Beaune France has a calm grounded energy. For some reason neither the tourists nor the locals feel as though they are in a hurry. Some of the streets are crowded, but without a sense of urgency and passive aggressive commandeering of space when walking. It is a laidback pervasive feeling that fits the smaller dimensions of the downtown and its buildings. Ramparts, as pictured below, at one time surrounded old town Beaune. Now they are just part of a confident mature stage of life personality of the city.
The periphery of old town lies within the ramparts in several areas and on the outside of the ramparts runs a canal in some areas. Much of the periphery is parks and/or planted areas of trees and flowers, and on the outside of the canal there are busier streets that move traffic in the areas of Beaune that live at a faster pace than old town. We just went for a walk around half of the periphery after 9pm in 80-degree weather, glorious. The walk started through downtown where we soaked up the atmosphere of diners on the sidewalks outside of bars, cafes and restaurants. Below are two pictures of Notre Dame Cathedral and two more photos of properties on the periphery of old town.
Our wine tasting and educational tour today was at Bouchard Aine et Fils, one of the most prestigious and oldest of the Beaune vintners. Our hour-long tour was full of great information, and it focused on a five senses approach to appreciating wine. We spent most of the tour and tasting in 17th century underground “caves” where the bottles are stored. During our time underground we tasted two whites and four reds. In Burgundy, where grapes are not mixed/blended, that means two Chardonnays and four Pinot Noir. All of the wines were very good, but the 2018 Premier Cru Pommard was the star of the show.
I do not recommend the tour tastings we are doing for everyone. They can be costly, but they are comprehensively educational and, for someone who has a profound appreciation of the wines of Burgundy this is a rare opportunity. Tomorrow, we taste and tour at the Joseph Drouhin caves. Drouhin is a revered name in Beane and speaking from personal experience their wines can be exceptional.
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I do not believe those are wines we can easily get here so how fun it must be to be trying them. Have you had a favorite wine so far?
I am tasting in solidarity.
Love you both.
Yes, fun to taste but also fun to taste in the cave with a knowledgeable host and hostess. Favorite easy, The Bouchard Pommard 1st Cru, but that will be challenged today when we taste at Joseph Drouhin at 4. I sprung for the top flight tasting of 8 wines. Supposedly all top of their lines. Yesterday a young lady guided us, very confident and knowledgeable. At the end se asked us to guess her age, and we all guessed 23-25. She is 19 which led to a discussion of how their education system works as it allowed her to pursue her wine passion at a very young age. So impressed by the kids out and about on field trips and young people moving into specific jobs and training long before 18.
How exciting a wine tour, with quality that provides educational experience and delicious wine, what more can you ask for, and the slow pace of the old town sound wonderful, too many people are in a hurray, in today’s world 🌍 Hope the wine tour tomorrow is a delightful as this one. Looking forward to hearing about the next tour.