From Lyon to Paris: Total Immersion in Burgundy and Champagne 2023 by ombiasy WineTours took place from Sunday, July 02 - Thursday, July 13, 2023.
After spending Sunday, July 02 in Lyon, on Monday, July 03 we left Lyon in the morning and started our to the North, eventually arriving in Paris 12 days later.
Monday, July 03 was our
Beaujolais day. We drove through the beautiful Beaujolais region and visited two very different Beaujolais wine producers which are
regarded as in the very top of their league.
Our first stop was at Domaine Chermette in Saint-Vérand, Beaujolais
We were received by Martine Chermette and her son Jean-Etienne Chermette, who is now in charge and responsible for the operation.
Jean-Etienne showed us the winemaking facilities and took us on a vineyard tour before presneting his wines at a tasting in the barrel cellar.
The wines of Domaine Chermette are availabe in the USA through Peter Weygandt.
Domaine Chermette in Saint-Vérand, Beaujolais
Annette Schiller: One of France's hottest Beaujolais vineyards, owned by Pierre-Marie Chermette, located in Saint-Vérand. The former name "Vissoux" is not only a district but also his mother's maiden name. He took over the family business from his father in 1982. Until then, the family always sold the juice, but already then they had a remarkable reputation regarding the quality. With the generational change, Pierre-Marie immediately decided to bottle and market his own wine. In the mid-1980s, he became a pioneer in the region for a Cuvée Traditionnelle, vinified with grapes from old vines. He works in a completely classic Beaujolais style. The grapes are not destemmed and fermented as a whole cluster with CO2 pressure as Macération Carbonique. The residual fermentation then takes place after pressing in large wooden vats. The simple Beaujolais wines remain in this for about six to seven months, the others up to 10 months.
Part of the tradition is also that Martine and Pierre-Marie decided to bring the old Burgundy bottles back to the Beaujolais region. The couple's aim is to grow ripe and healthy grapes as naturally as possible. Pierre-Marie Chermette intervenes as little as possible in the process. He wants the terroir to be able to express itself in each of his wines. And he does it in a wonderful way. At Chermette you get incredibly dense, concentrated and focused, almost Burgundian wines.
Peter Weygandt: I search out wines as naturally made as possible, but only if this contributes to the wine being better. Domaine du Vissoux may just be the most perfect expression in my whole portfolio of what I seek, for this very ability to be natural and great, at once.A masterful 5th generation grower, Pierre has maintained the strict traditions of his ancestors and of the region, with more tenacity than most. Despite fashions changing, Pierre has, for his entire life, adhered only to the classic methods handed down from his family. This means farming in as sustainable a manner as possible, only using indigenous yeasts for every wine, long fermentations and making whole-cluster (semi-carbonic) wines in the old foudres built by his great-grandfather. Pierre Chermette's yields are so low and the grapes so naturally ripe that he does not chaptalise. The wines are bottled with little or no filtration and the addition of no sulfur or very little depending on the cuvée.
Given the life Pierre imbues upon the wines, they are as stable as Premier Cru Burgundy and age for nearly as long in many cases. They are, nevertheless, utterly "glugable" upon release. The wines of Vissoux are a fascinating study in terroir, tradition and talent, with the pricing more befitting a wine half as great.
Arriving
Welcome
In the Cellar
In the Vineyard
Tasting
From Lyon to Paris: Total Immersion in Burgundy and Champagne 2023 by ombiasy WineTours (Released and Forthcoming Postings)
ombiasy WineTours: Wine Tour Schedule 2023 - Austria, Germany/East, Burgundy/ Champagne, Germany/ North
Announcement: Burgundy and Champagne 2023: 12-day Total Immersion - From Lyon to Paris by ombiasy WineTours
Burgundy (and Champagne) Tour 2018 by ombiasy WineTours: From Lyon to Paris - Wine, Food, Culture and History, France
Summary: From Lyon to Paris: Total Immersion in Burgundy and Champagne 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Dinner at Restaurant Le Grand Café des Négociants and Walking Tour in Lyon - From Lyon to Paris: Total Immersion in Burgundy and Champagne 2023 by ombiasy WineTours
Vineyard Tour, Cellar Tour and Tasting at Domaine Chermette in Saint-Vérand, Beaujolais, with Martine and Jean-Etienne Chermette
Menu du Jour Lunch in Beaujolais at L’Atelier du Cuisinier in Villié-MorgonCellar Tour and Tasting at Château de Jacques in Romanèche-Thorins, Beaujolais, with Genevieve Bonifacio, Responsable Commerciale
Dinner at Restaurant Château de Pizay in Belleville-en-Beaujolais, with Chef de Cuisine Eric Chauffour, 12/ 20 Points Gault Millau
In the Most Prestigious AOC in the Mâconnais: Pouilly-Fuissé, France
Vineyard
Tour, Cellar Tour and Tasting at Domaine Ferret in Fuissé,
Poully-Fuissé, Mâconnais, with the outgoing DG/ Winemaker Audrey
Braccini and incoming DG/ Winemaker Clément Robinet
Tasting at Domaine Céline & Laurent Tripoz, Mâconnais, with Céline & Laurent Tripoz
Vineyard Tour, Cellar Tour and Tasting at Domaine Menand in Mercurey, Côte Chalonnaise, with Fabienne Menand
Schiller’s Favorite Wine Bars in Beaune, Bourgogne
Dinner at Restaurant La Table du Square in Beaune.
