Jean-Marc Bourgeois@Hotel La Côte des Monts Damnés, Chavignol
Jean-Marc with the chef and owner of la Côte with his wife Karine
Jean-Marc Bourgeois@the hotel bar with a glass of very young 2011 Sancerre (24th September)
Tagliatelle with fresh chèvre: Jean-Marc's irresistible signature dish
Looking down on Bué from Le Clos de la Poussie
Le Clos de la Poussie – difficult to see the extent of the erosion problems from a distance
Small village of Champtin between Bué and Crézancy
Claude and Laurent Champault, producers in Champtin
Laurent Champault
'A very young 2011 Sancerrre' sounds like an understatement. Had it stopped fermenting?
ReplyDeleteProbably not JT – I can't remember, although it might have been one of the first to have finished.
ReplyDeleteA triple comment, my friend.
ReplyDeleteFirst, lovely pictures again. Ever since I started my regular blog myself (July 2011) I have tended to always travel with at least a small camera in the car, and a reflex whenever feasible. But I haven’t got YOUR “eye”. Shame.
Second: Sancerre has stopped fermenting the natural part of its sugars. Now, they’re all down to the chaptalized part, and that takes a while ...... Naughty, naughty.
Third: last time I visited the appellation as a wine-writer – must be around turn of the century - we were all accommodated at a “Soviet style” hotel in the village. You know: alloy frames to the windows, long halls with concrete staircase, neon lights. All comfy and clean, no problem. Don’t remember the name. At night, I went out with the younger local winemakers to a local pub and found out they were all rugby fans. They had all had a gym teacher at school who trained Bourges’ first squad, and had enrolled them in the club. I myself was at the end of my “Scottish period” and liked the game. So it ended up pretty late and ... utterly pissed. I crawled back to the hotel only to find the door locked and I didn’t possess the access code (4 a.m.).
By lucky chance, a window was still ajar at mid-staircase height and I could make my way to the inside ... just. Lovely anecdote, that one. And long live Sancerre’s rugby !
Merci Luc. Yes always worth carrying a camera.
ReplyDeleteThe Soviet style establishment might have been the Panoramic, now owned by Guy Saget. If you have the option stay at Jean-Marc and Karine's establishment in Chavignol.