Day 18 - Beaune

The morning dawned brightly, though still a little fresh, so beautiful to drive round the outskirts of Beaune to Aloxe-Corton, another of the famous Appellations - this is a village of opposites - beautiful châteaux and then huge haulage yards!! But the beautiful end of town is very beautiful!

Château Corton-André

After this little detour, I headed into Beaune for a chilled out day to wander its beautiful streets..... I hadn't quite decided whether or not to do any tasting, but as it turned out I only tasted one wine..... and even that was an effort.... While Beaune is exceptionally beautiful with little gems around every corner, its residents are a grumpy lot!

I was feeling a little bad about my encounter yesterday in Pommard, but now I think it is just a symptom of the locality. I had a tour of one of the wine producer's cellars - advertised on the street with tastings, but at the end, no tasting...... "We haven't any bottles open". 

Another back street, with no-one in sight and a sign advertising an hour or 2 hour's course, where one paid. Now granted, it did say a 2 person minimum, but the shop was empty, the street was empty, but oh no, couldn't possibly do the little tasting for just one! So anyway, one tasting in a little shop where the host just disappeared, so I just left...... Shame as quite a nice wine:

AOC Beaune Premier Cru 2003 - Toussaints (red) - The nose of this wine was one of rich red and black fruits, a little blackberry jam with a hint of sweet spice. And on the palate, oh so mellow - rich red/black fruit flavours, beautifully integrated tannins and the hallmark acidity.

I decided just to enjoy the town and have a nice lunch accompanied by a lovely glass of wine..... which I actually got to drink! It was from one of tomorrow's destinations in the Côte de Nuits:
AOC Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru 2007 - "Les Terres Blanches" (WHITE! - yes, I am a fan of the reds from here, but I didn't know they produced whites) (Domaine Michele & Patrice RION) - Anyway, this very nutty smelling wine, with mineral notes and a hint of grapefruit delivered what I can only describe as a 'fat' wine. It was fresh and grapefruity, but it was buttery and nutty as well, superb acidity and a really long finish. Totally sold on this - really delicious.

I wandered a little further and then just drove the 10 minutes back to the hotel and went for an amble in the park with a book to read..... Today was definitely a chill out day, but tomorrow on the move again..... working my way up to the southern outskirts of Dijon.