In France, bed and breakfasts are called Chambre d'Hotes, which literally translates to bedroom in our home, which is what they are. We stayed in three Chambre d'Hotes, and in all cases, the owners lived there and did most of the work. This is in contrast to what we have seen in America, where often times the owners don't live there, and employees run the place, often leaving no one there to respond to needs outside of their business hours.
Puligny-Montrachet, where Domaine les Agnes is located, is nestled in among some of the finest Chardonnay vineyards in the world. All of the agricultural plots you see around the village of Puligny-Montrachet in this satellite view are vineyards. Each vineyard can be made out by the slight color variation in the satellite photo. The green arrow points to the road between the towns of Puligny-Montrachet and Massagne-Montrachet.
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We would literally walk right out the door every morning and into the vineyards for our exercise. Each morning we walked from the Chambre d'Hotes to Chassagne-Montrachet and back for exercise. Each morning, passing through Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyards on that road marked by the green arrow.
In France the wine classification system has been around for a long time. Vineyards, not winemakers, are rated for quality. It has to do with the terroir, or the characteristics of the soil. Grand Cru is the highest, Premier (1st) Cru is next, then a wine can simply take the name of the village, like Massagne-Montrachet if it is made only from grapes in that village, or just Bourgogne (Burgundy) if made from grapes in the region, but not restricted to a single village.
We were told that they stopped rating vineyards about 100 years ago, and there are very few Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyards. Since there are very few, it means very small production of wine and consequently high prices. Obviously, they are very valuable plots of land. You can see the "Grand Cru" designation on this gate that marks the corner of one of the vineyards we would pass by every morning on our walk.
The vineyards up the sides of the hills, where the grapes have to "work harder" tend to produce the better grapes and get the higher ratings, at least in this region. It also has a lot to do with the mineral content of the soil. All of these factors, along with the micro-climate, contribute to the terroir.
Each region has maps that show each vineyard, the variety of grape and its rating. In Bourgogne, they grow Pinot Noir for red wine and Chardonnay for white. That's it. It makes it a little difficult for someone not familiar with the French system. If you like Pinot Noir, then you have to know that Bourgogne's reds are Pinot Noirs and Bordeaux's aren't, for instance. We came to Bourgogne specifically because we wanted to sample their Pinot Noirs.
Usually, each village has a town tasting (degustation) room. We went to the one in Massagne-Montrachet. This is what it looks like inside.
They call a wine cellar a "cave', pronounced with a short "a". These cellars have been around for centuries, just like the villages and vineyards. You can see from the window how thick the walls are. This tasting room has wines from several winemakers in the village and nearby villages.
On these bottles of Pinot Noir, you can see the name of the village, Chassagne-Montrachet, and then the designation, "1st Cru". Premier is "first" in French, so sometimes you will see Premier Cru and sometimes 1st Cru. This particular village has no Grand Cru red vineyards, but there are plenty nearby.
What this area is known for is their vin blanc (white wine), which as I said, is made exclusively from the Chardonnay grape. You can see on these bottles the designation "Grand Cru" under "Montrachet".
Well, that's the wine lesson for today. I'm sure I made some mistakes, but that should be a decent first lesson on French wines. Just remember, unlike in the States, it's all about exactly where the wines came from, down to the individual vineyard, and not about who made the wine.
Above you can see the signs pointing out the center of the village and then the long list of wineries, all located in this one small village of Chassagne-Montrachet.
We tasted wines from adjoining vineyards, with different terroirs, made by the same winemakers, using identical processes, and they tasted remarkably different. So maybe several centuries of making wine has taught the French something about how to rate a wine.
Your exercise for today is to go to your local wine store or online and see if you can find a Grand Cru, Premier Cru, or any vin blanc from Chassagne-Montrachet. If you buy one and drink it, let me know what you think about the French Chardonnay.
