Grapevine
The pungent aromas wafting through the air in the subterranean cellars of the winery were like no others I have ever experienced.
Yes, I’ve visited many wine cellars in my travels over the years. But here, at this moment, in this time and place, I was inundated with a barrage of complementary and contradictory aromas and air moisture, slippery floors underfoot and the faint but ever-present sense of the ghosts of past vintners.
Generations of winemakers had plied their trade amongst the four walls that bore the history of the winery, laboring through the best and worst vintages over the centuries. All of these components filtered through my senses and into my psyche as I shuffled through the dark passageways amidst scores of barrels containing multiple vintages of fine wine, quietly resting as they continued their inevitable maturation.
I was living the dream. I was in Burgundy.
My mantra on this trip through French wine country, which I’ve chronicled over the last few columns, has been “to taste barrel samplings deep in hand-carved wine caves, to caress grape-laden grapevines in sun-drenched vineyards, to sample ripe grapes as they were being prepared for the harvest crush, to rub soil and rocks between my fingers to understand the nutrient-poor stress placed on grapevines.”
As alluring as the wine cellar is, I also wanted to experience the true distinction of Burgundy: the magic that occurs in the vineyard.
And here I was, on an overcast morning, as the sun cast its scant rays on the eastern slopes of ripening clusters of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay (the hallmark grapes of Burgundy), eagerly walking amongst grapevines. My friend Rick and I had abandoned our car on the lower slopes, with their paved roads, and had trudged through rudimentary narrow trails comprised of mud and rocks to sample the near-harvest grapes deep in the in the commune of Vosne-Romanée in the Cotes de Nuits subregion of Burgundy.
I chose this time of day to elude the vineyard crews who toiled in the vineyards as the harvest date got closer and closer. I knew we would have been shooed away, and rightfully so, if we interfered with their time-worn process.
I chose this geography based on its history and reputation for producing many of the finest and most expensive wines in the world: Domaine de la Romanée Conti, which typically commands stratospheric prices in excess of $1,000 per bottle. And indeed, we were able to climb to the vicinity of this (intentionally) poorly marked, non-descript plot of land and sample ripening grapes.
My intent on this trek into vineyard nirvana was to validate the claims of many before me: the terroir of Burgundy is unlike any other in the world. Geologically and meteorologically, each plot has unique attributes. The overwhelming majority of the vineyard plots are small and Mother Nature has created microcosms in which plots just a few meters apart have characteristics unlike any other nearby plots.
With my experiment in mind, Rick and I sampled grapes from vines across the narrow dirt path from one another and grapes on differing gradients on the long gentle slope we were treading on. Individual vineyards were indistinguishable from one another. In some cases, just a cloth rag, dangling from a small stake in the ground, separated a few rows of vines from the next owner’s few rows.
True to Burgundy’s reputation, each of the berries we sampled was distinct in its tannin, acidity and fruit levels. I had not experienced this before; these were not refined subtleties, but obvious differences. We inhaled and then tasted differing aspects of soil minerality, complex sugars, tannins and flavor profiles. After six or seven of these field experiments, we finally understood the mystery and reputation of Burgundy.
One cannot fully appreciate the wines of Burgundy without an insight into the local culture, passion and, perhaps most of all, its history. Next week we’ll explore the trials and travails of Burgundians through the ages.
Nick Antonaccio is a 35-year Pleasantville resident. For over 15 years he has conducted wine tastings and lectures. He also offers personalized wine tastings and wine travel services. Nick’s credo: continuous experimenting results in instinctive behavior. You can reach him at nantonaccio@theexaminernews.com or on Twitter @sharingwine.
