As we start to plan the detail of our next trip to Burgundy (or more precisely “Bourgogne”) I couldn’t help looking back at some of the lovely memories from previous trips. Last autumn we spent a few days in Puligny Montrachet, and another day earlier this year in April on our journey south to Beaujolais, the Rhone and Provence. In September we return for a further four days of wine tasting, wine buying and generally soaking up the beauty of the region. We will stay in Puligny Montrachet again (we have found a fabulous, bijou cottage for rent there within a few steps of the most fantastic bakery for our morning croissants!), in the Cote d’Or region, Montrachet being one of the most famous and revered white wine regions in the world.
Despite thinking of ourselves more as red wine enthusiasts, Puligny Montrachet being in the heart of sublime Chardonnay country, it was a great base from which to explore the wider region on the occasions we were able to drag ourselves out of the village. Not only does Puligny Montrachet have a great boulangerie for our morning croissants, it has a first class caveau where one can take a wine flight for a modest sum (to be credited against purchases where you purchase a certain number of bottles), the restaurant of Olivier Leflaive, local vigneron of repute, and it also has a Michelin star restaurant, Le Montrachet, that serves up a feast to die for!
I won’t say any more for now on our Bourgogne experience as I intend to return to some of the places we discovered later, in individual posts that are worthy of the experiences we enjoyed at some fantastic vineyards in both red and white Bourgogne country. A bientot …