a guest exclaims, entering the ground floor reception area of the famous Clos de Vougeot and seeing handsomely uniformed waiters pouring tastes of the region's finest red and white wines. The clever thing is that ALL the wines are tasted blind. It was called the Association Commerciale Vinicole de l'Arrondissement de Beaune. MORE >>

It tasted like butterscotch and Madeira after 10 minutes open and showed almost nothing of why Corton-Charlemagne can be great, especially in the hands of perhaps its most classically revered producer. We then had two wines from the Grèves vineyard in Beaune. 1989 Albert Morot Beaune 1er Cru Grèves , $65. It's also a challenge. MORE >>

Yet tasting through the village level Chablis in the 2008 vintage at the Union des Grands Crus de Chablis tasting this past Monday any wine lover would be pleased to buy on this level. The wines I tasted were fresh and delightful with very high acidity and a strong mineral content. But where was my friend Panos? MORE >>

In a very ripe vintage like 2005, the character of the vintage can easily overshadow the expression of terroir. Closer in quality to the top guns than Savigny-lès-Beaune is to Chambertin. A few years ago I spent a lot of money on two bottles of Chablis , money that I wish I could have back right now. paid up for the wrong vintage. MORE >>

You can see to Dijon and almost to Beaune. JMF: Chambertin is a place I would love to make wine, the terroir is fantastic. That's not a good way to taste. The way they taste, I won't do it. This is the final post about my conversation with Jean-Marie Fourrier. BG: I want to ask you about farming. JMF: I guess pruning. MORE >>