(Day 1)
I'm back in Bourgogne (Burgundy), France!
It's been 1.5 years since my last trip to this sacred wine region.
This time, I am traveling with 3 friends (Steve, Lynne, and Lloyd) who are my dear wine friends.
From Charles de Gaulle Airport, we rented a car and drove all the way to Beaune. We went through a little "bouchon" (traffic), but it got smoother soon after, so it took as a little over 3 hours to central Beaune. We checked in at a cute historic country house hotel with a charming courtyards.
As soon as we checked in and unpacked, we left for dinner. We were all so hungry. Our first night dinner was at Chez Nono (1 Rue Jules Noirot, La Montagne 21200, Beaune), which is just a short drive from central Beaune. It's a rustic-style house, and they serve rustic-style very Burgundian food there.
We started with Jambon Persille, Escargot, Foie Gras de Canard de Maison, and Cuisse de Grenouille a la Persillade (frog legs with parsley), and opened 2008 Domaine Hubert Chavy, Meursault, "Les Casse-Tetes". I was already in heaven! Everything was so Burgundian as I expected and so authentic. Frog legs were especially shockingly good, as you can hardly get this quality frog legs at restaurants in the US. Meursault was so minerally with light spice. Nice mariage. The vineyard's name is "broken head", (probably) because the location is very steep and you could fall and break head.
Main courses were also wonderful. We shared sliced roasted lamb legs with beans, rabbit stew, and coq au vin. As for the wine, we moved on to 2007 J. Claude Rateau, Beaune 1er Cru, "Les Peversees", and 2006 Domaine Jacques Prieur, Meursault, Clos de Mazeray. Again, all the dishes were so authentic rustic Burgundian and I loved every bite of each dish. Rateau's Beaune 1er Cru was lively with berries and spice characters and paired well with the dishes. Meursault rouge was a little sleepy, but it was soft and decent.
Simple cheese course was also shining. They served both aged and un-aged epoisse. I had never seen baby epoisse before...the "fresh" flavor of it was also nice. The first night dinner absolutely hit my spot and it was exactly what I wanted. The owner family started having their at another table later on. I loved this rustic style.
