Day 16 - Into Burgundy

After two dull days, it was a relief to see the sun again when I pulled back my curtains this morning..... and a Happy Birthday to Amber and Ewa!
I left Beaujolais and drove first thing to the village of Saint-Vérand, which sits in the heart of the Burgundy (Bourgogne) AOC of Saint-Véran (yes, one does have a 'd' and the other not).... a beautiful village overlooking Saint-Amour in Beaujolais.....

and also where I experienced my Tuesday morning flyby....yes, the french airforce are aware of my presence in the country and are monitoring my exact location by GPS and provide some form of jet flight overhead each Tuesday. I'm not joking - this is my 3rd Tuesday in France and my 3rd flyby!
So, aside from that, no one seemed to be up and about in Saint-Vérand, so I made my way to the nearby village of Leynes, where just on the road out to Chasselas, I happened upon Château des Correaux, a family run vineyard producing wine by M. and Mme. Bernard.

It was Mme Bernard who invited me in to taste 5 of their wines:

1. AOC Saint-Véran - Clos des Juillys 2007 (white) - Now a dirty word...... Chardonnay..... Yes, this wine is 100% Chardonnay grape as are all burgundy whites (no blends here) and what's more, I liked it! The nose was fresh and citrussy, with hints of gooseberry, while the taste was a refreshing citrus flavour with notes of melon and even a little herbaceous. Cracking acidity from 30 year old vines.
2. AOC Saint-Véran - Vielles Vignes 2007 (white) - The nose again was fresh citrus and a little floral, while the taste was melon, apples and a slight butteriness and a hint of vanilla from the 10 months or so barrel aging. (50 year old vines)
3. AOC Bourgogne Chardonnay 2007 - a herbaceous nose and a subtle melon flavour with wood detectable - a simple, dare I say it, slightly boring wine.
4. AOC Saint-Véran - Les Spires 2005 - Pineapple on the nose, with definite tropical flavours from these 60-70 year old vines. Very elegant.
5. AOC Saint-Véran - En Faux 2008 - Slightly pine/floral on the nose with a smokey vanilla flavour in addition to the citrus - expected from the oak aging.

Back in the car for maybe 10 minutes, before a winding road down past the vines of Pouilly-Fuissé

 and down to the village of Fuissé.... and 2 miinutes further to Pouilly....

Fuissé

Pouilly

The Pouilly-Fuissé AOC is made from grapes from the environs of 5 villages:

Chaintré, Fuissé, Pouilly, Solutré and Vergisson. I drove on to Solutré to the 'Atrium' set up by the co-operative of the 5 villages to taste 2 of the wines:

1. AOC Pouilly-Fuissé - Terroir de Solutré 2008 - The nose was fresh apples, with a little pink grapefruit and a buttery grapefruit/apple taste with a mineral finish. Amazing acidity - really mouthwatering.
2. AOC Pouilly-Fuissé - Terroir de Pouilly 2008 - So just 3, maybe 4 km tops of distance and the nose of this was citrus with a hint of tropical and a flavour which was pineapple, green apples and grapefruit.

Both were 2008, so probably better to wait another year, at a push 2 to allow the acidity to integrate.

I had also wanted to taste a Mâcon Villages today, which didn't quite happen, though I did get to drive an amazing route through the Mâconnaise vineyards up to the Côte Challonaise area....

Buxy

an absolutely spectacular run, particularly from Azé to Buxy, where I had the opportunity to stop off and taste some wines at the local vignerons' co-operative of the 4 main AOCs from the Côte Challonaise area:

Montagny (Buxy the nearest village)

Givry

Mercurey

Rully

All but the Montagny had been aged for a brief time in oak.

AOC Montagny 2007 (white) - Buissonier - A mineral nose with a slight nutty aroma giving way to a grapefruit flavour, floral notes, but a definite mineral quality.

AOC Givry 2007 (white) - Buissonier - the volcanic terroir around the village of Givry gave a wine with a white peach/almond blossom nose and a peach/lemon taste.

Givry Tourist Office

The architecture in Givry was simply stunning.... Even the Tourist Office was beautiful!

AOC Mercurey 2007 (red) - Buissonier - A toastie, spicey black fruit nose, surprisingly rich for the red of Burgundy, the Pinot Noir grape and the flavours likewise smoky with tannins over the black cherry/blackberry flavours.

Mercurey

AOC Rully 2007 (red) - Buissonier - The nose on this was again more black fruits - blackberry and blackcurrant with a subtle spiciness. The flavours on the palate were blackberry, blueberry with a hint of pepperiness and tannins.

Château Rully

Rully

While I tasted the wines in Buxy, I did drive out to the villages just to see where the vines were growing and to get a feel for the places...... I feel like a well-worn record now, but again, beautiful villages.... a bit fairytalish with Châteaux in almost every one.

So, a drive back to Azé to 'Les Portails Bleus', my stop for the night and a real home from home run by the lovely Linda and Steve.  I was cooked a home-cooked veggie meal for dinner, which was delicious and Linda and Steve went out of their way to make myself and the family of 3 and the couple who were also staying as comfortable and at home as possible - a definite 100% recommendation for a pitstop if driving down France, and given the beautiful drive I had today, a good base for a beautiful local area..... I wish I'd travelled an extra half hour last night and spent 2 nights here..... It's been splendid!