Thread: 3 Must-go Places for French Wine (in France) + some notes

the food will suck but make sure you have a designated driver. you can't really drink French wine unless you're in France - in the US, you have little idea of its history and authenticity.

in France, you drink it where the owners know the wine-makers and the wine hasn't moved since it was bottled.

1.5 years ago, i took a month off work w/ a blank check and ate/drank across France and Spain. unfortunately, i don't have MTK money so i try to save my crazy wine drinking for Europe when i know i will be impressed.


1. Beaugraviere (Mondragon) - supposedly has the largest collection of Rhone and Burgundy wines. the food is s*** but my friend and I drank 6 bottles of wine, including the two bottles below for less than 300 euros/bottle. here's an older (1999) report - it probably underscores the need to get there sooner than later since everyone is clearing them out: http://www.wineloverspage.com/user_s...otes/7773.html



2. Le Chaudron (Tournon) - the food is pretty bad (a microwave is in use) but he has an extensive Rhone selection and a very good Burgundy.

3. Le Montrachet (Beaune) - the food is not too bad (the escargot is the best i've ever had) and their Burgundy list is *sick*! i had a 90 La Tache for 900 euros - try finding that for less than $5k in the US, if you can find it at all.

Finally, here are some wines we drank during that trip.

- 61 La Chapelle - ridiciulous smell, surprisingly - a ton of fruit & tannins yet still super smooth & balanced, very long finish, if stored in perfect condition, it may need 10-15 more years. our cork came out perfectly, fill was perfect, and the cork itself had little discoloration.

- 90 La Tache - a baby version of the 61 La Chapelle, very similar in taste profile, just less of everything

- 59 Vina Real Oro Reserva Especial - the wine they served for the prince of spain, tasted remarkably like the burgundies above, this wine is probably at its best right now. decent cherry fruit upfront, good acid, and a very long smooth finish. this could be a product of excellent storage since i believe Steve had a bottle and felt it was done.

- 55 La Chapelle - we rolled the dice w/ this one since the storage of the 85 Chave (below) was excellent. fill was low, cork came out after 4 tries, it wasn't looking good but this turned out to be a perfectly stored bottle at its perfect drinking age, still had some fruit, little tannins, long smooth finish. i could drink this forever.

- 25 Marques de Riscal Reserva - spanish wine, eerily similar to the 55 la chapelle in its profile, this wine still had some gas in the tank. again, another luck-of-the-draw excellent storage since it had been reported to be done.

- 01 Bon Marre (sp?) - this was towards beginning of trip so i may be ranking it higher than i should, but big bright fruit, big mid palette, & long finish, it hasn't gone into hibernation yet

- 78 La Chapelle - still very strong, tons of fruit & tannins, but it needs 20-30 more years

- 71 Chave - another perfectly stored bottle, mellow & very smooth. we drank a 2nd bottle the next day and it paled in comparison.

- 85 Chave - nice fruit, mid palette, & finish - complex 'grape juice', this was drinking very well, the sediment clung to the bottle like barnacles, excellent storage

- 91 Chave - a better "everyday" wine for traveling in france

- 99 Chave - slightly better than the 98, a little more punch but a tad smoother too.

- 98 Chave - a good "everyday" wine

- 90 La Chapelle - some say it will be the best Rhone ever, we bought it for reference and we were feeling lucky after the 71 Chave, crazy, flavors everywhere, closed - in no way integrated yet

- 64 La Chapelle - felt very lucky with the 55, roll the dice again, fill was good, cork came out in one piece, but this one was on its deathbed. it lacked fruit and the finish was distorted.


- chuck

after reading this ... i did one thing ......



I "POUR'd"