Re: Places to visit in Bourgogne ...

On the road from Pommard to Mersault, on the right, just before reaching Mersault, there is a very large commercial winery. They have a tasting room. We stopped there for a drop and possibly to buy. The wines were relentlessly _ordinary_; the attitude of our "host" was haughty, and we couldn't get out of there fast enough! I don't remember the name of the winery, but I've heard of them before. Anyone out there know who I'm referring to?

Don't stop there.

Tom S

I agree these are VERY nice wines. The Gravel BR was the one I referred to as having undergone reverse osmosis- shows that these techniques can be quite useful if used sparingly and thoughtfully.

Did I already post before I left that Jacques d'Angerville just died? Great winemaker. I'm very partial to Volnay, and he and Michel Lafarge are the tops IMHO.

Thanks Ian.

Dale

Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply

Nice list of crappy negociants, Ian! In my early Burg wanderings, I made the mistake of confusing the Bouchards to my wallet's dismay. Bouchard Pere is not my favorite, but heads above the Aîné as a rule. My one encounter with Reine Pédauque is best forgotten - luckily I don't think much imported to US. As is the case with Jaboulet-Vercherre (who I think I understand not only makes crappy wines, but is a National Front supporter to boot. Oops, didn't mean to bring politics in!).

Dale

Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply

Salut/Hi Dale Williams,

le/on 04 Aug 2003 18:28:47 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

I ought to add in again "These are places I've not been to"

Chuckle... I've not called them that, simply places I've never visited!

Ah, yes... A sad error!

Nor mine, but they make honest wine at least. If I'm recommending large negociants, Remoissenet for whites, for example, or Drouhin and in Nuits, Faiveley, but these are not really what Nils was looking for. Thanks for the info abt Jacques d'Angerville.

As I understand it, he left the business to take up politics, but I have no truck with either.

Both Drouhin and Faiveley are on our list of what the Guide Vert calls "values surs"; thanks to Jim Tanner we even got to visit Drouhin which was a great experience, but ...

Exactly. This may be irational, but we feel that you get a certain rapport with some of the smaller producers which is impossible (even though Mr Imbredis in Jadot was a very pleasant aquaintance), or well nigh, in the big houses like, Drouhin etc. (Chapoutier also comes to mind, even if that places us a few 100 kms South).

It is irrational because some of these big houses are good producers with a very decent quality level all over, like the ones you mentioned, and Jadot also - they tend not to deliver bad wines, so it´s a safe bet

- even though you´re not likely to meet Mr Drouhin in overalls and morning slippers, and finding the dog asleep in the drive way - neither of which is, per se, conducive to making a good wine, of course. Also, last summer we visited a negociant in Puligny-Montrachet, C-? et Trebuchet? with a stylish tasting room, and a stylish lady who appeared, somewhat, being hired because she was stylish - and now I am being utterly obnoxious and unfair because she could answer all the questions we asked and she may very well be the older daughter of Mr Trebuchet, and what I´m getting at is, they had a lovely entry level Bourgogne Blanc - better than many Village I´ve tasted, notes of lime zest, butter, hazel nuts - incredibly rich and at a fairly good price, EU 9, and if I had been rational I owuld always see to it taht I had bought a case of that wine when I passed Côte d´Or, but I am not, and I don´t, because the tasting room and the lady seemed so impersonal, and I find that very irrational, although very human.

I think it is always a good policy not to discuss politics in furrin countries. Except agreeing that taxes are too high, because that appears to be something most people (outside Sweden, of course) could agree to.

Cheers

Nils Gustaf

In Pommard, Domaine Launay (M et Mme Vaudiau) In Volnay, Dom Polleau et Fils

The place in Volnay is incredibly hard to find, it´s up a street called R de Vallée - there is a map in the market place just in front of the church.

Look Jan, as you find if you read more of my posts, I am not rational in chosing my producers - a nice guy and an honest wine, or rather, a wine I find eminently drinkable, preferably with a dog sleeping in the drive way (there I go again) is what I´m looking for ... but some places had dogs of very good typicity and I still never returned to them. And none of my favorites in Bandol have dogs - I tell a lie, Gros Noré has a few barking dogs, haven´t they?

I liked the wines of M Polleau, they are muscular reds with a lot of matter, I also liked his place which is one of the neatest caves I have ever visited (very spic and span), and he himself was very sympathetic. The dog was an ancient Springer Spaniel.

The wines of Dom Launay are even more forceful as befits their place of origin. The couple who owns the place are friendly and generous, particularly if you have booked a tasting in advance. They do not, however, have a dog. So far, I have only opened one of the bottles aquired there (in 2001), which was a 1995 - and it was barely mature enough, but still, enjoyable.

What I´m getting at, don´t look to me for wisdom, at least not when it comes to wine ;)

HTH

Nils Gustaf

One address I would avoid for purchasing wine is the château de Meursault: touristically speaking, the premises are impressive, you get a tastevin to walk through their cellar with self-serve barrels-cum-bottles, but their wines are nothing to write home about (unless you go for the most expensive stuff on offer and then again, their ex-cellar prices are almost on a... Scandinavian level). Another way to proceed is to ask the sommelier in decent restaurants for clues about the lesser known producers (pas les "valeurs sûres", mais les "valeurs qui montent") in the area. You order a bottle and have it over your meal. If you fancy the stuff he/she suggested you can still ask for the details to get in touch with the estate. In a typical Burgundy cellar (14°C), I find it somewhat difficult to taste wine as this temperature is slightly to hot for white and to cold for reds...but that's a different story. Don't forget that Beaune houses a few good wine shops, such as Denis Peret (practically the full range of Jadot, Latour and a few other good negociants)

Enjoy your trip

Yves

Add Louis Max to this list,

M.