Chocolate and Wine -- A Perfect Match
Do you like chocolate? If so, you may be curious to know that it pairs very well with wine — especially wine from Burgundy. Here I am, on the kind of gray overcast day that makes the charming city of Beaune even more mysterious, about to attend a chocolate and wine pairing session at Maison Bouchard Aine et Fils. I am here in Beaune, in the Burgundy region of France, to attend the celebrations leading up to the famous Hospices de Beaune wine auction.
Bouchard Aine et Fils
Jean Lupatelli, winemaker of Bouchard Aine et Fils, and Jean Ourvois, chocolate master, set myself and other journalists loose in the winery’s ancient caves with a box of chocolates hanging from a ribbon around each of our necks. At various stations in the cave, servers drew wine from ancient casks, poured them into our glasses, and gave us hints on the best pairing combinations for the different chocolates. It was a rather creative exercise and an excellent chance to see the ancient caves of this highly regarded winery, with dust-covered bottles dating from 1743.
1743
By four p.m., I was walking very slowly and carefully over the ancient cobblestone streets in my Manolo Blahnik high heels, towards the Hotel Dieu — scene of Sunday’s auction. En route, the Burgundians were out and about, enjoying the beginning of a village fair to celebrate the auction. One of the first festivities was a competition between young men who I presumed to be sommeliers, to see who could uncork a case of wine the fastest.
Inside the Hotel Dieu is a room filled with replications of what the original hospice looked like. From what I could understand from the placards, a seasoned nurse and a neophyte would be paired together to care for the ill.
hospice replication
The four p.m. tasting was to be led by Roland Masse, oenologist from Hospices de Beaune, but I must have missed him. Instead I fell in with other journalists, who each sat at a round table and tasted through the wines to be offered at the auction on Sunday. It was a fantastic opportunity to taste the various terroirs of Burgundy. Fellow American wine writers, such as Michael Apstein, were present.
Michael Apstein
This seems like a good time to explain the concept behind the Hospices de Beaune auction. Over the past five hundred years, a variety of people have donated vineyards and worldly possessions to the Hospices, with the vineyards (some of them Grand and Premier Cru) owned by the Hospices. The grapes from these vineyards would be fermented in barrels, and each November the barrels would be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
The successful bidder would then look for a “tender” (or winery) to finish the vinification, maturation, and bottling processes, paying them a fee for such a service. The bidder would also have the opportunity to choose customized labels with the bidder’s name and/or company name on the bottle, alongside the Hospices de Beaune crest, tender, and name of the historic donor. Each cuvee, which is made from one or more Hospices de Beaune vineyard sites, is named after a historic person important to the Hospices. For example, Volnay Premier Cru Cuvee Blondeau is named after Francois Blondeau, who gave the bells of the Hospice de la Charite and restored a Volnay church, among other good deeds.
I lucked out to find myself at a very interesting table including the publishers of some wine magazines, a pretty Japanese girl who lives in Paris and writes a food guide, her goatee-wearing boyfriend, and some very serious wine critics who debated each glass in French after the server poured it. I understood enough French to chime into the conversation, and we got to know one another a bit. Unfortunately, another engagement prevented me from finishing the complete tasting.
Lively Table
Outside the streets are packed with Burgundians celebrating the upcoming auction. Quite literally there is a party in the streets. Marching bands are everywhere with energetic people dressed in colorful costumes. Various groups of elderly people, in traditional dress, whirl about in a choreographed dance involving clunky wooden shoes and a merry band.
“What’s with the wooden shoes?” I ask a Burgundian-born woman at a black tie dinner later that night. She tells me that wealth came to Burgundy only fairly recently, and decades earlier it was quite common for Burgundians to have a pair of leather shoes for “good” occasions, and to wear destruction-proof wooden clogs for everyday purposes. “Aren’t tennis shoes -- trainers -- under $10 and much more comfortable?” I asked, not even able to imagine how uncomfortable it would be to walk around in thick, crudely cut wooden clogs all day. Possibly more uncomfortable than walking through the cobblestone-studded streets of Beaune all day in super high heels, yet that’s another story.
Beaune streets
“The elderly people still wear the wooden clogs to this day,” she tells me, explaining that in the villages people do not live near places where they can get more comfortable, inexpensive, mass produced shoes. And since they were actually able to dance in them, maybe they are okay after all. Does this scenario, of older villagers wearing destruction-proof clogs to this day shock you? It certainly gave me pause. Then again, Burgundian wine making has not changed much in hundreds of years, as many winemakers eschew modern ‘shortcuts‘ to make wine the way they always had. And doing things the natural ways certainly has its price. This is especially true in the way many Burgundian producers use organic or biodynamic ways of dealing with pests and disease rather than chemicals. It will certainly be interesting to see what the future holds!
That night, I was invited to a black tie party at Chateau Chassagne-Montrachet, an expensively restored historical winery owned by Domaine Michel Picard. Guests were welcomed to a reception and went down to the cellars, where a band played among the cellars. Dinner took place in a private room illuminated by candlelight.
Table Setting
Mrs. Elisabeth Malfondet, daughter of the owners, welcomed us and through the night introduced many local dignitaries in the Burgundian wine trade, who spoke about the importance of finding new markets for Burgundian wine and new regions to approach for travel. Burgundy is already a popular travel destination with Asians, and the dignitaries suggested courting Brazil and Mexico in addition to other regions that have shown an interest in the area.
And Burgundy is indeed a delightful travel destination. It is ancient, and very charming and mysterious. You can find a wide range of hotels, including ones that are very affordable and even clean camping sites. Food here represents the best in France.
foie gras
I was quite impressed by the Chateau's First Cru wine and especially the magical food and wine pairing. Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru les Chenevottes 2006 Domaine Michel Picard was paired with a starter of foie gras and gingerbread. The wine's delicate flavors of apricot, peach, and pastry cream really melded with the flavors of this exquisite dish.
Next Mersault-Charmes 2006 Cuvee Bahezre de Lanlay Maison Michel Picard was paired with wild sea bass with dried fruits and a hazelnut crust that really picked up on the marzipan, hazelnut, and vanilla in the wine.
The main course of Charolais beef (a special type of cow in the area) was paired with the red Chassagne - Montrachet 1er Cru les Macherelles 2006 Domaine Michel Picard. Once again, the soft fruitiness of the wine married well with the rare beef and its berrylike sauce.
Rare Steak
I was so overwhelmed by the elegance of this pairing and the wine that I spoke to the winemaker, Frederic Barnier. The scent and flavor of pastry cream was so stunning in the first wine that I asked if this was a "signature" of the winery. He explained that no, the wine tastes different each year, and that often the scent of pastry cream is a result of new oak.
Fabulous evening, and a great opportunity to taste the absolutely unforgettable wines of Burgundy.
5 Rue du Château
Chassagne-Montrachet
France 21190
Tel: 33 3 80 21 98 57
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