Today I would have been back in Chicago, but the adventure continues. Last night we had a bit of a big dance party here in the tasting room/communal dining room. Nico had some of his friends over and we started the evening with port aperitifs. We had about five vintages of port, many in magnum. [More]
The Burgundy Diaries: 10/7/04 More Punching Down
More punching down today. Today I did take off my pants and hop in a few tanks. It was really cool…I can cross that off my list. So if you walked in the winery about 7pm you would see about seven men in their underwear in huge steel tanks breaking the caps. We all joke [More]
The Burgundy Diaries: 10/6/04 Men in Undies
The pneumatic press that they use to punch down the cap that forms on the top of the grapes broke, so we are doing piegage by hand. The most difficult work ever. Because they ferment in open tanks, a cap of grapes gets pushed to the top by the CO2 produced by fermentation. So we [More]
2002 Domaine de Bellivière Jasnières “Calligramme”
*Burgundy Diaries will continue, but this is too good not to mention!* I guess you could call this the poor man’s Savenieres (well, no, because it was far from cheap), but wow! Another great example of how much the Loire and Chenin Blanc kicks ass! Bought this at Pike and Western in Seattle (thanks Jen!). [More]
The Burgundy Diaries: 10/2/04 Coulee de Serrant and Grape Picking
Wow, it’s been a long time since I have written anything. Finished with the grapes yesterday and I have the weekend off after working 12 straight days from 7am to anywhere from 9:30pm to 11:30pm. My whole body hurts from lugging 25 kilo crates of grapes, rolling and lifting barrels. We spent one day picking [More]
The Burgundy Diaries: 9/18/04 The Retinue Grows
Our retinue has grown; people are arriving to work the harvest. Now with Joseph, Justin, and I are joined by a winemaker from Austrailia (Josh from Moss Wood) and one from South Africa (Richard). Both are cool; we are becoming a very cosmopolitan group. Today we all tasted some exquisite white wines in Mersault, M. [More]
The Burgundy Diaries: 9/21/04 Working Blows
What a long-ass day. Worked from 7am to 11:15pm getting the winery ready for when the grapes arrive tomorrow. Looks like for tomorrow I will be at the home base in Nuits St. George across the street and not picking in the field. Hopefully my time will come soon. I’m sure whatever it is I [More]
The Burgundy Diaries: 9/20/04 Ancient Wine!
Well, diner at Nicholas’ was again over the top. Our Australian guest was not prepared for the mind-blowing array of wines that were brought out. We started with Moscato d’Asti, which Nicholas prefers to champagne to begin with because it has less alcohol so you can survive the meal. Then we had about three vintages [More]
