Life in Wine World

Photo:  A street in Beaune, the wine capital of Burgundy

Every year in Beaune they hold a very famous wine auction, attended by the true pros, who are savvy and also flush with euros. No, we’re not invited to that, but at the same time, they have an exposition of all the wine merchants in Burgundy, open to the common folk.  Ron and a couple of friends went up one year to do some serious tasting. 

Each merchant at the expo had a booth, displaying their wines, and glasses for tasting.  How many booths were there?  Hundreds. How many wines were there? 1400.  1400!  And those were just BURGUNDY wines!  How many booths did Ron and company make it to before they were sipped out and done in?  Maybe three. 

So you think we’re going to become Burgundy wine mavens?  Not in this lifetime. We can’t even taste them all.  But that won’t stop us from making a valiant effort.  

I’m going to attempt to give you a one-minute crash course in Burgundy wines.  Red wines in La Bourgogne are principally made from Pinot Noir grapes.  Burgundy reds in general are very fine, and trés chere; the inexpensive Burgundy reds are not so intéressant, as the French would say. The fine reds are generally made in the  Côte d’Or, north of us, around Beaune.  

Most of the white wines in southern Burgundy, on the other hand, are marvelous and affordable.  They make great ones in our neighborhood, in the Mâconnais and the Chalonnais, where the cépage (grape) is Chardonnay.  Photo of our friend Joan: wine's a hot commodity around here.

Here is an interesting factoid about France:  you buy wines in the region where they’re made.  In the local stores you can find the odd bottle from another region (and the very odd bottle from another country), but to stock your cave—and most everyone has one–you go to that region to get it or you have it shipped to you.   

Now about that house wine.  Our Burgundy house white wine needs to be affordable, versatile,  and available in the area.  Choosing a house wine is a topic of much discussion and tasting.  Often folks buy their house white from a cave coopérative, which buys grapes from local growers and adds their wine-making expertise to the bottling and marketing.   Ron passes some of them on his daily bike rides:  Viré Clessé, Charnay-les-Mâcons, Buxy.   You have to taste many to find your favorite wines at your chosen price point;  and since these are agricultural products, your answer this year may not be the answer next year. We choose our house red from the Côtes du Rhône, a great wine region just south of us with fabulous, good value, reds.

Thirsty yet?  Coming up in this occasional series, posts on blind tastings and stocking the cave. Meanwhile, to go with your white Burgundy:

RECIPE:  Roasted Asparagus Soup

Makes soup for two, or for 4-6 if serving with aperatifs.

• 1 bunch green asparagus, trimmed
• 1 medium potato, peeled and cut in small pieces
• 1 small onion, peeled and quartered
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• milk or light cream
• chicken broth
• white wine
• cayenne pepper 

Heat oven to 350 degrees (175 C).  Put asparagus and potato in a roasting pan and toss with olive oil.  Add onion, season with sea salt and pepper.  Roast until vegetables are tender, 20 to 30 minutes. 

Put vegetables in a saucepan and add cream and/or milk to cover.  Purée with an immersion blender.*  Thin as needed with some chicken broth and a generous splash of white wine or lemon juice.  Add a dash of cayenne pepper, taste to correct seasonings.  Serve cold or hot, garnished with sour cream or creme frâiche. 

*Those clever French cooks are onto something:  nearly all of them have an immersion blender,especially important since they prefer their soups puréed.  Forget pouring everything in batches into a blender or food processor; this is a wand that you just stick in the soup pot, and press a button to blend. The blade pops off and goes right into the dishwasher.  Tellement facile!  Here's a good one: Cuisinart CSB-76BC SmartStick 200-Watt Immersion Hand Blender, Brushed Chrome. Click on the link for info.

Interested in staying at the château?  Nicole and Pierre have now fixed up a couple of extra bedrooms as a gîte. Nicole will give language lessons on request too.  Go to http://www.lessaveursduchateau.fr/. 

If you want to stay in a charming little  stone dollhouse in the countryside, try my friend Sabine’s gîte near Cluny, http://www.maisonpomme.net/.

Favorite Reads:  Burgundy wine lovers who want the definitive word on the subject will want to get Clive Coates The Wines of Burgundy.  If you want a handy reference guide to French wines and a great travel companion, we really like Robert Joseph's book, French Wine (Eyewitness Companion)which includes driving tours of all the regions, plus all you need to know about French vineyards and the major wines. 

In the Comments this week:  Don't miss Julie's Ode to Strawberries, fabulous!  And Thea, thanks for the reminder about David Sedaris, whose book about learning French, Me Talk Pretty One Day is the funniest ever (that chapter on explaining Christianity to the foreign students in his French class gives me the giggles as we speak). On another note, the flea market season has begun here, and there's so much pretty vintage silver on display. Our frequent commenter Nancy at Silver Magpies collects it and sells it on-line, so it's a must-see if you're a fan.

Unless otherwise attributed, all POSTS, PHOTOS and RECIPES on this blog copyright ©2010 Lynn McBride.  All Rights Reserved.