Walk in the Vineyard, Cellar Tour and Tasting at Domaine Jessiaume in Santenay, Côte de Beaune, with DG/ Winemaker William Waterkeyn
Vineyard Walk in Meursault with Karoline Knoth - Bourgogne (and Champagne) Tour 2016 by ombiasy WineTours
Guided Vineyards Walk around Meursault with Karoline Knoth, Author of "Castles and Châteaux in Meursault"
Menu
du Jour Lunch at Restaurant L’Agastache in Volnay, with Caroline
(Service) and Nunzio Iacono (Kitchen), 12.5/ 20 Points Gault Millau
Tour of Château de Rully and Tasting of Domaine du Château de Rully Wines, with Count Raoul de Ternay - Bourgogne (and Champagne) Tour 2016 by ombiasy WineTours
Guided Tour of Château de Rully by Current Owner Count Raoul de Ternay, with Tasting of Domaine Rully Wines
Dinner at Restaurant Le Relais de Saulx in Beaune, with the Couple Charles Danet, Chef, and Agnès Peyre, Service, 12/ 20 Points Gault Millau
Olivier Leflaive in Puligny Montrachet: Vineyard Walk and Cellar Tour, with Olivier and Patrick Leflaive - Bourgogne (and Champagne) Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France
Lunch and Wine Tasting at La Table de Olivier in Puligny Montrachet with Olivier Leflaive – Bourgogne (and Champagne) Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France
Guided Walk in the Grand Cru Montrachet Vineyards, an Hour with Icon Olivier Leflaive and Wine-pairing Lunch at Restaurant La Table d’Olivier Leflaive of Maison Olivier Leflaive in Puligny-Montrachet, Côte de Beaune
Tasting at Château de Pommard in Pommard, Côte de Beaune.
Tasting at Domaine Faiveley in Nuits St. Georges - Bourgogne (and Champagne) Tour 2016 by ombiasy WineTours
Cellar Tour and Tasting at Domaine Faiveley in Nuits-Saint-George, Côte de Nuits
Menu du Jour Lunch with Wine Tasting at Restaurant Le Vintage, Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret
Cellar Tour and Tasting at Louis Jadot in Beaune with Thibaud Marquis, US Reprsentative of Louis Jadot
Cellar Tour and Tasting at Domaine Armelle et Bernhard Rion in Vosne Romanée, Côte de Nuits - Bourgogne (and Champagne) Tour 2016 by ombiasy WineTours
Bus Tour Through the Vineyards of Vosne-Romanée, Côte de Nuits, with Melissa Rion and Cellar Tour and Tasting at Domaine
Rion, Vosne-Romanée
Wine-pairing lunch at Domaine Trapet, Gevrey-Chambertin, Côte de Nuits
Visit and Tasting: Maison Joseph Drouhin in Beaune– Bourgogne (and Champagne) Tour 2016 by ombiasy WineTours, France
Tour of the Ancient Cellars and Tasting at Maison Joseph Drouhin in Beaune
Wine and Music at "From Bach to Bacchus in Meursault", with Karoline Knoth
Visit: Hospices de Beaune– Bourgogne (and Champagne) Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France
Hospices de Beaune and its Wines - Guided Tour
Menu du Jour Lunch at Restaurant Au Creux de Vougeot
Visit of Château du Clos de Vougeot - Bourgogne (and Champagne) Tour 2016 by ombiasy WineTours
Tour of Château du Clos de Vougeot
Schiller’s Favorite Wine Bars and other Wine Venues in Chablis, France
Dinner at Restaurant Hostellerie des Clos in Chablis
Tasting from Tank, Barrel and Bottle at Domaine Servin in Chablis, with Marc Cameron and François Servin
Wine Pairing Lunch, Cellar Visit, Vineyard Tour and Tasting at Domaine Jean Marc Brocard in Préhy, Chablis– Bourgogne (and Champagne) Tour 2016 by ombiasy WineTours, France
Tour, Tasting and Lunch at Domaine Jean-Marc Brocard in Préhy, Chablis
Guided Tour at Fontenay Abbey (Bernard de Clairveau), Montbard
Champagne– An Introduction, France
French Champagne Houses and German Roots
Champagne Menu du Jour Lunch at Restaurant Chez Bellou in Gyé-sur-Seine, Champagne
Visit and Tasting at Champagne Jean Josselin, a Grower Champagne House in Gyé sur Seine – Bourgogne (and Champagne) Tour 2016 by ombiasy WineTours, France
Cellar Tour and Tasting at Champagne Jean Josselin in Gyé-sur-Seine, Côte des Bar, Champagne, with Jean Pierre Josselin and Export Manager Sharona Tsubota
Tour of l'Avenue de Champagne in Epernay - Bourgogne (and Champagne) Tour 2018 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting at Champagne Maison Gamet in Mardeuil, Vallée de la Marne, with Philippe, Fabienne and Marianne Gamet
Cellar Tour and Tasting at Champagne Alfred Gratien in Èpernay
French/ Thai Fusion Dinner at Restaurant Cook’In in Épernay (Bib Gourmant Michelin), with Chef Guillaume and Uma (Service).