines. Luckily for the London Club members, they were able to secure a few cases for themselves, as The Mellecey Wine Group sold out of their allocation in 3 days this past February.

And if our palate wasn’t awake, it certainly was now!!!

Poured for us:

Bourgogne Aligote “ Le Chene du Court” 2017
Nuits St Georges “Les Terrasses des Vallerots” 2015
Nuits St Georges “Aux Allots” 2015
Nuits St Georges “Aux Allots” 2016 (from the barrel)
Vosne Romanée 2016 (from the barrel) WOW!

Now for lunch! With Domaine Drouhin-Laroze, a very prestigious winery, with the fortune of owning 6 Grand Cru vineyards, in the Cote de Nuits. (Musigny Grand Cru, Chambertin Clos de Beze, Clos de Vougeot, Bonne Mares, Latricieres-Chambertin, Charmes Chambertin)

Five generations have been running the Domaine for 163 years, with children Caroline and Nicolas stepping in. The family exports 95% of their wines, and welcome clients from all over the world.

Madame Christine Drouhin, a very elegant and graceful woman received us to her glassed in terrace with a glass of Bourgogne Chardonnay, the only white wine made from Gevrey Chambertin.

What a treat it is, when the lady of the house, personally makes lunch for the guests of The Mellecey Wine Group.

We started with the baseball sized gougeres. And stopping at one was just not possible! (For those of you that wanted the recipe, Cyndi has included it at the end of this day’s blog).
Followed by Jambon Persillé with a fresh salad, homemade beef cheek bourguignon with potato gratin and to put us all over the edge, we finished with chocolate mouse avec nougat.

Our hats off to these wonderful hosts that treated us like family; allowed us to purchase a few bottles of wine that we could bring back to our own cellars. How often do you get the opportunity to have a bottle of Clos de Vougeot signed by the producer to reflect on this great experience?

With hugs and an invitation to come back, we were on our way back to our B&B to get ready for our Truffle Dinner

Thank goodness that we had a 45 min lesson about truffles to let our stomachs digest lunch

In an underground cellar in Pommard, we met with Claire Martin, her husband Hubert, and her 2 sweet truffle hunters (dogs) What a great educational evening, Claire was so informative on how to pick the right truffle oil, the difference between seven species of truffles and how to use them in almost anything!

Our lesson and meal consisted of:

Comparison of 7 different truffle species in a butter format: summer truffle, burgundy truffle, meuse truffle, brumale truffle, black truffle, borchiii truffle, alba truffle.

Starter: Burgundy Truffle infused in its “Poulard of Bresse” light clear broth, egg yolk, brunoise of fresh vegetables.

Main Dish: Fresh home-made Tagliatelles- Alaine Ducasse recipe. Topped with a selection of Helix from Uzége in a subtle combination with a Summer Truffle coulis

Somehow, we still had room for this after our filling lunch! This was delicious!

Cheese: Mille-feuilles of Comté & Black Truffle, Borchii Truffle

Dessert: Home made Black Truffle ice cream with its Fighting Spirit white rum

Rum makes anything better!

Coffee and Mignardise: soft salted butter caramel lovingly prepared with Borchii Truffle. A UNIQUE Claire de Truffles recipe!

This second day was definitely a busy one and a GREAT one! Off to bed, as we have to build wine barrels tomorrow morning at 9:00 am

BONNE NUIT

Gougeres by Christine Drouhin

Ingredients :

1/4 of a liter : water 50 gr butter
125 gr of flour
4 eggs
Salt, pepper Conté or gruyère
In a stew-pan, melt the butter in the water with salt and pepper.
Boil and stop, add the flour and blend until there is a « ball ».
Add 1 by 1 the eggs.
On a plate oiled, make little puffs and one them, add a few little pieces of the cheese.
Switch on the oven at 175°.
Place in the oven the gougères during 30-35mn. Please do not open the oven during all this time.

