Wine, Whine, Whine

 So this trip was to experience wine of France and Germany.  I expected to find a lot of reisling in Germany and decent red in France. Remember we are going to Burgundy. 

Well I was wrong. The Alsace region tends to grow Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sylvaner.  In the champagne area they grow Pinot Meunière, Pinot noir, and Chardonnay.  When we explored the German area of Platz for reds what did we find?  Chardonnay, Pinot noir, and Riesling.  So we are headed to Burgundy for a wine tasting tour.  This is a planned tour with 8 people in the van. 

The tour title is Burgundy tasting 10 different wines including Grand Cru’s.  Now I have never heard of Grand Cru wines but this looks like it will fill the bill. Guess what Burgundy is an area not a grape and the wines they produce are Chardonnay and Pinot noir mostly. The Grand Cru is a label given to to wine usually from vines that are 30 years old and from one plot of land.   In the area the wine improve with age because the roots travel through the chalky soil several meters deep.  There is no irrigation, the grapes must be picked by hand and there is no blending of grapes to make blends unless the grapes are from vines that are young. Personal preference I really don’t care for Pinot noir wine.  It always seems light and not very full bodied. I did learn it is possible to get a richer more complex Pinot noir if the vines are old. 

Our wine tour was great fun. I did learn a lot about the area. The mix of people was fun also and it turns out one of our group was a member of the elite Burgundy society that was formed and is a worldwide.   She was from China so a trip to Burgundy France was like living a dream.   She was so knowledgeable she didn’t need a tour but wanted to see some of the well known parcels where specific grapes are grown.  

We are finishing up our trip and I am still in search of red wine. Perhaps a trip to Napa would be a little cheaper. 

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