Friday, May 6, 2022 - We Can Thank the Monks for Wine

 

Clos de Vougeot  - Clark Hunsinger photo

Today we are making our way to the Clos de Vougeot, one of the most famous names in Burgundy wine (and out of our price range). 

parking at the Clos de Vougeot

map Commarin to Clos de Vougeot

And we found another connection to the Cistercian monks at Citeaux. Some parcels of the vineyards at Clos de Vougeot were part of the initial gift given to the abbey of Citeaux in 1098. Over the early years the monks traded other parcels of land given to them for parcels in Vougeot, creating a contiguous vineyard of 50 hectares which they then enclosed with a wall, in French a "clos." They cleared the land, planted vineyards, and made wine here for hundreds of years. 

part of the clos enclosing the vineyards of Clos de Vougeot

The Cistercian monks built farm buildings to support the production of wine - a "cuverie" (vat room) where the grapes were pressed and a "cellier" (cellar) which in this case was above ground, where the barrels of wine were aged. 

courtyard at Clos de Vougeot

In 1551, a château was built on the property by Abbot Dom Loisier. The asceticism of the Cistercian ideals had been ignored in favor of renaissance comfort and pleasure. 

The Renaissance abbot's château

Today, the wall still encloses the original vineyard, but within, there are 134 separate plots of land belonging to 80 different vintners. 

The stone marker indicates that these vines belong to Domaine Méo-Camuzet

because of French inheritance laws which specify that property must be shared equally among the heirs, some owners have only a few vines, perhaps half a row

Since 1948, the buildings of Clos Vougeot have been owned by the "Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin" (the Brotherhood of the Knights of Winetasting) an organization devoted to protecting and publicizing the wines of Burgundy. The buildings are now both a museum to be visited and a venue for weddings and receptions. 

Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin - Clark Hunsinger photo

We were the only group on the English speaking tour which helped us understand so much about this site, and also about the "climats" (climates) that have been accorded UNESCO World Heritage status. But, as Burgundians tell you, when you talk about "climats" you do not look to the sky, but to the earth. Climats describe specific plots of land with particular geology and a particular microclimate. Once again, we had an excellent guide who explained this complicated subject clearly.

our guide explaining the geology of climats to us - Clark Hunsinger photo

The monks understood this idea of "climat" 900 years ago and were the first to recognize that wines from different plots created wines with different characteristics even though the grape variety (pinot noir) was the same. Our tour guide provided us an "Aha" moment when she explained a bit about the geology of Burgundy. (Skip ahead if this is boring.) Millions of years ago, the area of Burgundy was covered by a shallow sea, hence the limestone that is so prevalent here. Sometime later, the tectonic movement of the earth's plats pushed up the "Côte" - that is the ridge of land that runs generally north to south from Dijon to Beaune. This movement caused the soils to be very different within short distances, especially along fault lines. Erosion has also moved some soil down from the top of the ridge. These soils influence the minerality of the grapes, and therefore the taste of the wine. AHA!

All this also influences the prestige and price of the wines produced. The work of the Confrérie has helped to keep Burgundy's reputation very high in the minds of wine drinkers around the world. 

Inside the gates of the château, the courtyard provides access to the cuverie, cellier, and château. 

panorama of the courtyard entrances to the cuverie and cellier

Our first stop is the cuverie where the wine was made. 

inside the cuverie where the wine was made

This workspace is a large square stone and wood gallery with an open space in the center. It's where the grapes were crushed by enormous wine presses and the first fermentation took place in open vats. The gallery protected workers and the wine from the weather and the openness of the space protected the wine makers from the fumes of the fermentation process which could be deadly. 

one of 4 wine presses

In each corner stands a huge wine press still stands. The remaining four presses like the one we saw at Domaine Joliet on Wednesday. Along the galleries stand the huge vats for the first fermentation.

vats line both sides of each of the 4 galleries

Next we visited the cellier. Well, it used to be where they stored the wine in casks for aging, but now it is a reception area for events. Still, the construction is impressive. The cellar has been built partially underground so that its temperature remains relatively constant all year round. 

you can see vines growing outside this window (which is high in the wall of the reception room)

Reception room

The cellar, now divided into two rooms, is where the Chevaliers du Tastevin hold their dinners. Their motto is inscribed on a plaque above the head table. 

The motto says: Never in vain, always in wine

Tour over, bathrooms located, and tea towels purchased, it was now time for lunch. Dan had scoped out a lovely sunny vineyard wall just above the Clos de Vougeot where we had magnificent views as we ate lunch. 

sitting on the wall of the clos eating lunch in the sunshine

The afternoon started with wine tasting at Caveau Moillard in Nuits-St. George. Moillard produces wine from its own vineyards, but also from the vineyards of others. Thus, the Moillard family are both producers and negociants (agents) for the wines of other vineyards. 

Janis, Clark, Dave, Lynn, Chris, Ron, Dan

We paid for a tasting of 6 wines (20 Euros per person) including some Premier Cru wines. This website explains how Burgundy wines are classified in simple, clear descriptions. The Cliff's Notes version is that the higher the classification the better the wine (and the more rare and more expensive, of course.) https://mag.sommtv.com/2022/01/burgundy-wine-classification-system/

Clark and Dan at the entrance to the winery

We decided not to take a free tour of the winery which boasts a cellar that can hold 1000 barrels of wine and opted to just taste wines from the Côtes de Nuits. Our server/guide was extremely knowledgeable having worked in the vineyards for 20 years before changing careers. (Vineyard work means long hours and little sleep which didn't fit with the life he wanted with his wife and new-born daughter.) He was personable, spoke excellent English, and was enthusiastic about the wines he sold. He even gave us a great hint about cooking Boeuf Bourguignon- marinate the meat in the wine the night before cooking. We're going to try that as Boeuf Bourguignon is on the menu for tomorrow's dinner.  At the end of the tasting, he treated us to a 7th wine - a $190 Hospices de Beaune. Delicious. We didn't buy any wine - the wines we were tasting were $35- $75 per bottle - a wee bit over our price limits. 

the wines we tasted: 3 premier cru, 1 grand cru, 2 village

Heading home, we felt a bit more knowledgeable about this region and a bit more appreciative of the contributions made by the monks and Burgundians who saved the vineyards and wineries from ruin after the French Revolution.  As we drove from a landscape of vineyards to the green fields and pastures near us, we enjoyed the agelessness of the land and the peacefulness it offers. 

Charolais cows watching the world go by.

Dinner tonight will include white asparagus prepared in the Flemish way by chef Dan. Chef Dave will grill pork tenderloin for the main course. We do eat well in France. Thanks to Paulette for sharing her photographs.