Wine tasting in Beaune
We experienced two wine tastings in France, although we tasted various wines throughout the two week tour. I generally preferred a chilled white Chardonnay, by the glass, as opposed to a red which is my normal choice. My verdict on the Chardonnay – ok to good – drinkable. In the pub at the Novotel Hotel in Paris, however, the Chardonnay was really very good!!! Didn’t make a note of the label, unfortunately 🙁
Red wines : generally for the tour group dinners, the reds were drinkable but not wonderful!! There were a few exceptions however. Those that we bought ourselves and a few served with dinners on the ‘optional excursions’. I took a photo of the labels of the good bottles to look out for them again – if we are lucky enough to return – or scouring the shelves at Norman Goodfellows. We found, generally, the wines needed a bit more ‘oomph’ but saying that, we did have a couple of excellent reds! Most of them didn’t have that ‘oomph’ that our wines have 🙂 I suppose our tastes are used to South African wines : our diverse climate and terroir.
Soooo .. our first experience of Burgundy wine tasting – Domaine la Reine Pedauque
Gorgeous entrance .. note the light fitting made from wine bottles !
Loved the well ..
Tour group gathered together before going to the underground caves/cellars. It was very dark down there .. low low light .. not good for photos!
Cannot remember how many we tasted here .. I think it was only a white and then a red, before we moved further into the cellars where we had more tastings. I preferred the white .. hubby and I found the red a bit wishy-washy .. no oomph!!!
Hubby’s family wines come from Volnay, near Beaune ..
In another part of the cellars, we tasted 4 more – these were far nicer, especially the last one .. a Pinot Noir
Loved the little bit of stained glass above the door ..
Once in the souvenir/wine shop we were given one for tasting .. a rather sweet aperitif wine … quite thick and strong berry flavoured. They said it’s usually thinned by adding white wine. A similar one, diluted, was served before one of the dinners in Nice – very nice!
Shop lacked the small wine goodies like their counterparts in the Cape ie bottle stoppers, openers, pourers, etc .. I would have bought gifts to bring home
We leave Beaune behind and make our way to Lyon where we had a night’s stop
2 Replies to “Wine tasting in Beaune”
Interesting comparission!
I’m not a wine drinker but really enjoy visiting wine estates around the Cape. I would love to be able to see these historic estates. Very interesting.