Burgundy, Day 2.

So we wake up at butt o'clock in the morning (a recurring theme on this trip) and head off to the train station, which thankfully this time really WAS only 15 minutes away!! I can't tell you how excited I was! This was it! I was REALLY on my way to Mecca Burgundy!

At the train station, I got my first chocolate croissant, called Pain au Chocolate, and a coffee. Probably the world's most perfect pastry, EVER!! The chocolate wasn't too heavy, the dough was flaky outside and soft inside, *sigh* it was heaven!!! It's probably for the best that I live no where close to a good French bakery, otherwise this blog would be less about wine and more about how much weight I managed to gain in one year!!

We all know my fear of birds, and let me tell you, there were more pigeons in this damned train station than in the rest of France!!! And they all came over to where I was sitting, and were pecking around my feet..... I hate karma.... That's not true, I got my revenge later. :) So after freezing my butt (literally) almost off waiting around for the train, we finally managed to get on the train and thankfully out of Paris!! We took the TGV, which I was warned goes fast, but I didn't really think it went fast until I tried to focus on the landscape! Stuff whizzed by! It's like, "oooh look! " *poof* gone....

The train took two hours, at which time we departed at Dijon, and were met by Olivier Daubresse, importer, translator, driver, blind tasting chair, and just general Professional Awesome. He's also the man who made this trip possible, so big, BIG thanks to Olivier!! After a quick drive through very scenic country, we arrived in Puligny Montrachet, at our hotel, aptly called Le Montrachet.

After dropping off our bags and a hasty greeting to our fellow travelers, we headed off to Seguin Moreau, a prestigious cooperage with locations in France and the US. We got an AMAZING tour of the facilities, and we got to see first-hand how barrels go from being just trees in the forest to hunks, from hunk to planks, from planks to staves, from staves to barrels. The whole process is amazing! Follow this link to my photo gallery, where you can see the process, in crap-tastic photo quality!! For a quick explanation, go here. If I tried to explain it, I'd leave out a bunch of stuff, and I already type too much as is :)

After our amazing tour, we went to check out Didier Larue's new (heated) cellar. We tasted about 27 wines in bottle, and that's not counting barrel samples! (Side note: I had to go out and buy Sensodyne tonight, as all the acid from the wines has made my teeth sensitive!!! Workman's comp, here I come!!! ) I won't bore you here with individual tasting notes for each of his wines, but my favorite was his St Aubin En Remilly for the whites, and the St Aubin Premier Cru Sur Le Sentier Du Clou for the reds. I think overall I preferred his whites to his reds, there was just a cleanliness and focus to his whites that I found myself being drawn to. I also got to meet his wonderful wife, who spoke little English, but didn't let her sweetness get lost in translation!! The most amusing part was realizing I was tasting in the modern age, most of my fellow tasters were busy typing away their tasting notes on Blackberries or iPhones. Yours truly was super old-fashioned and used a notebook.

Tasting like that really takes it out of you, so of course it was time for my first Burgundian lunch! Apparently Didier had gone there the day before to meet with the chef and collaborate on a food and wine pairing menu. Wow, I don't even know where to begin with just the sheer awesomeness of this place! The wines were incredible, the food astounding. Modern twists on Burgundian traditional regional dishes. Here's a sample, bacon on top of egg white foam, with the yolk hidden inside, topping some of the darkest, most earthy tasty escargot I've ever had! It was AMAZING!!

After Dider's, we drove around and saw some beautiful vineyards, and in case you're wondering, no, I didn't cry! Dinner was more blind tasting and great regional specialties, and getting to know some of the other people on the trip. In summation, it was a great first day, and really set the tone for the rest of this wonderful trip!