Our last trip to France I called
“Appellation Spring,” because we were visiting so many different
wine appellations on the trip. This trip is very different, as the
areas we are visiting – the Bugey/Savoie region and the Jura – are not as well
known for their wine appellations. On the other hand, there are
plenty of wines there, and lots of great cheeses.
We arrived in France on Wednesday,
April 23, having flown from Boston to Geneva via Dublin. We picked
up a car at the Geneva Airport, and drove towards Burgundy, where we
were going to spend the first 2 nights with our friend Ghislaine,
whom we had stayed with on our trip 2 years ago. On the way, we made
a stop in the town of Mercurey, and visited Domaine Michel Juillot.
We had stopped at this winery 2 years ago, and liked their wine so
much we decided to return. After tasting a few wines there, we bought
2 whites and 1 red Mercurey. Mercurey is one of the appellations in
the Cote Challonaise, where very good wines are made which are
overshadowed by the more well-known wines of the nearby Cote d'Or.
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| Tasting Room at Domaine Michel Juillot |
After leaving Mercurey, we drove to
Gueugnon, the town where Ghislaine lives. The weather was beautiful
– sunny and mild – and Ghislaine drove us into the center of
Gueugnon where we took a walk to see the town. After returning to
Ghislaine's house, we had aperitifs and a Provencal rose, and then
dinner with a bottle of a 2004 white Mercurey that Ghislaine had
found in her cellar. Having been awake for over 36 hours, we called
it an early evening.
The next day, one of Ghislaine's
children had arranged a visit to a wine producer in the Cote
Challonaise, along with several other family members. Nine of us
arrived at Domaine Pigneret Fils in the town of Moroges at 11 a.m.,
where Eric Pigneret gave us a lengthy tour of the winery. Eric and his brother Joseph are the 4th generation of Pignerets to
run the winery, and Eric gave a terrific tour with a very
enthusiastic presentation of the entire winemaking process at the
domaine. He then brought us to the tasting room, where we had a
tasting of the entire range of the domaine's wines over several
hours, which included plates of salami and cured hams made with the
domaine's distilled liquor. The domaine makes wines from the
Bourgogne, Mercurey, Rully, Givry and Montagny appellations, as well
as 2 sparkling wines, and we tried them all. The quality of the wines
was outstanding, and everyone bought quite a bit to take home.
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| Domaine Pigneret |
That evening we had dinner with
Ghislaine's children, their children, and her in-laws. One dish was
tartiflette, a casserole made with cheese, bacon, cream, wine, and
Ghislaine's father's potatoes. She also made a roast leg of lamb, and
a roast chicken for the children. With dinner we had a bottle of
Mercurey rouge from Michel Juillot that we had picked up the day
before, and a bottle of Mercurey rouge from Domaine Pigneret.
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| Tartiflette |
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| Le Diner en Famille |
The next morning, Saturday, we left
Ghislaine's and drove towards the Bugey region, in the Ain
department, where we were going to spend a week. This was De Ferme
en Ferme weekend in France, which is the equivalent of Maine's Open
Farm Day, where farms open their doors to visitors, with tours of the
farm and samplings and sales of their products. We stopped at
Bergerie la Ramaz, a goat cheese producer, where we were given a tour
of the farm and the cheese production facility. They have around 100
milking goats, and make a wide range of goat cheese. We bought some
cheese, as well as yogurt and goat milk.
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| Goat Milk Bar |
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| A Few of the Little Ones |
In the late afternoon we arrived at
the house (a “gite”) we were renting, and were greeted by the
owners. They gave us a bottle of Seyssel, a local white wine, and a
salami made by a friend of theirs. Seyssel is made principally from the Altesse
grape (also known as Roussette), a grape which is pretty much only
grown in the Savoie area, and the Seyssel appellation is one of the
oldest and smallest appellations in France. This Seyssel, from
Martine et Bernard Mollex, was absolutely outstanding. We drank it
as an aperitif, and with dinner we had a bottle of Bourgogne rouge
from Domaine Pigneret.
And so it begins, another wonderful vicarious wine and cheese adventure! Sounds as if you and Ann are off to a good start. Wish I were there with you!
ReplyDeleteeat, drink and be merry and stay well.
ReplyDeleteaddendum: How about some scenic views with flowers and cats?
ReplyDeleteThere will be. So far the few cats we saw were too shy.
DeleteHi Bob. Good job. It's 9 am and now I want wine and cheesey potatoes.
ReplyDelete