March 27, 2018 / No Comments /

The London Club Burgundy Trip 2018 – Day 3

Friday March 16th Day 3

Bright and early, we all were eager to visit Art du Tonneau. With whispers of having a barrel building competition; members started strategizing whom they wanted to pair up with.
Our host Daniel was simply amazing, he engaged everyone, with a great sense of humor. We discovered the art of cooperage and its origins. Also, learned about the wood use, the assembly, fire chamber and the influence and outcome of all those components on the wine produced. As Daniel says “Burgundy makes wine and Bordeaux makes colour” Next, was the dreaded competition, building a barrel. It is definitely not as easy as it looks. Hats off to the women who made a solid barrel that was ready to be toasted. Congratulations!!

And now we were off to another anticipated tasting! The famous white Burgundies of Montrachet and Meursault.

It was a magical drive on our way into Chassagne Montrachet, these famous vineyards are just so beautiful and rich in history. It was a humbling experience to say the least. On our arrival to meet with Laurent Pillot, he welcomed us with a big smile and happy to have so many Canadians in his cellar. He explained the history of the winery and that his ancestors had been coopers in the past. 6 generations since, they have been making these pristine wines with a length that will last in your memory for a long time.

These 2016 wines will be imprinted in our minds forever:

Chassagne Montrachet
Puligny Montrachet “Noyers Bret”
Chassagne Montrachet Grandes Ruchottes 1er Cru
Chassagne Montrachet Les Champgains 1er Cru
Chassagne Montrachet Morgeot 1er Cru
Pommard Clos de Verger 1er Cru
Pommard les Charmots 1er Cru

Again, these are very limited; make sure you try them when they arrive in Ontario. You will know exactly what we mean.

Well, we have definitely worked up an appetite (for once on this trip LOL) Just, a few hills and a couple more windy roads, we found ourselves in Volnay. An excellent traditional restaurant called Le Cellier Volnaysien had a long table waiting for us, underneath the mural of the map of burgundy with all the villages. Something to dream about as we waited for our choice of escargots, jambon persillé, or salade paysanne (with egg, bacon and ham); this was not the main course. We had another course to choose from….. Coq á la lie vin (rooster in red wine) oeuf en Meurette (poached eggs in red wine and bacon pieces) DELICIOUS! and the filet de Volaille de Bresse á la crème (chicken with a cream sauce) Followed by formage of course

The Burgundians, know how to cook! A great home cooked, rustic lunch!

Our final tasting of the day was in Aloxe-Corton with Freddy from Domaine Meuneveaux. A young guy that is taking over from his family, he was full of smiles and also did his best at speaking English (perhaps we should know some French, never mind that though, his wines spoke for themselves)

Bourgogne Blanc 2015
Corton Grand Cru 2015
Chorey les Beaune Rouge 2016
Aloxe-Corton Rouge 2016
Aloxe-Corton 1er Cru 2016

Again, The London Club members on this trip organized by The Mellecey Wine Group were thrilled to be able to purchase straight from the producer, with signed labels.
What a great memory from this trip of a lifetime.

Phew, we have a few hours off to rest and get ready for our 3 Michelin dinner at Maison Lameloise

A true institution of French gastronomy and a charming hotel, the Maison Lameloise has cultivated art de vivre since more than 90 years. In medieval times the cuisine attracted already the Dukes of Burgundy. This long and delightful story is continued by Chef Éric Pras, MOF (Best Craftsman of France), and Frédéric Lamy at the head of the former coach house dating back to the 15th century. The fresh, precise and delicate cuisine of Éric Pras gives this iconic restaurant a new, young image.

Words cannot express the pleasure this meal gave to each and every one of us with absolute perfect wine pairing. Just to give you an idea (and you might need to translate this) of this incredible meal. Here is what we had…..

Saveurs d’ici & d’ailleurs á l’apéritif

Crème anglaise au parfum de meurette| oeuf de caille

Boeuf Charolais & Fois Gras

Langoustine & Verveine

Saint Jacques & Cho-Fleur

Agineau De Lait

Fromages Frais & Affinés

Plaisir sucré

Chocolat & Estragon
Mignardises & chocolats

Wine Pairing:

Cremant de Bourgogne Cuvée Simon-collection Lameloise

Chablis 2012-Domaine Francois Raveneau